. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Figure 19.—The Fmvn, A light passenger lgcomotiv'E built by Millholland in 1860. (Chaney neg. 14479.) through the firebox at great speed. Iron fireboxes lasted for 59,866 miles on the average; copper fire- boxes, from 25,373 to 39,254 miles, depending on their construction. Despite the success of his water grate and firebox, a report on the performance of Reading engines for 1857 was not altogether flattering to *' Annual mileage 12,023/ locomotive Cost of repairs per mile ^/ locomotive Cost of coal per mile locomoti
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Figure 19.—The Fmvn, A light passenger lgcomotiv'E built by Millholland in 1860. (Chaney neg. 14479.) through the firebox at great speed. Iron fireboxes lasted for 59,866 miles on the average; copper fire- boxes, from 25,373 to 39,254 miles, depending on their construction. Despite the success of his water grate and firebox, a report on the performance of Reading engines for 1857 was not altogether flattering to *' Annual mileage 12,023/ locomotive Cost of repairs per mile ^/ locomotive Cost of coal per mile locomotive Most American locomotives a\'eraged about 20,000 miles per year and cost about 10 cents per mile for repairs. Fuel cost was a less definite matter since it varied widely from railroad to railroad. A good gen- eral figure for the period, howe\er, is 20 cents per mile for wood. On some roads where wood was scarce or efficiency low, fuel costs were as high as 31 cents per mile. But, in fact, no true comparison can be made, for no cost figures exist for wood-burning locomotives doing the same heavy service as that performed by coal engines on the Reading. Al- though mileage figures for wood engines are plentiful for the 1850s (some ran 30 miles to a cord), little information is a\ailable on train weights. In short, Millholland's 19 miles per ton must be tempered by the knowledge that 700-ton trains were hauled, while the 25-30-mile-per-cord wood burners probably- had hauled trains of no more than 200 ^ In theory, Millholland should have shown better economy than he actually achieved. Coal cost the Reading per ton; wood, $ per cord.'" These fuels were even more disproportionate than indicated by cost, since 1 ton of antliracite is thermally equivalent to 1}> cords of wood. Hence $ worth of coal, if efficiently burned, should do the work of $ worth of wood. Millholland fell far short of this ideal, but he did produce a workable coal burner that pe
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