Doug Kerr
Well-known member
Until recently, I didn't know much about steam locomotive springs. It seemed as though each end of each driving wheel axle was supported by a fat leaf spring (with the necessary hardware), and that was about it.
Last weekend, we attended the wedding of a member of the family, held at a restored historic church at Frisco Historical Park in Frisco, Texas. A park feature is a (cosmetically) restored 2-8-0 ("Consolidation") steam locomotive, on static display.
Just before we went into the church, I slipped away for a few minutes to take some quick shots of the locomotive. Later, it turned out that the official group photographs were to be held with the machine as a background, so I was there, doubling the photographer of record (at the request of the bride) and shooting some "backstory" shots.
As I processed the shots, I noted on one shot of the locomotive an arrangement of the springs that I didn't immediately understand. As I looked into it, the intent become clear, but there were some missing pieces of the puzzle.
As is my wont, I launched on an extensive review of the literature, interwoven with a lot of reading between the lines, reverse engineering, and reconstruction of design objectives. Through this I developed what I considered to be a pretty good conceptual grasp of steam locomotive suspension systems, a complex and sophisticated topic indeed.
I concluded that I had best capture my findings, which would doubtless evaporate from my old noodle in a week or so. Again, as is my wont, I decided to do this through a genuine technical article on the subject.
It ended up with 18 pages, 10 detailed line illustrations, and six photographs, one of which included part of the wedding party (with a couple of way buxom bridesmaids).
For those that might be interested, "Spring Equalization for Steam Locomotives" can be accessed (via The Pumpkin index) here:
http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin#LocoSprings
Best regards,
Doug
Last weekend, we attended the wedding of a member of the family, held at a restored historic church at Frisco Historical Park in Frisco, Texas. A park feature is a (cosmetically) restored 2-8-0 ("Consolidation") steam locomotive, on static display.
Just before we went into the church, I slipped away for a few minutes to take some quick shots of the locomotive. Later, it turned out that the official group photographs were to be held with the machine as a background, so I was there, doubling the photographer of record (at the request of the bride) and shooting some "backstory" shots.
As I processed the shots, I noted on one shot of the locomotive an arrangement of the springs that I didn't immediately understand. As I looked into it, the intent become clear, but there were some missing pieces of the puzzle.
As is my wont, I launched on an extensive review of the literature, interwoven with a lot of reading between the lines, reverse engineering, and reconstruction of design objectives. Through this I developed what I considered to be a pretty good conceptual grasp of steam locomotive suspension systems, a complex and sophisticated topic indeed.
I concluded that I had best capture my findings, which would doubtless evaporate from my old noodle in a week or so. Again, as is my wont, I decided to do this through a genuine technical article on the subject.
It ended up with 18 pages, 10 detailed line illustrations, and six photographs, one of which included part of the wedding party (with a couple of way buxom bridesmaids).
For those that might be interested, "Spring Equalization for Steam Locomotives" can be accessed (via The Pumpkin index) here:
http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin#LocoSprings
Best regards,
Doug