Byers Industrial 0-4-0 Geared Locomotive
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Byers locomotive builder's photograph (ex. libris
Susan Parker).
(Click on image for large 6000 pixel version - c. 2.4 MB
jpeg file - opens in new window.)
A Geared Locomotive for Contractors' Use.
The contractors' locomotive is a very important item of
the plant for many engineering works, quarries, brick years, etc., and
whilst fitness of finish and economy in operation are not important
requirements, strength of parts and attachments is exceedingly important
to enable the engine to work regularly over a very rough track and to
withstand the shocks and rough handling to which it is inevitably
subjected. In a majority of cases the engines used by contractors are
ordinary locomotives of small size, with piston rod connected directly
to the driving wheels by a connecting rod, but in recent years geared
locomotives have shown such advantages as to come into favor. We show
herewith a geared locomotive designed for contractors' use, and built by
the John F. Byers Machine Co. of Ravenna, O.
This locomotive is a four-wheel tank engine, and has
heavy cast-iron sectional frames, in which are formed the guides for the
axle boxes, and which serve to add to the adhesion weight of the engine.
The wheels are 24 ins. in diameter, and are placed inside the frame for
a track of 36 ins. gage, and outside for standard gage. They are of cast
iron, with chilled treads. Upon the middle of each side frame is mounted
a vertical inverted engine, driving a main shaft, which carries and
driving pinion A. This pinion drives two gear wheels B, B, on a
countershafts, which in turn drive the two pinions C, C, on the axles of
the carrying wheels. It is plain spur gearing, back geared 3 to 1, three
revolutions of the engine giving one revolution of the axles. The gear
wheels are cast with solid webs and wide faces, and the pitch of the
teeth is 1 1/2 ins. The countershafts are 2 7-16 ins. diameter, carried
in bearings on a transverse frame or bedplate, which is bolted to the
side frames. The main axles are of steel, 2 15-16 ins. diameter, with
large bearing carried in oil boxes. The leading axle has side-bearing
bars D, D, which rest on bearing boxes on the axle E, E, and these bars
carry the transverse equalizer F. This arrangement allows sufficient
vertical play in the leading main bearing, and also effects such a
distribution of the weight that the engine will ride steadily over any
ordinary inequalities in the track, and will pass easily around curves
of 25 and 30 ft. radius.
The boiler is of T shape, with a circular firebox in the
vertical leg and tubes in the horizontal barrel. This barrel is entirely
filled with water, the water level reaching up into the vertical leg,
and steam is taken from the upper part of this leg, which serves as the
steam dome. The shell is lagged and jacketed in the usual way. The
exhaust pipes run full size to the exhaust nozzle in the smokebox, and
discharge into a petticoat pipe of the usual pattern. The vertical
extension of the exhaust pipes downwards on the outside of the smokebox,
as shown in the general view, is for the purpose of a drip, and the
lower end of each extension is provided with an opening 1/8 in.
diameter, which is left permanently open. In the later engines the
exhaust is run from the cylinders directly underneath the boiler, and
thence by a single pipe to the smokebox, a single drip pipe with
permanent opening being provided. The sandbox and bell are mounted on
the boiler barrel, and the fitting include a glass water gage, water try
cocks, two injectors, etc.
The engine is provided with a friction brake, shown in
the side elevation, which is placed on the rear countershaft. It
consists of two cup-shaped disks G, G, faced with wooden friction blocks
H, H. These disks are attached to two yokes J, J, which in turn are
moved in line with the countershaft by means of the threads on the
operating shaft K. The brake is applied by moving the disks G, G against
the center disk L, which is keyed to the countershaft. The yokes J, J
and the disks G, G work lose on the shaft, but are fastened at the lower
or forward end of the yokes J, J to the transverse bedplate., This brake
is operated by a horizontal hand wheel M, and bevel gear N. It is
powerful and sensitive and very easily handled.
The drawing show only the iron frames, the wooden
footboard and front end supports being omitted. The front and back cross
frames have been changed somewhat from the form shown in the photograph,
but the arrangement of the engine, main shaft, countershafts, gears,
driving wheels, etc., is the same in all the machines. These locomotives
are said to give a steady drawbar pull, and to be capable of hauling and
train load of 250 tons (including weight of cars) at a speed of six to
eight miles per hour on a straight and level track. Their short
wheelbase enables then to pass the very sharp curves usually to be found
on contractors' track and industrial railways. Four of these locomotives
have been built thus far, and three of them are in service, being used
by the Casparis Stone Co., of Loansport, Ind.; the Buffalo Cement Co.,
of Buffalo, N. Y., and W. J. Murray, contractor, of New York city. The
general dimensions of the engines are given in the accompanying table: |
General Arrangement Drawings.
Locomotive Plan and Side Elevation Drawing (ex. libris
Susan Parker).
(Click on image for large 5700 pixel version - c. 375 KB
gif file - opens in new window.)
Technical Specification
Contractors' Geared Locomotive
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| Driving wheels, diam |
24 ins. |
| Journals, driving axles |
2 5-16 x 4 ins. |
| Axles, diam |
2 15-16 ins. |
| Main shaft, diam |
2 1/8 ins. |
| Countershaft, diam |
2 7-16 ins. |
| Wheelbase |
3 ft. 4 ins. |
| Length over all |
12 ft. 2 ins. |
| Width over all |
6 ft. |
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| Weight in working order |
11,000 lbs. |
| Full coal capacity |
250 lbs. |
| Full water capacity of tank, |
100 gallons 834 lbs. |
| Allowed for water in boiler, |
180 gallons 1,500 lbs. |
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| Cylinders |
5 1/2 x 7 ins. |
| Distance c. to c. |
4 ft. 1 in. |
| Piston rod, diam |
1 in. |
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| Valve Gear |
Link Motion |
| Steam ports |
9-16 x 4 1/2 ins. |
| Exhaust ports |
1 x 4 1/2 ins. |
| Lap of valves |
5-16 in. |
| Lead of valves |
1-16 in. |
| Max. travel of valves |
2 ins. |
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| Boiler; type |
Tee |
| Vertical leg |
32 x 60 ins. |
| Barrel |
26 x 64 ins. |
| Tube sheet and barrel plates |
1/4 in. |
| Height from rail to centre line |
3 ft. 9 ins. |
| Length of smokebox |
1 ft. 8 ins. |
| Working steam pressure |
120 lbs. |
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| Firebox |
Circular |
| Diameter inside |
28 ins. |
| Depth inside |
26 ins. |
| Side plates |
5-16 in. |
| Crown sheet |
3/8 in. |
| Grate area |
4 sq. ft. |
| Staybolts, diameter |
3/4 in. |
| Water space, width |
2 ins. |
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| Tubes; material |
Steel |
| Number |
32 |
| Diameter, outside |
2 ins. |
| Length between tube plates |
6 ft. 0 ins. |
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| Heating surface - |
| Tubes |
88 sq. ft. |
| Firebox |
14 sq. ft. |
| Total, with exterior tube area |
102 sq. ft. |
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| Exhaust nozzle, diam |
1 11-16 ins. |
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| Smokestack, smallest diam |
8 ins. |
| Height |
3 ft. 4 ins. |
| Height from rail to top |
8 ft. 2 ins. |
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| Tank capacity |
100 gallons |
| Coal capacity |
250 lbs |
| Brake Friction disk, |
operated by hand. |
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| Gearing: |
| Driving pinion; diam., |
5 13-16 ins.; |
number of teeth 12 |
| Intermediate pinion; diam., |
12 ins.; |
number of teeth 25 |
| Axle gear wheel; diam., |
17 9-32 ins.; |
number of teeth 36 |
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Photograph, description, drawings and table
scanned/transcribed by myself from
the original Engineering News article of the 21st May 1896 - Pages 342 & 343
Byers Engines
Byers produced a wide range of single and twin cylinder
stationary engines. Their railway locomotives were presumably a diversification
project as only about a half dozen were produced (see the
Geared Steam
Website - Byers Owner Roster) and made
substantial use of their standard stationary engine components.
The locomotive engine was based on their 16 horsepower
twin cylinder stationary engine, and had the valve gear positioned outwards on
either side (unlike their standard stationary twin).
Cross section detail and parts description of a Byers Vertical Steam
Engine (SP).
Illustration of Byers vertical steam engine and boiler, and size and
specification of double cylinder engines (SP).
( The scans for these two Byers pages 4 and 38 were sent to me
after this page was initially put up and provide a lot of useful additional
information which is much appreciated.)
The Project
My personal project is a scale locomotive to
run on 4-3/4"or 5" gauge track with inside wheel sets, or 7-1/4" or 7-1/2" gauge
track with outside wheel sets which the geared drive enables one to do easily (I
am also planning on making a small locomotive for O gauge or Gauge 1, which will
be a model for the model).
The concept is to have a "run anywhere"
locomotive that can fit in the trunk of even a small car and will still be
powerful enough to pull a couple of adults.
CAD Drawings
I am working on a set of CAD drawings for
this locomotive. This is a background "as and when I am able to find the time"
project and I will add further information as I am able.
At the moment the drawings are 12" to the
Foot scale i.e. full size, and I will then scale them as appropriate. These are
based on the images from the Geared Steam site. I am redoing the drawings with
the higher resolution scans I now have.
Locomotive for 3-1/2",
4-3/4" or 5" gauge inside wheel sets, or 7-1/4" or 7-1/2" gauge with outside wheel sets.
This drawing show a pair of
PM Research Inc's 5BI vertical bottle engines which in this scale are
approximately the same size as the Byers. The valve gear will need modifying to
provide variable cut off and reversing.
I have a 5BI kit with drawings which I used to make the 5BI
outline so it is accurate in scale to the rest of the locomotive. This drawing
was otherwise done from the low resolution scans and dimensions from the Geared Steam website
information.
Note that the 5BI is similar to the Byer's engines and makes
a good simple substitute where one wishes to build a functional locomotive that
is look and feel but not necessarily a true scale model of the prototype as the
bottle shape is different.
The boiler as drawn is intended to be able to burn coal in a
grate or be run on liquid/gas fuel using a multi-fuel camping stove so as to
give maximum flexibility in use (i.e. could run indoors at exhibitions on gas,
outdoors at meets on coal). The 3KW
Primus OmniFuel Stove as illustrated is accurate scale to the model,
although other stoves of this type could also be suitable.
Smaller Scales
The following drawings are "true-scale" and show the overall size and basic
dimensions for 2-1/2" (Gauge 3) and 1-3/4" (Gauge 1) at 1/20.5th scale, or 1-3/4" (Gauge 1) and
1-1/4" (O Gauge) track at 1/32nd scale.
I have juggled the drawing slightly to rationalise the
dimensions. Some additional tuning is obvious, for example the wheel spacing in
the first drawing can readily be a whole inch instead of 31/32nd. I am
wary however of departing too far from true scale as part of the overall visual
effect is determined by the harmonic relationships between dimensions, not just
their gross overall sizes.
The boiler in both cases is shown with a monoflue for gas
firing, but coal firing should be possible with the larger of the two designs.
The boiler construction has been normalised for material size and thickness
determined by what copper tube is available for pressure vessels from model
engineering suppliers (in the UK). If in doubt always go for the thicker
material, if nothing else it will add to the adhesive weight.
Locomotive for Gauge 1 or Gauge 3 track - 1/20.5th scale
16mm on Gauge 1
A 1/19th scale version for 16mm on Gauge 1 track is a
little larger.
Note that there are some clearance issues with the
back-to-back of the rear wheels and the base of the vertical section of the
boiler which would need to be checked carefully if 1-3/4" OD tube was used (
1-5/8" OD is fine ).
As shown, the drawings have provision for boiler lagging
(dotted lines) so there is some leeway.
Locomotive for O gauge /
Gauge 1 track - 1/32nd scale
3D Rendered Images - Boiler and Frames
Although the boiler is quite small the steam collection
space is at the top of the vertical tube section of the boiler and the
horizontal tube is always full in normal operation.
Flue is sized to use a radiant burner. See the Southern Steam Trains article
Notes
- Radiant Poker Burners for more
information.
Information Source
I was fortunate in finding an original copy of the Engineering News
article contained in the 1896 journal (Jan to June). It was an eBay purchase and
although it cost me USD150 to buy and ship to England I felt it was worthwhile
to get the original pages to scan. I wasn't aware of the picture at that time,
so I am even more pleased to have that for the additional information.
Original Byers Locomotive Article - 21st May 1896 -
Pages 342 & 343 (ex. libris Susan Parker).
(Click on image for large 1000 pixel version of page 342 -
c. 1.3 MB jpeg file - opens in new window.)
Unfortunately the bound journal
does not include the advertisements, so I have linked this image from the
Geared Steam website.
Engineering News Advertisement, January 1896
- Geared Steam Image.
(N.B. not January 6th as
issue dates were on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd or 30th of that month).
Additional References & Links
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Follow links to "Steam Engine Models"
5BI vertical bottle steam engine,
bore 5/8", stroke 7/8", double acting.
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Link images in this section are linked from their
respective websites - please let me know if they disappear. |
This page last modified on: 2nd July
2007
All information, drawings and images Copyright © 2003-2007 Susan Parker
unless otherwise credited.
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