- English
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eBook - ePub
About this book
Books on railway history invariably start with the Stephenson's or with Richard Trevithick's locomotive of 1804., but the story begins much earlier with the development of steam engines for pumping out deep mines. Ken Gibbs, a retired engineer who served his apprenticeship in the Swindon Works of British Railways, takes a more practical approach to railway history, using its engineering developments to tell the story of the railways. From the first ideas to the development of better metals, manufacturing, technology in wheel casting, improved boilers and valve gears, his book is a refreshingly different approach to the plethora of picture books showing branch lines in days past. Ken's engineering background and love of railway technology gives us a book suited to the layman and engineer alike, explaining how each development made the railways better, faster or safer. It took over 150 years to develop the steam locomotive from a basic boiler on wheels weighing a couple of tons to the magnificent express passenger and freight locomotives weighing in excess of 100 tons and capable of speeds over 120mph. Read how the steam locomotive developed from those early days to the last days of steam.
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Yes, you can access The Steam Locomotive by Ken Gibbs in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Rail Transportation. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Introduction
- 1: Early Locomotive Design and Manufacture
- 2: The Early Years of ‘The American Approach’
- 3: Development of Material – The Metals
- 4: How Were Measurements Determined?
- 5: Building a Locomotive – Frames: ‘Sandwich’, ‘Plate’ and ‘Bar’
- 6: Making a Crank Axle – Method and Problems
- 7: The Locomotive Boiler – Design and Construction
- 8: The Regulator and Boiler Design
- 9: The Safety Valve and ‘Pressure Gauge’
- 10: The Development of Valve Gear
- 11: Valve Gears and the Valves
- 12: The Indicator Diagram – A Note on What it is and What it Does
- 13: Locomotive Testing and the Test Plant on Which it is Done
- 14: Locomotive Wheels – Design and Manufacture
- 15: Locomotive Springs – Design and Manufacture
- 16: Locomotive Axle Box Design
- 17: Locomotive Lubrication
- 18: Locomotive Balancing
- 19: The Quest for Efficient Brakes – Hand, Steam, Vacuum, Air
- 20: An Efficient Way of Application – Automatic Train Control
- 21: The Vacuum System – The Air Brake and the Steam Brake
- 22: The ‘Injector’ – Getting Water into the Boiler
- 23: Cast Components and the Foundry – How do They Make Loco Cylinders?
- 24: Other Components – Hand Forging, Drop Stamping and Steam Hammer-Pressing
- 25: The ‘Nuts and Bolts’ Story
- 26: Outlines of History – Events of Locomotive Design and Use in the Mid-1800s
- 27: Locomotives Just Get Bigger – Classification of Wheel Arrangements
- 28: The American Dream – ‘Biggest is Best’ Up to the 2-10-10-2
- 29: Lifting and Moving Locomotives in the Main Workshops
- 30: Lifting and Moving Locomotives Outside the Main Workshops
- 31: The Swindon Workshops Through the Years
- 32: Workshop Staff – Time Recording and Payment Methods
- 33: The End of a Steam Locomotive Works