HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Klien-Lindner axle (German: ''Klien-Lindner-Hohlachse'') is a special type of hollow driving axle on
steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
that enable better curve running due to its ability to slide transversely. It was developed by the German engineers, Ewald Klien and Heinrich Lindner, of the
Royal Saxon State Railways The Royal Saxon State Railways (german: Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen) were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918. From 1918 until their merger into the Deutsche Reichsbahn the title 'Royal' was d ...
(''Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen'').


Design features

The Klien-Lindner axle uses a double, or hollow, axle, one inside the other. It has a hollow axle (''Hohlachse'') on the outside, connected at its centre by a Cardan joint to a fixed driving axle running through it. The Cardan joint comprises two spherical elements that are interlinked - a solid one on the fixed axle and a hollow one on the outer hollow axle, each oriented at 90° to the other that transfer the driving forces from the rigid axle to the hollow one. The hollow spheroid acts as a sort of link motion. In this way the hollow axle can be turned by the fixed axle. In addition, the connecting link is shaped so that the axles can slide relative to one another, parallel to their axes, to a small extent. The degree to which the hollow axle can swivel is set by the outer diameter of the fixed axle and the internal diameter of the hollow one. This system is used on steam locomotives with fixed outer frames and
coupled axles On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled to ...
. Typically the conventionally driven wheels are in the centre and there are outer Klien-Lindner axles, front and rear. In this way the wheels, which are fixed to the hollow axles, are 'steered' by shafts that pivot on the frame when the locomotive is curve running.
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 ...
from the conventional driving wheels in the centre act on drive cranks on the inner axles fixed to the frame. In spite of their relatively simple design Klien-Lindner axles were not widely used. Derailments were common when they were used as leading axles. The axles often caused uneven, jerky running as a result of the resistance forces that arise from this type of Cardan joint, and they were expensive to maintain, something which was not offset by the reduced wear and tear on wheel flanges and rails.


Examples

Several locomotives of this type were ordered for the
Matheran Hill Railway The Matheran Hill Railway (MHR) is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, India, which is administered by the Central Railway. It covers a distance of , cutting a swathe through forest and connecting Neral to Matheran in the Western ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, which has curves as sharp as , traversed at a speed of . Consulting engineer
Everard Calthrop Everard Richard Calthrop (3 March 1857 – 30 March 1927) was a British railway engineer and inventor. Calthrop was a notable promoter and builder of narrow-gauge railways, especially of narrow gauge, and was especially prominent in India. His ...
designed a 0-6-0T with Klien-Lindner articulated coupled axles to provide a flexible wheelbase, and four were supplied by
Orenstein & Koppel Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876 in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. Ori ...
. Steam locomotives with Klien-Lindner axle are still widely used for narrow gauge sugarcane railway in Java, Indonesia. Locomotives with Klien-Lindner hollow axles (selection): * BBÖ Kh * DR Class 99.331 (''Brigadelok'') * HF 210 E, a military field locomotive * MLR Class ML, used on the Matheran Hill Railway. *
Prussian T 37 The Prussian T 37s were German steam locomotives operated by the Prussian state railways. They replaced the smaller locomotives on the railway line between Beuthen and Kattowitz. In all 20 engines were supplied to Prussia, of which eight were ta ...
* Nos. 1 to 3 of the Rosenberg–Korytnica branch line *
Saxon I K The Saxon I K (one-K) were a class of German narrow-gauge locomotives of the Royal Saxon State Railways (''Königlich Sächsischen Staatseisenbahnen, K.Sä.St.E.'') with a track gauge of . In 1925, Deutsche Reichsbahn grouped these locomoti ...
(some) *
Saxon V K The Saxon Class V K were German narrow gauge steam locomotives operated by the Royal Saxon State Railways which had been primarily intended for the '' Müglitztalbahn''. In 1925 the Deutsche Reichsbahn incorporated arranged these locomotives as D ...
*
Saxon XV HTV The Saxon Class XV \textstyle \mathfrakT\textstyle \mathfrak was a class of goods train steam locomotive operated by the Royal Saxon State Railways, which had been conceived for hauling trains and acting as pusher locomotive, banking engines for r ...
*
Saxon IX V The Saxon Class IX \textstyle \mathfrak was a class of German, eight-coupled, tender locomotives built for the Royal Saxon State Railways (''Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen'') for goods train duties. History These steam locomotives w ...
* ''GLÜCKAUF'' and ''TRUSETAL'' of the ''Trusebahn''


Literature

* Deutsches Reichspatent DRP 27.892 und 68.932, 1893 * Lionel Wiener: ''Articulated Locomotives'' Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha 1970


See also

* Heywood radiating axle locomotives *
Klose-Lenkwerk Adolf Klose (21 May 1844 – 2 September 1923) was the chief engineer of the Royal Württemberg State Railways in southern Germany from June 1885 to 1896. Klose was born in Bernstadt auf dem Eigen, in Saxony. Before his taking up his post in Stu ...
*
Minimum railway curve radius The minimum railway curve radius is the shortest allowable design radius for the centerline of railway tracks under a particular set of conditions. It has an important bearing on construction costs and operating costs and, in combination with ...
*
Trench railways Trench railways represented military adaptation of early 20th-century railway technology to the problem of keeping soldiers supplied during the static trench warfare phase of World War I. The large concentrations of soldiers and artillery at the f ...
* Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway steam locomotive number 19


References


External links


English description with clear photographs and diagrams

Hungarian locomotive of 1916

forums.lrpresse.fr
{{Locomotive running gear Steam locomotive technologies Train axles Articulated locomotives