Showing posts with label Steam Engines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steam Engines. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Safety Valve


We just learned about the Johnson Bar that controls the train speed.

Another part of a steam locomotive was the Safety Valve.

This was a valve that could be opened to let off steam if the pressure in the steam engine was getting too high.


(from: wikipedia - safety valve)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bearing

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Johnson Bar


We just learned about the Valve Gear.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Johnson Bar, also called the reach rod or reversing lever.

This is a lever that is hooked up to the Valve Gear, and is up in the Cab so that the engineer can push or pull on it to control the speed.

No one really knows why it has the name of Johnson Bar!


(from: wikipedia - johnson bar (locomotive))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Axle

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Valve Gear


We just learned about the Train Whistle.

Another part of a steam engine is the Valve Gear.

This is a gear that is hooked up to the piston that is moving the train along, and lets the engineer open or close it to go faster or slower.

If they open the piston up all the way the train will go faster but will use more fuel.
If they close the piston all the way the train will go slower but will use less fuel.


(from: wikipedia - valve gear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Shaft

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Train Whistle


We just learned about the Cab where the Engineer and Fireman work.

Another part of the steam locomotive is the Train Whistle, also called the air whistle or steam trumpet.

When locomotives started becoming popular, people knew it would be dangerous for a big train to be rolling down the tracks and it was very tough for a train to stop.

The engineers put a whistle on the top of the train and hooked it up so that steam could get blown out of the whistle to make noise.

It was hooked up to a lever, and it could be pulled hard or soft, so it could make a little woo or a big WOOO or even a woo-ahh woo-ahh sound.

Because it made different noises, each engineer could have their own style of blowing the whistle, and people could sometimes figure out who was driving the train based on what the whistle sounded like.

Later on they made the whistles even better and would have 2 or 4 different notes combined to make a nice sounding whistle that could be heard for miles.

The engineers used the whistle to tell people the train was getting ready to go, to warn someone at a crossing that the train was coming, and also to let people at the train stations know they were coming.


(from: wikipedia - train whistle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pulley

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Cab - Engineer and Fireman


We just learned about the Tender.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Cab.

This is where the engineer and the fireman are at.
The engineer or driver is the person who uses all the controls to make the locomotive go faster or slower, and to help control the engine.

The fireman is the person who is in charge of the fire that keeps the train going.
So he has to shovel coal from the coal bunker into the engine, and also help refill the water compartment for the steam.




(from: wikipedia - cab (locomotive))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sprocket

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Tender


We just learned about the Fire-Tube Boiler.

Let's go step by step and learn all the parts of a working steam locomotive!

One part of the locomotive is the Tender, or coal car.

This is a big box that is pulled behind the engine that is full of the fuel that the locomotive needs to run.
It can be full of wood, coal or oil, and it also is full of water that is used for the steam.

Usually the water was on the bottom of the tender, in a place called the water compartment.
The coal or other fuel was on top in a place called the coal bunker.

The engines used a lot of water, which is why railroads came up with places to refill with water using big cranes when they stopped at train stations.



(from: wikipedia - tender (rail))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gear

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Fire-Tube Boiler


We just learned about the Locomotion No. 1.

Another part of how steam locomotives work is the Fire-Tube Boiler.

A boiler is a big tank of water that is heated up to where the water boils and turns to steam.
There are a lot of different kinds of boilers, and the one called a fire-tube boiler was the one most used by steam locomotives to run the engine.

It's called a fire-tube boiler because there are a bunch of metal tubes that take in heat from a fire and then the heated up tubes make the water hot.

The hot water then turns to steam that is used with a steam pump to drive the gears that turn the wheels of the train.



(from: wikipedia - fire-tube boiler)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Motor

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Locomotion No. 1


We just learned about the Salamanca steam locomotive.

Another famous steam locomotive was called Locomotion No. 1, made by George and Robert Stephenson in 1825 in England.

This was the first steam locomotive that was used to bring people along in passenger cars.

The first time this locomotive was put to the test it hauled 11 wagons of coal, and special passenger carriage, and then 20 more wagons that were filled with people.

The train could go about 12 miles per hour, and it took the people on a 10 mile trip from Shildon to Darlington.



(from: wikipedia - locomotion no. 1)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Machines

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Salamanca


We just learned about the Pen-y-Darren Locomotive.

Another part of the history of locomotives is the Salamanca steam locomotive, built in 1812 by Matthew Murray from England.

Even though people were figuring out how to make steam engines and hook them up to boats and wheels, it took a while for anyone to make one that worked really well on a train track.

Even before there were locomotives, people made metal tracks for carts that would be pulled by horses.
It wasn't until Murray made the Salamanca in 1812, that someone would make a locomotive that was actually used for people to haul big heavy loads around and do some work.

The Pen-y-Darren locomotive was built in 1802, so for 10 years people mostly just saw these steam engines as an interesting invention, but did not put the engines to work yet.

The Salamanca ran on a rack and pinion track, which means the wheels were gears that worked on a track with teeth that it would go along.


(from: wikipedia - salamanca (locomotive))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fire Investigation

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Pen-y-Darren Locomotive


We just learned about the steam wagon Cugnot's - Fardier à vapeur.

Another early steam engine was the Pen-y-Darren Locomotive.

Just like the steam boat and steam car, people mostly wanted to use steam power to move very heavy things from one place to another.
The big difference between boats, cars and trains was that the train didn't need a steering wheel to make sure it was going the right way, it would just go along the rails carrying its big load.

In 1802 a man from England named Richard Trevithick built a steam engine to be put on metal rails and carry a lot of weight.
It had a steam cylinder hooked up to a rotative beam engine, using a sun and planet style gear to turn the wheels.

To test his locomotive, he had it carry ten tons of iron, which is about 20,000 pounds.
It went about 10 miles and went a little over 2 miles per hour.

This wasn't very fast, about as fast as someone walking.
But it was like someone walking carrying a few giant elephants on their shoulders, so people were very impressed!

His steam engine did not become very popular, but it did help other people in the future learn how to make steam engines that would become the locomotives we know about from history.


(from: wikipedia - richard trevithick)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tire Skid Marks

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Cugnot's - Fardier à vapeur


We just learned about the North River Steamboat.

Another part of the history of steam engines is Cugnot's - Fardier à vapeur.

A lot of people made steam powered boats that many people liked.
But it took a lot longer for people to make steam powered engines on wheels that people liked.

The first known steam powered engine on wheels was made by a French man named Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, and he called it the "machine à feu pour le transport de wagons et surtout de l'artillerie" which is French for "fire engine for transporting wagons and especially artillery".

Since that's a long name, people just called it the "Fardier à vapeur" which means "Steam wagon".

He built it in 1769, but not a lot of people used it.
It went about 2 miles per hour, and could carry about 2 tons of weight.

Because it was very slow and broke down a lot, it was not very popular, and steam wagons like this were not used a lot for a long time.


(from: wikipedia - nicolas-joseph cugnot)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Podiatry

Thursday, June 4, 2020

North River Steamboat


We just learned about the Sun and Planet Gear.

Another part of early machines was the North River Steamboat, also called the Clermont.

After all the pieces were invented to make a working steam engine, people started to try and use them to move things around.

In 1807 in New York, the North River Steamboat was built to take people along the Hudson River from New York City to Albany.

The boat was 142 feet long, and went about 5 miles per hour on the river.
It went about 150 miles, and took about 30 hours to make the trip!
Today in a car that takes about 2 hours, but back then it was a big deal.



(from: wikipedia - north river steamboat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Epidemiology

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Sun and Planet Gear


We just learned about the Rotative Beam Engine.

Another part of the early steam engines is the Sun and Planet Gear.

After the rotative beam engine came up with a way to have a beam go up and down and spin a wheel around,
it was hooked up to a type of gear called a sun and planet gear.

It was called that because one gear goes around the other, kind of like a planet going around the sun.




(from: wikipedia - sun and planet gear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Entomology

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Rotative Beam Engine


We just learned about the Newcomen Engine.

Another part of steam engine history is Rotative Beam Engine.

After the Newcomen Engine was built, people worked to make it even better.

In the old types of engines, the big rod that was moved by the steam was just pushed up and down.
For a rotative beam engine, one end of the beam uses a type of crank or gear to spin a wheel around.

This moving wheel could be used as a wheel to paddle a boat, or a wheel to move a train.


(from: wikipedia - beam engine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Dentistry

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Newcomen Engine


We just learned about the Steam Pump.

Another part of the history of steam engines is the Newcomen Engine.

In 1712 in England, Thomas Newcomen took the idea of the Steam Pump and made his own type of steam engine.

He had a big tank full of water called a boiler that was being heated up by a coal fire underneath.
The water would boil and make steam that was let up into another smaller cylinder tank.
That steam would expand and push up on a piston that was hooked to a big long beam.
The beam was like a see-saw, and when the one side got pushed up, the other side was pushed down.

After the steam had filled the cylinder, a plug valve would be closed so no more steam would come in, and another tank of cold water would splash some cold water onto the steam.
This created a vacuum, which sucked the piston back down, pulling the beam down, and pulling the other side of the beam up.

With this steam engine, it would rock the beam back and forth like a see-saw.
The other end of the beam was hooked up to a pump to help pull water out of mines that were flooded.

At first the plugs had to be opened by a person called the "plug man" who would run around and pull the plugs at just the right time.
Later someone figured out a way to use a board with some chains on it called a "plug tree" with weights on it that would automatically open and close the valves.



(from: wikipedia - newcomen atmospheric engine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Botany

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Steam Pump


We just learned about the Steam Cylinder.

Another invention that led up to the steam locomotive was the Steam Pump.

A man named Thomas Savery came up with an invention that could help pump water up out of a flooded mine, or help pump water to be sprayed or brought to a town that needed it.

His invention called the Savery Engine had a furnace that would heat up water to make steam in one place.
This steam had high pressure and helped pump out.
Then a valve would be opened to let some hot steam out, and the tank would get splashed with water.
This would cool down the steam and make it get smaller, which created a vacuum that sucked back in.

It wasn't an engine with moving parts like a car engine, but the pushing out and sucking in helped people understand how steam could be used to make an engine.


(from: wikipedia - thomas savery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Anthropology

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Steam Cylinder


We just learned about the Vacuum Pump.

Another part of the history of steam engines is the Steam Cylinder.

One inventor named Denis Papin had the idea to have a tube or a cylinder with hot water in it.
He found out that when you heated up the hot water, the pressure got really high with the steam and air pushing very hard on the walls of the cylinder.

This was the opposite of the vacuum pump, where it was sucking in, this was air pushing out.
He got the idea to have a pole or a piston that could be pushed out when the steam was heated up.
This piston could be used to push something up like a big machine.

So if the steam cooled down, the piston would go down.
If the steam heated up, the piston would go up.


(from: wikipedia - denis papin)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Anthropology

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Vacuum Pump


We just learned about the Steam Turbine.

Let's learn a little about how steam engines work.
First we need to learn a few other things that people discovered before they could make a steam vacuum.

One thing people discovered was the Vacuum Pump.

A long time ago people didn't understand a long time ago was how a vacuum worked.
Not like the vacuum cleaner that sucks dirt up from the floor, but a vacuum like a ball or a tube that is so empty that it has suction holding itself closed.

You can think about this like a plastic pop bottle that you suck air out of.
As soon as you let go, it will suck the air in and fill itself up again.

Back in 1654 people didn't understand this, so a man named Otto von Guericke came up with an experiment to show them.
He took two half circles made of metal, called the magdeburg hemispheres, and put them together like a closed ball.
Then he used a pump to suck out all of the air from inside, creating what is called a vacuum.

A vacuum is a space that has no air, or very little air.
Because he used a pump to do this, it was called a vacuum pump.

After that he challenged people to try and pull the half circles apart, but not even teams of horses could do it.
This understanding of how a vacuum works was one of the things that helped people invent steam engines.


(from: wikipedia - magdeburg hemispheres)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Firearm Examination