VGN class XA
| VGN XA | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Numbering: | 700 |
| Number: | 1 |
| Manufacturer: | Baldwin |
| Year of construction (s): | 1916 |
| Retirement: | 1920 |
| Type : | (1'D) D + D2 'h6v |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Fixed wheelbase: | 4,650 mm |
| Wheelbase with tender: | 27,813 mm |
| Service mass with tender: | 382 t |
| Friction mass: | 329 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 28.12 t |
| Starting tractive effort: | 830 kN |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1,420 mm |
| Control type : | Baker |
| Number of cylinders: | 6th |
| Cylinder diameter: | 575 mm |
| HD cylinder diameter: | 864 mm |
| LP cylinder diameter: | 864 mm (same as HD) |
| Piston stroke: | 813 mm |
| Boiler overpressure: | 15.3 bar |
| Grate area: | 10.0 m² |
| Radiant heating surface: | 40.0 m² |
| Superheater area : | 191.3 m² |
| Evaporation heating surface: | 754.4 m² |
| Water supply: | 49.2 m³ |
| Fuel supply: | 12 tons of coal |
The steam engine of the class XA was a freight locomotive , experimentation, to free feeding of coal trains on the track section Elmore- Clarks Gap the Virginian Railway was used (VGN) where slopes appear to 21 ‰. The triplex locomotive was a one-off. The class designation was derived from E x perimental for experimental locomotives and the first and only series in this group, designated as A. With a weight of 382 t and a starting tractive effort of 830 kN , it was the heaviest and most powerful locomotive of its time, but the boiler output was insufficient, so that it was unsuccessful.
history
The locomotive was not a success because the boiler was insufficiently efficient. Although the engines had smaller cylinders than the previously delivered triplex locomotives of the Erie class P-1 , the boiler could not deliver enough steam. The XA was intended to be operated at 16 km / h, but could drive at most 8 km / h without using too much steam. Although it was constantly looked after by the manufacturer's staff, it was not possible to improve it. The boiler generated too little steam because, on the one hand, the grate area was small compared to later series and, on the other hand , the induced draft was insufficient in relation to the amount of steam generated because half of the steam escaped through the chimney on the tender.
After only three years of use, the locomotive, which was unpopular with the staff, was returned to the manufacturer in 1921 and he converted it into two new locomotives. The two front engines with the boiler became the Mallet locomotive of the VGN class AF with the wheel arrangement (1'D) D and the road number 610. The engine under the tender was fitted with a new boiler and became the Mikado locomotive of the VGN -Class MD with road number 410.
technology
The locomotive was constructed similarly to the Erie class P-1. It consisted of a mallet locomotive with a drive tender . The middle engine was firmly attached to the main frame that carried the long boiler . The leading engine was movably connected to the main frame and could swivel out around a pivot . The third engine was located under the tender. The first engine had a leading axle, the tender a trailing bogie, which should improve the locomotive's running characteristics when reversing after the pushing service has been performed .
The superheated steam from the long boiler was fed to the high-pressure cylinders located on the middle engine. The exhaust steam from the right high-pressure cylinder was expanded a second time in the low-pressure cylinders of the leading engine, the exhaust steam from the left high-pressure cylinder in the low-pressure cylinders of the engine below the tender. While the exhaust steam from the leading engine, like other steam locomotives , was released into the open via the blowpipe and the chimney of the long boiler, the exhaust steam from the third engine was fed via a feed water preheater in the tender into a separate chimney mounted at the end of the tender. The cylinders of all engines had the same dimensions.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b 2-8-8-8-2 / 4 "Triplex" Locomotives in the United States. (No longer available online.) In: www.steamlocomotive.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016 ; accessed on June 23, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Rare Trains - something you don't see everyday - Page 2. In: forums.auran.com. Retrieved June 23, 2016 .
- ^ The Triplex Design. Retrieved June 23, 2016 .
- ↑ Virginian 2-8-8-8-2 / 4 Triplex Locomotives of the United States. (No longer available online.) In: www.steamlocomotive.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2016 ; accessed on June 23, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Frederick Westing: The locomotives that Baldwin built. Containing a complete facsimile of the original "History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1923" . Crown Publishing Group, 1966, ISBN 978-0-517-36167-2 .
