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Bahnbetriebswerk (steam Locomotives)
A ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' (also abbreviated to ''Betriebswerk'', ''Bw'' or ''BW'') is a German railway depot where the maintenance of locomotives and other rolling stock is carried out. It is roughly equivalent to a locomotive shed, running shed or motive power depot. These were of great importance during the steam locomotive era to ensure the smooth running of locomotive-hauled services. ''Bahnbetriebswerke'' had a large number of facilities in order to be able to carry out their various maintenance tasks. As a result, they needed a lot of staff and were often the largest employers in the area. ''The history and present-day importance of such depots is covered in the ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' article.'' __TOC__ Functions Preparation of engines Before a steam locomotive was allowed onto the line, the crew had to carry out a large number of preparatory jobs. In accordance with the enginemen roster, the locomotive crew – engine driver and fireman – reported to the running foreman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locomotive Shed
The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and replenishing water, lubricating oil and grease and, for steam engines, disposal of the ash. There are often workshops for day to day repairs and maintenance, although locomotive building and major overhauls are usually carried out in the locomotive works. (Note: In American English, the term ''depot'' is used to refer to passenger stations or goods (freight) facilities and not to vehicle maintenance facilities.) German practice The equivalent of such depots in German-speaking countries is the ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' or ''Bw'' which has similar functions, with major repairs and overhauls being carried out at ''Ausbesserungswerke''. The number of these reduced drastic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firebox (locomotive)
In a steam engine, the firebox is the area where the fuel is burned, producing heat to boil the water in the boiler. Most are somewhat box-shaped, hence the name. The hot gases generated in the firebox are pulled through a rack of tubes running through the boiler. Steam locomotive fire tube firebox In the standard steam locomotive fire-tube boiler, the firebox is surrounded by water space on five sides. The bottom of the firebox is open to atmospheric pressure, but covered by fire grates (solid fuel) or a firing pan (liquid fuel). If the engine burns solid fuel, like wood or coal, there is a grate covering most of the bottom of the firebox to hold the fire. An ashpan, mounted underneath the firebox and below the grates, catches and collects hot embers, ashes, and other solid combustion waste as it falls through the grates. In a coal-burning locomotive, the grates may be shaken to clean dead ash from the bottom of the fire. They are shaken either manually or (in larger locomotiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, which store treated water close to where it will be used. Other types of water towers may only store raw (non-potable) water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply. Water towers are able to supply water even during power outages, because they rely on hydrostatic pressure produced by elevation of water (due to gravity) to push the water into domestic and industrial water distribution systems; however, they cannot supply the water for a long time without power, because a pump is typically required to refill the tower. A water tower also serves as a reservoir to help with water needs during peak us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hard Water
Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates. Hard drinking water may have moderate health benefits. It can pose critical problems in industrial settings, where water hardness is monitored to avoid costly breakdowns in boilers, cooling towers, and other equipment that handles water. In domestic settings, hard water is often indicated by a lack of foam formation when soap is agitated in water, and by the formation of limescale in kettles and water heaters.World Health OrganizatioHardness in Drinking-Water 2003 Wherever water hardness is a concern, water softening is commonly used to reduce hard water's adverse effects. Origins Natural rainwater, snow and other forms of precipitation typically have low concentrations of multivalent cations such as calcium and magnes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bahnbetriebswerk Diagram
A ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' is the equivalent of a locomotive depot (or motive power depot) on the German and Austrian railways. It is an installation that carries out the maintenance, minor repairs, refuelling and cleaning of locomotives and other motive power. In addition it organises the deployment of locomotives and crews. In the Deutsche Bahn, a ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' is known today as a ''Betriebshof''; the ÖBB refer to it as a ''Zugförderungsstelle'' (''Zf''). Many other countries simply use the term 'depot'. The smaller facility, the ''Lokomotivstation'' (also ''Einsatzstelle'' or ''Lokbahnhof'') akin to the British sub-depot or stabling point, is affiliated to a ''Bahnbetriebswerk''. N.B. The shortened form ''Betriebswerk'' is also used and both are commonly abbreviated to Bw or BW. The plural is ''Bahnbetriebswerke''. History Beginnings On 7 January 1835 the first ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' in Germany was opened. It looked after locomotives on the first railway line in Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotary Snow Plough
A rotary snowplow (American English) or rotary snowplough is a piece of railroad snow removal equipment with a large circular set of blades on its front end that rotate to cut through the snow on the track ahead of it. The precursor to the rotary snowplow was the wedge snowplow. History The rotary was invented in Toronto, Canada, by dentist J.W. Elliot in 1869. He never built a working model or prototype. Orange Jull of Orangeville, Ontario, expanded on Elliot's design, building working models he tested with sand. During the winter of 1883–84, Jull contracted with the Leslie Brothers of Toronto to build a full-size prototype that proved successful. Jull later sold his design rights to Leslie Brothers, who formed the Rotary Steam Shovel Manufacturing Company in Paterson, New Jersey. Leslie Brothers contracted with Cooke Locomotive & Machine Works in Paterson to do the actual construction. Another inventor is said to be Colonel Lewis P. Campbell. He is listed in US patent 1848 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coupling Rods
A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer the power of drive to all wheels. Development Locomotion No. 1 was the first locomotive to employ coupling rods rather than chains. In the 1930s reliable roller bearing coupling rods were developed. Allowance for vertical motion In general, all railroad vehicles have spring suspension; without springs, irregularities in the track could lift wheels off the rail and cause impact damage to both rails and vehicles. Driving wheels are typically mounted so that they have around 1 inch (2.5 cm) of vertical motion. When there are only 2 coupled axles, this range of motion places only slight stress on the crank pins. With more axles, however, provision must be made to allow each axle to move vertically independently of the others without be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connecting Rods
A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the crankshaft. The connecting rod is required to transmit the compressive and tensile forces from the piston. In its most common form, in an internal combustion engine, it allows pivoting on the piston end and rotation on the shaft end. The predecessor to the connecting rod is a mechanic linkage used by water mills to convert rotating motion of the water wheel into reciprocating motion. The most common usage of connecting rods is in internal combustion engines or on steam engines. __TOC__ Origins The predecessor to the connecting length is the mechanical linkage used by Roman-era watermills. The earliest known example of this linkage has been found at the late 3rd century Hierapolis sawmill in Roman Asia (modern Turkey) and the 6th centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tender (rail)
A tender or coal-car (US only) is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel (wood, coal, oil or torrefied biomass) and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so their tenders are necessary to keep them running over long distances. A locomotive that pulls a tender is called a tender locomotive. Locomotives that do not have tenders and carry all their fuel and water on board the locomotive itself are called tank locomotives. A corridor tender is a locomotive tender with a passageway to one side, allowing crew changes on the fly. A brake tender is a tender that is heavy and used (primarily) to provide greater braking efficiency. General functions The largest steam locomotives are semi-permanently coupled by a drawbar to a tender that carries the water and fuel. The fuel source used depends on what is economically available locally. In the UK and parts of Europe, a plentiful supply of coal made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transport. A bogie may remain normally attached (as on many railroad cars and semi-trailers) or be quickly detachable (as the dolly in a road train or in railway bogie exchange); it may contain a suspension within it (as most rail and trucking bogies do), or be solid and in turn be suspended (as most bogies of tracked vehicles are); it may be mounted on a swivel, as traditionally on a railway carriage or locomotive, additionally jointed and sprung (as in the landing gear of an airliner), or held in place by other means (centreless bogies). In Scotland, the term is used for a child’s (usually home-made) wooden cart. While ''bogie'' is the preferred spelling and first-listed variant in various dictionaries, bogey and bogy are also used. Rai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney (or funnel). Early locomotives had no smokebox and relied on a long chimney to provide natural draught for the fire but smokeboxes were soon included in the design for two specific reasons. Firstly and most importantly, the blast of exhaust steam from the cylinders, when directed upwards through an airtight smokebox with an appropriate design of exhaust nozzle, effectively draws hot gases through the boiler tubes and flues and, consequently, fresh combustion air into the firebox. Secondly, the smokebox provides a convenient collection point for ash and cinders ("char") drawn through the boiler tubes, which can be easily cleaned out at the end of a working day. Without a smokebox, all char must ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
