STEAM ENGINE QUESTIONS.

[crash325]

Steam engines will run in either direction. How are they started to go forward or reverse.

How is water added to the boiler. More presser is needed to get the water in.

Maybe someone on TBN will know.

There were steam tractors, must have needed to back up some times.

 

[mddorange]

I have seen small engines where someone started the flywheel in the direction they wanted it to turn.

On old trains they used reversing the steam flow in the pistons to make it go backwards.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[MossRoad]

I don't think they reversed the flow of steam. They operated a reversing gear. The steam still travels the same direction, but the reversing gear moves an eccentric to make the wheels go in the opposite direction....

Reversing gear - Wikipedia

 

[Industrial Toys]

I always wondered about that too.

I guess for the water, they just use a small displacement pump.

 

[mddorange]

This is the one I was talking about where the steam flow in the piston is reversed: Animated Steam locomotive linkage system - YouTube

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a really old movie with no sound, that explains it really well! It shows the reversing gear. The steam always travels in the same direction. They don't reverse the flow of the steam to make it go in reverse....

 

[MossRoad]

This is the one I was talking about where the steam flow in the piston is reversed: Animated Steam locomotive linkage system - YouTube

The steam flow isn't reversed. Watch at about 23 seconds, they operate the reversing linkage. That changes the direction. The flow of steam stays the same.

 

[MossRoad]

It gives the appearance that the steam is flowing in the opposite direction, but it isn't. It's still going back and forth as before. It's where the linkage pushes on the eccentric that determines the initial start of which direction the wheels are gonna turn, not the direction of steam flow. The steam just goes back and forth back and forth regardless of which direction the train is moving.

 

[MossRoad]

As for how they add water.... they use the pressure of the boiler to push water into the boiler. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? How can one force overcome itself?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I always wondered if one side of a locomotive was 180 degrees opposed to the other side or the same?

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a really good explanation.... the water isn't being pushed in by pressure, it's being rammed in by speed.

 

[MossRoad]

I always wondered if one side of a locomotive was 180 degrees opposed to the other side or the same?

Let's look....

 

[mddorange]

Thanks for the education.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks. It does look like they are 180 degrees apart.

The technology and mass of those machines just blows my mind. I always thought how unfriendly those cabs were as if not designed for humans to spend time in.

 

[/pine]

Think how it must have been down in the engine compartments of big coal fired steamships...(especially in heavy seas)...there are some wicked stories about steam leaks...!

 

[GLyford]

Thanks. It does look like they are 180 degrees apart.

Each side has power on each stroke, forward and back, so one piston is effectively its own 180 degree opposite. So they set the other side's piston at 90 degrees. When setting up the crank, you will hear them talk about "quartering". So two pistons gives 4 strokes per rotation, which is also why they know which direction it is going to turn at any given moment based on the valve timing. At least one piston is in its power stroke and not TDC/BDC at any given time.

 

[MossRoad]

Think how it must have been down in the engine compartments of big coal fired steamships...(especially in heavy seas)...there are some wicked stories about steam leaks...!

My employer sent me to steam school (one day seminar) at a steam controls company. Man, that was an eye opener.... especially the video of a guy in a manhole when a steam pipe burst. 1600:1 expansion ratio when it's let loose! Guy got popped out of the manhole like a cork. He survived and walked away!

Here's the video. You can hear the steam hammer going on and the guys talking about how you couldn't pay them enough to be in that vault. Some guy says to the guy in the hole "Maybe you should set out for a minute." Guy comes half way out and BOOM! WARNING: Strong Language (no $%@#!!!).

 

[Egon]

For the OP.

Feed pump
Slide valve.

[video]https://www.google.ca/search?q=slide+valve+steam&client=safari&hl=en-ca&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYve3ateraAhXMMd8KHfYkBMEQ_AUIESgB&biw=1024&bih=681#imgrc=UcFP_f512RI4WM:[/video]

 

[Industrial Toys]

What blew up? I saw flames.

I put the lance from my Steam Jenny down and it twisted, catching me in the shoulder, wearing only a T-shirt. I have not used it since and REALLY don't like STEAM anymore!