1.
4-6-2
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The 4-6-2 locomotive became almost globally known as a Pacific type. The introduction of the 4-6-2 design in 1901 has been described as a milestone in locomotive progress. Nevertheless, new Pacific designs continued to be built until the mid-1950s, the type is well-suited to high speed running. The world speed record for steam traction of 126 miles per hour has been held by a British Pacific locomotive, the two earliest 4-6-2 locomotives, both created in the United States of America, were experimental designs which were not perpetuated. In 1889, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway rebuilt a conventional 4-6-0 with trailing wheels as a means of reducing its axle load, in 1896, six Q class 4-6-2 tank locomotives were introduced on the Western Australian Government Railways. Even before Baldwin had completed the order from New Zealand, their engineers realised the advantages of the new type, the design was soon widely adopted by designers throughout the world. There are different opinions concerning the origin of the name Pacific, the design was a natural enlargement of the existing Baldwin 4-4-2 Atlantic type, but the type name may also be in recognition of the fact that a New Zealand designer had first proposed it. Usually, however, new arrangements were named for, or named by. In the case of the Pacific, that was the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1902, the Pacific type was used on mainline railways around the world. During the first half of the 20th century, the Pacific rapidly became the predominant passenger steam power in North America, between 1902 and 1930, about 6,800 locomotives of the type were built by North American manufacturers for service in the United States and Canada. With exported locomotives included, about 7,300 were built in total, about 45% of these were built by the American Locomotive Company which became the main builder of the type, and 28% by Baldwin. Large numbers were used in South America, most of which were supplied by manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Africa was the continent upon which the Pacific was regularly used. The earliest African examples were built in the United Kingdom by Kitson, within a few weeks, these were followed by a German Pacific type that, although already designed in 1905, only entered service in late 1907. The next was a British type, introduced in January 1908, by the outbreak of the First World War, the type was being widely used on the railways of Continental Europe. The Pacific type was introduced into Asia in 1907, the year that it was first used in Europe. By the 1920s, Pacifics were being used by many throughout the Asian continent. In 1923, the Pacific gave its name to Arthur Honeggers orchestral work, Pacific 231, during the first two decades of the 20th century, the Pacific wheel arrangement enjoyed limited popularity on tank locomotives
2.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
3.
3 ft 6 in gauge railways
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Railways with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in/1,067 mm were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. From the mid-nineteenth century, the 3 ft 6 in gauge became widespread in the British Empire, there are approximately 112,000 kilometres of 1,067 mm gauge track in the world. 1795 One of the first railways to use 3 ft 6 in gauge was the Little Eaton Gangway in England, other 3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways in England and Wales were also built in the early nineteenth century. 1862 In 1862 the Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl constructed the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Norway,1865 In 1865 the Queensland Railways were constructed. Its 3 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by the Irish engineer Abraham Fitzgibbon,1868 In 1868 Charles Fox asks civil engineer Edmund Wragge to survey a 3 ft 6 in railway in Costa Rica. 1871 In 1871 the Canadian Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway,1872 In January 1872 Robert Fairlie advocated the use of 3 ft 6 in gauge in his book Railways Or No Railways, Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance. 1872 also saw the opening of the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Japan,1873 On 1 January 1873, the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway was opened in New Zealand, constructed by the British firm John Brogden and Sons. Earlier built 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in and broad gauge railways were converted to the narrower gauge. Also in 1873 the Cape Colony adopted the 3 ft 6 in gauge, after conducting several studies in southern Europe, the Molteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges. Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger, the Cape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa. 1876 Natal also converted its short 10 kilometres long Durban network from 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in broad gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the colony in 1876. Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, after 1876 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous 3 ft 6 in gauge tram systems were built in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge. An alternate name for this gauge, Cape gauge, is named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, the term Cape Gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutch kaapspoor, German Kapspur, Norwegian kappspor and French voie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as 1065 mm instead of 1067 mm, the gauge is sometimes referred to as CAP gauge, after C. A. The gauge name Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand, in Australia the imperial term 3 foot 6 inch is used. In some Australian publications the term medium gauge is also used, in Japan 1,067 mm gauge is referred to as kyōki, which directly translates as narrow gauge. It is defined in metric units, Cape Government Railways Heritage railway List of track gauges Norwegian gauge controversy South African Trains – A Pictorial Encyclopaedia Why Did Japan Choose the 36 Narrow Gauge
4.
Driving wheel
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On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotives pistons. On diesel and electric locomotives, the wheels may be directly driven by the traction motors. Coupling rods are not usually used, and it is common for each axle to have its own motor. Jackshaft drive and coupling rods were used in the past but their use is now confined to shunting locomotives, on an articulated locomotive or a duplex locomotive, driving wheels are grouped into sets which are linked together within the set
5.
Valve gear
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It can also serve as a reversing gear. It is sometimes referred to as the motion, in the simple case, this can be a relatively simple task as in the internal combustion engine in which the valves always open and close at the same points. A further benefit may be obtained by admitting the steam to the cylinder slightly before front or back dead centre and this advanced admission assists in cushioning the inertia of the motion at high speed. Instead, a system of eccentrics, cranks and levers is used to control a D slide valve or piston valve from the motion. Generally, two simple harmonic motions with different fixed phase angles are added in varying proportions to provide a motion that is variable in phase. A variety of mechanisms have been devised over the years. Both slide and piston valves have the limitation that intake and exhaust events are fixed in relation to each other, lap is provided on steam edges of the valve, so that although the valve stroke reduces as cutoff is advanced, the valve is always fully opened to exhaust. However, as cutoff is shortened, the exhaust events also advance, the exhaust release point occurs earlier in the power stroke and compression earlier in the exhaust stroke. Early release wastes some energy in the steam, and early closure also wastes energy in compressing an otherwise unnecessarily large quantity of steam and these inefficiencies drove the widespread experimentation in poppet valve gears for locomotives. Intake and exhaust poppet valves could be moved and controlled independently of each other, a very late British design, the SR Leader class, used sleeve valves adapted from internal combustion engines, but this class was not a success. In stationary steam engines, traction engines and marine engine practice, in stationary engines trip valves were also extensively used. Valve gear was a field of invention, with probably several hundred variations devised over the years. However, only a number of these saw any widespread use. They can be divided into those that drove the standard reciprocating valves, those used with poppet valves, slip-eccentric - This gear is now confined to model steam engines, and low power hobby applications such as steam launch engines, ranging to a few horsepower. The eccentric is loose on the crankshaft but there are stops to limit its rotation relative to the crankshaft, the engine is pushed forwards to put the eccentric in the forward gear position and backwards to put it in the backward gear position. There is no control of cutoff. These included the Teutonic, Greater Britain and John Hick classes, gab or hook gear - used on earliest locomotives. Allowed reversing but no control of cutoff, one component of the motion comes from a crank or eccentric
6.
Queensland Rail
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Queensland Rail, also known as QR, is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates suburban and long-distance passenger services and it also owns and maintains approximately 8,000 kilometres of track in Queensland. Queensland Railways was the first operator in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a line. The colony of Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859, improved transport to the fertile Darling Downs region situated west of Toowoomba was seen as a priority. Called the Main Line, the only significant engineering work on that section was the bridge over the Bremer River to North Ipswich. The adoption of narrow gauge was controversial at the time, and was predicated by the governments desire for the fastest possible construction timeframe at least cost. In a colony with a population of 30,000 when the decision was made. Queensland Rail went on to develop a network of railways to facilitate the economic and social development of the state. Commencing in November 1979 the Brisbane suburban network was electrified, in 1978, discussions were commenced on possible electrification of the Blackwater and Goonyella coal networks. This was due to an increase in coal traffic across the networks, ageing diesel-electric locomotive fleet. By early 1983, a decision had made to electrify the networks and by early 1984 contracts were already starting to be let for the new locomotives. The decision was made to electrify with the 25 kV AC railway electrification system as used on the Brisbane suburban network and this would allow future connection of the Brisbane network with the coal networks via the North Coast line. This was a total of 720 kilometres of track and this was a total of 773 kilometres of track. Stage 3, Electrification of the western line from Burngrove to Emerald. This would allow freight from Rockhampton to Emerald. Stage 4, Electrification of the line from Newlands coal mine to Collinsville, in 1986 it was decided to electrify the North Coast line between Brisbane and Gladstone instead and this became known as Stage 4. In September 1999 Queensland Rail was rebranded as QR, in March 2002 Queensland Rail purchased Northern Rivers Railroad and rebranded it Interail, fulfilling a long held ambition of to expand beyond its state borders. In March 2003 Queensland Rail entered the Hunter Valley coal market when Interail commenced a contract from Duralie Colliery to Stratford Mine, another coal contract was won in late 2003 for the haulage of coal from Newstan Colliery, Fassifern to Vales Point Power Station
7.
Vulcan Foundry
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The Vulcan Foundry Limited was a British locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. Because of the distance from the works in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it seemed preferable to build. In 1832, Robert Stephenson became a partner for a few years, the company had become The Vulcan Foundry Company in 1847 and acquired limited liability in 1864. From the beginning of 1898, the name changed again to The Vulcan Foundry Limited, the site had its own railway station, Vulcan Halt, on the former Warrington and Newton Railway line from Earlestown to Warrington Bank Quay. The halt was opened on 1 November 1916 by the London and North Western Railway and this list claims that the first two locomotives were 0-4-0 Tayleur and Stephenson built in 1833 for Mr Hargreaves, Bolton, but this seems unlikely. The earliest authenticated products were 0-4-0 Titan and Orion, similar to Stephensons design, other early orders came from the Leicester and Swannington Railway and there were also some 4-2-0s for America which were among the first British bogie locomotives. From 1835 the company was selling to Belgium, France, and in 1836 to Austria and Russia, the companys locomotives had a strong Stephenson influence, many during the following decade being of the long boiler design. In 1852 the first locomotives ever to run in India were supplied to the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, a number of Fairlie locomotives were built, including Taliesin for the Ffestiniog Railway and Josephine one of the NZR E class. During 1870 the company supplied the first locos to run in Japan, a number of Matthew Kirtleys double-framed goods engines were also produced for the Midland Railway. The healthy export trade continued, particularly to India and South America, the most notable design manufactured for an overseas railway during this period was the large 4-8-4 built for the Chinese National Railways in 1934-35. These fine locomotives were equipped with a stoker and six of them were fitted with booster engines on the tender. Of the 24 exported, one returned to the UK and is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York, during 1953-54 the company built sixty J Class 2-8-0 locomotives for Victorian Railways, Australia. From 1939 the works was mostly concerned with the war effort, becoming involved in the development, from 1943 large orders were received from the Ministry of Supply for locomotives,390 Austerity 2-8-0s and fifty Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tanks. In 1944 the Vulcan Foundry acquired Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns and in 1945 received an order for 120 Liberation 2-8-0 locomotives for UNRRA in Europe, the war had left Indias railways in a parlous state and in 1947, with foreign aid, embarked on a massive rebuilding plan. Not only was the competition fierce from other countries, but India had developed the ability to build its own locomotives, the company had experience of both diesel and electric locomotives, having built thirty-one so-called Crocodile 2600 hp 1, 500V DC electric banking locomotives in 1929 for India. Indias National Railway Museum in New Delhi exhibits a locomotive from the Vulcan foundry. In 1931, the company supplied the first experimental diesel shunter to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. In 1936 Vulcan, a diesel-mechanical 0-6-0 shunter with a Vulcan-Frichs 6-cylinder 275 hp diesel engine was loaned to the LMS, and was used by the War Department
8.
Newton-le-Willows
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Newton-le-Willows, formerly Newton-in-Makerfield, is a market town in Merseyside, England. The population of the town taken at the 2011 census was 22,114, the name Newton means new town, while Makerfield is an ancient name for the district from a pre-English word meaning wall, and the English word field. Neweton was mentioned in the Domesday Book, in Makerfield was added to distinguish it from other Newtons and recorded as Makeresfeld in 1205 and 1351, as Makefeld in 1206, Makerefeld in 1213 and Makerfield since 1242. Before the Norman conquest, Newton was head of a hundred, the Domesday hundred was assessed at five hides one of which included Newton. The lord of the manor was Edward the Confessor at his death in 1066, the Newton Hundred was subsequently combined with the Warrington and Derby Hundreds to form the West Derby Hundred. It was a village, albeit with borough status, until the arrival of the railways in 1830. There was some industry, there are five cotton spinners recorded in an 1825 directory, the town also developed into a major coal mining area, being on the South Lancashire Coalfield. The fields between Newton and Winwick were the site of one of the last battles of the Second English Civil War, Newtons history since the 19th century has been very closely linked with the railway industry. The Vulcan Foundry was opened in 1831 and later developed one of the worlds foremost locomotive manufacturers. Vulcan Village, the southernmost suburb of Newton was developed to house workers from the foundry and has in recent years become a conservation area, the western area of the town, Earlestown also developed with the coming of the railways. Earlestown was also built as a village, but for the Viaduct Foundry. Since Victorian times, Earlestown has been the area of the town. Between Earlestown and the Vulcan Village is the residential suburb of Wargrave. There is a memorial at the spot where the accident happened, a modern bridge in the town centre is named in memory of Huskisson. Newton has two railway stations. Newton-le-Willows railway station is in the old part of town and Earlestown railway station. They are two of the oldest railway stations in existence, Earlestown was an important junction where the original Liverpool and Manchester line was joined by the 1837 line running south to Birmingham. Two other local railway related landmarks are Newton Viaduct and the Sankey Viaduct which is known as the Nine Arches
9.
Walkers Limited
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Walkers Limited was an Australian engineering company, based in Maryborough, Queensland. It built ships and railway locomotives, the Walkers factory still produces railway locomotives and rolling stock as part of Downer Rail. In 1863 John Walker and three set up the Union Foundry of John Walker & Co in Ballarat. In 1867 a branch was opened in Maryborough, the Ballarat assets were disposed of in 1879 and in 1884, the business became a limited company under the title John Walker & Co Limited, being renamed Walkers Limited in 1888. The company produced most of the parts for machinery at sugar mills, in 1980 Walkers Limited was sold to Evans Deakin Industries. It was included in the purchase of Evans Deakin by Downer Group in March 2001, in 2003 Bundaberg Foundry Engineers completed the acquisition of the Walkers Sugar Business and moved to change the operating name to Bundaberg Walkers Engineering in January 2008. In 1884, the firm began work on 5 hopper barges for the Queensland Department of Harbours & Rivers, during construction the decision was taken to convert them to also serve as Auxiliary Gunboats, which made them the largest warships built in Australia before federation. During World War II, Walkers constructed two River class frigates, a Bay class frigate and seven Bathurst class corvettes, in addition to smaller vessels. Post war naval contracts included seven Attack class patrol boats in the late 1960s, after the completion of the latter, Walkers Maryborough shipyard closed in 1974. The first major contract for locomotives came in 1896, when an order for thirty B15 class steam locomotives was placed by Queensland Railways, in the 1960s Walkers offered a diesel-hydraulic unit to Queenslands sugar operators. Although not successful, it did six to BHP, Whyalla from 1962. It had more success with its DH class shunter with over 130 built for Queensland Rail, the New South Wales Government Railways, Emu Bay Railway and Western Australian Government Railways
10.
Maryborough, Queensland
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Maryborough /ˈmɛrəbərə/ is a city located on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia, approximately 255 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is served by the Bruce Highway and it is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is approximately 30 kilometres northeast. Together they form part of the known as the Fraser Coast. At June 2015 Maryborough had an urban population of 27,846. The city was the location for the 2013 Australian Scout Jamboree, Maryborough was founded in 1847, was proclaimed a municipality in 1861, and became a city in 1905. During the second half of the 1800s, the city was a port of entry to immigrants arriving in Queensland from all parts of the world. The name was derived from the Mary River which was named in 1847 after Lady Mary Lennox the wife of Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, Lady Mary was killed in a coach accident very soon after, devastating Sir Charles. Coal had been discovered at Burrum,25 km north of Maryborough, the line was extended to Bundaberg in 1888 so coal could be shipped there as well. When the Burrum line was built, it junctioned from the Maryborough line at Baddow,3 km from the station, creating a triangular junction, with platforms ultimately being provided on all three sides. Maryborough station was situated adjacent to the commercial centre of the city. When through trains commenced running from Brisbane to Bundaberg and beyond, trains ran into Maryborough, a steam locomotive was attached to the other end of the train. Once diesel locomotives were introduced, there was no need to replace engines, a one carriage connecting service was provided from Maryborough to meet the through train at Baddow, and then return. The situation was resolved with the opening of the Maryborough West bypass in 1988. Australias only outbreak of plague occurred in Maryborough in 1905. At the time Maryborough was Queenslands largest port—a reception centre for wool, meat, timber, sugar, subsequently, five of the seven OConnell children, two nurses, and a neighbour died from the disease. There were no more cases but the fear, panic, and hysteria totally consumed the town. A memorial fountain was built in the grounds of the City Hall and dedicated to the nurses, Cecelia Bauer, the foundation stone of Maryborough War Memorial was laid on 22 May 1921 by Lieutenant Colonel James Durrant. It was dedicated on 19 November 1922, Maryborough is the self-styled Heritage City of Queensland and holds heritage markets each Thursday
Media related to Queensland BB18¼ class locomotives at Wikimedia Commons