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Introduction of the Locomotive Safety Truck Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Paper 24 By: John H. White (1933-) |
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by John H. White
Paper 24 pages 117 131, from
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM
OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Bulletin 228 Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C., 1961
Contributions from
The Museum of History and Technology:
Paper 24 Introduction of
The Locomotive Safety Truck John H. White
INTRODUCTION OF
THE LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY TRUCK John H. White
Pioneer railroading was dangerous. With increased speed and density
of traffic came an increase in catastrophic wrecks that forced
operators to take heed for the safety of their passengers and
freight. This safety was painfully achieved through the slow process
of improving equipment part by part. Antedating such spectacular post Civil War advances as the steel
rail, automatic coupler, and airbrake, was the invention of the
safety truck for locomotives. Intended to lead the bobbing, weaving
locomotive around curves on the rough track of the early roads, it
did much to reduce the all too numerous derailments that were a
major cause of accidents. The Author: John H. White, is associate curator, in charge of land
transportation, in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of History
and Technology, United States National Museum.
American railroads of the early 19th century were cheaply and hastily
built. They were characterized by inferior roadbeds, steep grades, sharp
curves, and rough track. In spring, poor drainage and lack of ballast
might cause the track to sink into the soggy roadbed and produced an
unstable path. In winter this same roadbed could freeze into a hard and
unyielding pavement on which the rolling stock was pounded to pieces. In those pioneering times the demand for new roads left little capital
to improve or expand existing lines; therefore equipment was needed that
could accommodate itself to the existing operating conditions. The first locomotives used in this country had been imported from
England. Designed for well ballasted track with large radius curves and
gentle gradients, they all too frequently left the rails, and the
unsuitability of the essentially rigid British design soon became
apparent. The challenge posed by the American roadbed was met by American
mechanics. By the mid 1830's a distinctive American locomotive had
evolved that might best be described by the word "flexible." The basic
features of its running gear were a bar frame and equalizing levers to
provide vertical relief and a leading truck to provide lateral relief.
Of these devices the truck was probably the most important, and more
readily than any one component distinguished the American running gear
from that used by the British before 1860. [Illustration: FIGURE 1. Design drawing showing the 4 wheel leading
truck, developed in 1831 by John B. Jervis, applied to the Brother
Jonathan . This locomotive, one of the earliest to use a leading truck,
was built in June 1832 by the West Point Foundry Association for the
Mohawk and Hudson Rail Road. The truck is attached to the locomotive
frame by a center pin, but the forward weight of the locomotive is
carried by a roller which bears on the frame of the truck.
( Smithsonian photo 36716 a )] It was John B. Jervis who is generally credited with first applying the
truck to the locomotive. His design, shown in figure 1, was developed in
1831 32. Its merits quickly became apparent, and by 1835 it had been
universally recognized in this country. The truck successfully led the
locomotive around sharp curves, the resultant 3 point suspension enabled
the machine to traverse even the roughest of tracks, and, altogether,
the design did far less damage to the lightly built U.S. lines than did
the rigid, imported engines.[1] The truck frame, fabricated from iron straps and castings, was attached
to the locomotive by a pin around which it might rotate. At first the
weight was received by rollers or chafing pads mounted on the side beams
of the truck... Continue reading book >>
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