- Source: Crampton locomotive
A Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company.
Notable features were a low boiler and large driving wheels. The crux of the Crampton patent was that the single driving axle was placed behind the firebox, so that the driving wheels could be very large. This helped to give this design a low centre of gravity, so that it did not require a very broad-gauge track to travel safely at high speeds. Its wheel arrangement was usually 4-2-0 or 6-2-0.
Design variations
Because the single driving axle was behind the firebox, Crampton locomotives usually had outside cylinders. However, some inside cylinder versions were built using indirect drive, then known as a jackshaft. The inside cylinders drove a crankshaft located in front of the firebox and the crankshaft was connected to the driving wheels by outside rods. Some long-wheelbase 0-4-0Ts were also built using this crankshaft system. The boiler feed-pump was often driven from the crankshaft as well because many Cramptons were built before the injector was invented.
Another feature on some Crampton locomotives was the use of a boiler of oval cross-section, to lower the centre of gravity. It was later seen as a major flaw, because the internal pressure would tend to push the boiler into a circular cross-section and increase the risk of fatigue.
Usage
Crampton locomotives were used by some British railways and speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph) were achieved on the LNWR. They were more popular in France, southern Germany and the US. In France the expression "prendre la Crampton" meant to catch an express, and in the argot of the Saint Cyr military academy, footplate staff were known as "officiers de Crampton" (and this as late as 1971). One of the French examples has been preserved in the Cité du Train (the French Railway Museum) at Mulhouse and is still in working order. This is number 80 of the Chemin de Fer de l'Est, the Paris-Strasbourg line, which is named "Le Continent".
The approximate numbers of Crampton-type locomotives built in Europe were:
Great Britain: 51
France: 127
Germany: 135
= Manufactured in Great Britain
=
Built by Tulk and Ley
All were of the 4-2-0 wheel arrangement.
Notes:
Built by Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company built a number of Crampton type locomotives for the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. These were all of 4-2-0 wheel arrangement with inside cylinders and indirect drive. The inside cylinders drove a crankshaft located in front of the firebox and the crankshaft was coupled to the driving wheels by outside rods.
Notes:
Built by Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy
All 4-2-0 except Liverpool which was 6-2-0.
Notes:
Built by E. B. Wilson and Company
Notes:
Built by R and W Hawthorn
Notes:
Other builders
Notes:
= Manufactured in France
=
Notes:
= Manufactured in Germany
=
Notes:
See also
Long Boiler locomotive
6-2-0 for Crampton locomotives in the USA
References
Sources
Baxter, Bertram (1978). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923, Volume 2A: London and North Western Railway and its constituent companies. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company. ISBN 0-903485-51-6.
Bradley, D. L. (1960). The Locomotives of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society.
Bradley, D. L. (1963). The Locomotives of the South Eastern Railway. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society.
Davies, John (July 2001). Chemins de fer de l’Est Locomotive List 1839–1938 (Third ed.). Woodbridge, Queensland: Dr. John Davies. ISBN 0-646-06600-5.
Davies, John (January 1997). Chemins de fer du Nord Locomotive List 1842–1938. Sunnybank, Queensland: Dr. John Davies. ISBN 0-646-30938-2.
Davies, John (1996). Chemins de fer P. L. M. and Constituents Locomotive List 1829–1938. Sunnybank, Queensland: Dr. John Davies. ISBN 0-646-15102-9.
Sharman, M. (1983). The Crampton Locomotive. Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-9509067-0-0.
External links
The Cité du Train museum
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
7.478
No More Posts Available.
No more pages to load.
