OT - Steam Locomotive Tain engine question

[AJMD429]

What are the round-topped domes on the old steam engines...?



(picture copied from post by OJ on http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=33518)

[RKrodle]

Question extractors.

[Mike D.]

The forward one is the sand dome. You can see the pipe going down toward the drivers. Sand was kept atop the boiler to keep it dry and prevent clogging. It was applied to the rails to gain traction on grades and to prevent driver slippage in any given situation. The dome to the rear is the steam dome. The throttle is located in the steam dome and is handled by the engineer in the cab, providing him the capability of controlling the steam that is sent to the cylinders that power the locomotive's driving wheels. That's the short version, anyway.

[jdad]

................and it looks like it's a 2-8-2 Mikado class engine.

[kimwcook]

................and it looks like it's a 2-8-2 Mikado class engine.

Okay if you say so.

[Chas.]

What are the round-topped domes on the old steam engines...?

And the bell looking thingy is for going ding, ding, ding.

I thought the Mikado was made in Japan for Winchester.

[.45colt]

The Railroad brought a BIG STEAMER down from Buffalo about Fifteen years ago. We went up to Ashtabula on a Sunday when they did a picture run.Our Kids were little but I don't know if they had more Fun than Me. later that week I was out in the back yard working in the garden when they brought it west going to Cleveland.We live about five miles from the tracks. I will never forget the booming sound of that whistle rolling across the countryside as it made every crossing on that quiet country morning.it hadn't been heard in fifty years.Ain't that America.

[Mike D.]

We hear them nearly every day, and sometimes into the night. Local museum tracks roll steam locos down river for about 4 miles and the volunteers love their whistle time.

[jeepnik]

We hear them nearly every day, and sometimes into the night. Local museum tracks roll steam locos down river for about 4 miles and the volunteers love their whistle time.

Are you near the "Hump"?

Darned, finally a question in my area of expertise, and Mike beats me to the answer.

[Ben_Rumson]

Well boys.. I hate to admit it...but I once blew a chance to ride in the cab of a steam locomotive...The neighbor was an Engineer and his daughter was my girlfriend...and since a spur line ran right down the middle of our street he would stop in front of our houses and we could go hop on... Well the day came and he stopped like he said he would and we ran up to the engine ready to go... But when that old puffer belly belched out a cloud of steam.. it plumb skeert me so bad it made me run for cover and caused me to change my mind about going for a ride...Yuh see, I was just a little 5y/o buckaroo at the time, and had to retreat behind my Mom’s apron bawling hot tears of humiliation and anger... ‘Course the adults didn’t help any, what with the laughing and all.. I never got another shot at taking a ride because not long after that dark day in 1952, we moved away...Trains to this day still use that spur...Dang.. blew a chance to ride in the cab of a genuine back in the day working steam locomotive...

[Mike D.]

No steam over "The Hump" except special excursions. If big steam, read Union Pacific 844 and 3985, pass through here and over the Sierra that usually take the old WP through Keddie. Lass grade and less interference with revenue traffic.

I have ridden in, and had my hand on the throttle, of some good sized engines. X-SP Pacific 2472 was one of them. These days she runs on the Niles Canyon Branch of the old SP line that ran over the pass to Tracy and points east.

[jeepnik]

No steam over "The Hump" except special excursions. If big steam, read Union Pacific 844 and 3985, pass through here and over the Sierra that usually take the old WP through Keddie. Lass grade and less interference with revenue traffic.

I have ridden in, and had my hand on the throttle, of some good sized engines. X-SP Pacific 2472 was one of them. These days she runs on the Niles Canyon Branch of the old SP line that ran over the pass to Tracy and points east.

Mike, what museum are you near? Have you had a chance to ride the Skunk when steam powered?

[jdad]

There is a huge rail museum, in Sacramento. I took the family there several times when I lived about an hour North in the foothhills. I've also road the Niles, Sierra, and Roaring Camp Rwys many times during my 30 years living in CA.

[Cimarron]

Been in the NW 611, NKP 765 & UP 844. There is absolutely nothing like it! I've seen and paced the SP 2472 and I'll tell you that little Pacific just ticks like an Elgin watch. My favorites though are the Lima built Berkshires. Pound for pound the Super Powers were hard to beat for efficiency. Also love the Santa Fe 5000 class 10 wheelers. I guess if I set down and think about it I love the entire roster of American built steam locomotives. When I was a kid the Rock Island tracks were a couple of miles south of my house. There is just something about a steam whistle at nite to make you think of far off places. We also used to go into St Louis and catch the Frisco's Will Rogers to Tulsa. Even then in the early '60's the grand old stations were still great places to travel to and from.

[Mike D.]

I'm close the California State Railroad Museum and the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction. Their theme is overhead electric power and are located on a portion of the old Sacramento Northern Railroad. Great restored trolley equipment. I belong there, too, and was trained to operate the passenger and streetcars. They also have Western Pacific ten wheeler No. 94, but she is stored unserviceable for the time being. The loco needs some boiler work, as well as running gear repairs. The last time we took her out was in 1987. One of these days, she'll shine again.

Yes, jdad, I have ridden the Super Skunk when engine 45 pulled it up to Northspur and back. 45 is still in service and pulls specials throughout the year. Steam can't make it all the way to Willits, but gasoline Motor 100 and the diesels can. The smell from the M-100 is what gave the California Western RR the name "Skunk".

[ole pizen slinger]

I got to run the N&W 611 from Asheville, NC to Linwood, NC on its last trip to the museum in Roanoke. There is a lot of difference in a living, breathing, steam locomotive and a set of multiple-unit diesels. Had cars following on side roads all along the way. No comparison to blowing a steam whistle and an air horn. I'm glad I got the opportunity to engineer one of the old girls before I retired. It was one of the highlights of my railroad career.
ole pizen slinger

[Mike D.]

OPS, it was a sad day when the 611 was put to sleep. 611, a locomotive that was built 5 yrs after my entering this world, was the last of the J class 4-8-4s and should still be rollin' on those Timkin bearings. The pride of Roanoke is dead.

[ole pizen slinger]

For those who like STEAM, here are a few videos of the 1218. I worked for Southern Railway, then Norfolk Southern Corp after Southern and N & W merged. I had the opportunity to literally crawl all over these locomotives at the shop in Asheville when they would come through on a steam excursion with the NRHS. These were huge pieces of machinery. One of the videos is of a triple header excurstion and the 611 is in it. The drive wheels on that locomotive were larger in diameter than I am tall. I liked the whistle on the 611 better than the one on the 1218, however, either one would get your adrenalin flowing. When the railroads converted from steam to diesel they lost a lot of their glamour. The 611 probably represents the highest level of development of the steam locomotive as N & W was the last railroad to dieselize.
OPS

http://www.retroweb.com/1218.html
http://www.retroweb.com/611lastrun.html

[Mike D.]

There is a good video named "18 Wheels Of Steel" that chronicles 1218's history and subsequent restoration and return to service. The odd almost European sound of 1218's "Hooter" whistle belies the size of the engine. The more aesthetically pleasing sound of 611's "Steamboat" whistle is common to our memories, as most large freight and passenger locomotives used that chime system. SP 4449 has two whistles as well as a air horn. Air horns just don't seem to fit a steam locomotive, but they were contemporary at the time that the last of the steamers were built.

[jeepnik]

Somehow, leverguns and steam trains just go together. One thing I do have locally is a group of "live steamers". These folks have small scale steam trains, and the detail is remarkable.

[Peter M. Eick]

Back to the question at hand.

The two domes serve different purposes and which is which depends on the engine. I cannot tell from here.

One dome is the sand dome as other have pointed out.

The 2nd dome is the "steam chest". Think about the problem. The boiler has some steam, and some water that is not yet steam or is in the liquid phase due to the pressure of the boiler. The valves that control the flow of the steam to the cylinders and through the superheaters would not be very "smooth" in opertion if they let water through as the water would flash in the super heater tubes and you would not have much control over the speed or power output of the engine.

If on the other hand, you put the valve way up top of the boiler where in general it only was in the gas steam phase it would work better. Also remember the liquid phase sloshes around in the engine so they baffle it up and try to keep the water out of the valves and out of the cylinder. The problem with water in the cylinder is the lack of compressibility so you have problems on the stroke. This is why steam engines vent steam when they have been sitting for a while and they start to move. You have to get the water out of the cylinder.

Here are some movies I shot of the 844 coming across wyoming. That engine moves!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILKnc-feKbU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqAm3mA9zgM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtlSNyeiHw


Edited to add.

Looking at the picture again, I would say the front one is sand from the piping. The second one is the steam pickup to the valve and possibly the valve itself is in the third lower one. It is hard to identify from the picture.