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Re: (erielack) 6-foot-gauge locomotive drawings
I believe there is one drawing of a 6" gauge engine in the begining of "Erie
Power" It is the only one I can recall seeing and I don't think it included
both sides or cross sections. I've often thought that modeling the 6' gauge
area could cut down considerably on my model railroad budget!
Tony Horn
ELHS #2
- ----- Original Message -----
From: <olsenkbce_@_juno.com>
To: <pgifford_@_allegheny.edu>; <erielack@lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: (erielack) 6-foot-gauge locomotive drawings
> Pete,
>
> I am unaware of any drawings of the six foot gauge engines. The
> photographs that I've seen of them the were very conventional looking,
> but a whole lot bigger than anything else on the rails at that time.
>
> At the time that the broad gauge lines were constructed, firebox size was
> limited by gauge since they were slung between the driving wheels. Wider
> gauges gave larger grate areas and could carry larger boilers.
>
> The widest gauge ever used was England's seven foot gauge Great Western
> Railway. The dimensions of the LIVERPOOL give some idea of what could be
> done as of the late 1840's. She had 18" diameter cylinders with a 24"
> stroke. Total heating surface was 2260 square feet, with a boiler
> containing some 300 tubes. Her driving wheels were 8 feet in diameter.
> (Sadly, I do not have similar statistics for Erie engines.) It is not
> surprising that the Great Western Railway achieved speeds up to 57 mph at
> a time when the best standard gauge trains made only about 40 mph.
>
> In both England and America broad gauges were popular whenever builders
> faced mountainous terrain and believed that only larger engines could
> generate sufficient steam to overcome steep grades. It should be pointed
> out however, that in the case of the Great Western, the grades were not
> that steep and the principle advantage of a broad gauge was additional
> stability at high speeds.
>
> Aside from break-of-gauge transfer expenses, the heavier broad gauge
> trains were costly to operate and the right-of-way was also more
> expensive. Technological improvements eventually brought the power and
> speed of standard gauge locomotives up to the level of their broad gauge
> counterparts.
>
> Kevin Olsen
> Wayne, NJ
>
>
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