A history of the growth of the steam-engine . cal, 8 inches in diame-ter and of 2 feet stroke of piston, set in the boiler, anddriving a set of wheels which geared with each other andwith other cogged wheels on the two driving-axles. A feed-water heater surrounded the base of the chimney. Thisengine drew 30 tons on a rising gradient of 10 or 12 feet tothe mile at the rate of 4 miles an hour. This engine provedin many respects defective, and the cost of its operationwas found to be about as great as that of employing horse-power. Stephenson determined to build another engine on asomewhat differ
A history of the growth of the steam-engine . cal, 8 inches in diame-ter and of 2 feet stroke of piston, set in the boiler, anddriving a set of wheels which geared with each other andwith other cogged wheels on the two driving-axles. A feed-water heater surrounded the base of the chimney. Thisengine drew 30 tons on a rising gradient of 10 or 12 feet tothe mile at the rate of 4 miles an hour. This engine provedin many respects defective, and the cost of its operationwas found to be about as great as that of employing horse-power. Stephenson determined to build another engine on asomewhat different plan, and patented its design in Pebru- STEAM-LOCOMOTION ON RAILROADS. 187 ary, 1815. It proved a much more efficient machine thanthe Bltlcher, the first engine. This second engine (Fig. 51) was also fitted with twovertical cylinders, (7 c, but the connecting-rods were at-tached directly to the four driving-wheels, W W. To per-mit the necessary freedom of motion, ball-and-socketjoints were adopted, to unite the rods with the cross-heads,. Fig. 61.—Stephensons Locomotive of 1815. Section. H r, and with the cranks, H Y; and the two driving-axleswere connected by an endless chain, Tt. The cranked axleand the outside connection of the wheels, as specified in thepatent, were not used until afterward, it having been foundimpossible to get the cranked axles made. In this enginethe forced draught obtained by the impulse of the exhaust-steam was adopted, doubling the power of the machine andpermitting the use of coke as a fuel, and making it possibleto adopt the multitubular boiler. Small steam-cylinders,SSS, took the weight of the engine and served as was at about this time that George Stephenson and 188 THE MODERN STEAM-ENGINE. Sir Humphry Davy, independently and almost simultane-ously, invented the safety-lamp, without which few minesof bituminous coal could to-day he worked. The formerused small tubes, the latter fine wire gauze, to intercept theflame. Stephenson pr
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidc, booksubjectsteamengines
