The Locomotive Of Today

The Framing, Wheels, etc. : Springs. 139 the brackets at the ends work upwards. At C a type much used on Continental engines is illustrated. £n this the hanger is not attached by pins, but passes through a hole in the plates, and has blunt knife edges formed upon either side, which bear upon the spring in the hollow made by the top plate being turned back as shown. At D a buckle is shown in which, instead of a rivet as at A to hold the plates, each has a depression upon its lower side and a corresponding projection upon the other, which engages in the depression of the next plate, and the bottom plate has the end of a set bolt screwed into it through the buckle, thus holding all the plates together. At E the plates have the rivet passeel through them only, and not through the buckle, being rivetted up before the buckle is placed in position. A long narrow slot is made in one or both sides of the buckle, so that any defeetive or broken plates may be easily detected. This form of buckle is common on the Continental railways and has advantages in facility for examination. An enlapged sketch of the nib and slot is shown at H. The upper plate has a punch driven into its top side, pressing- out a nib on the under side, which works in a long narrow slot punched out of the next plate ; thus the plates have per- feet freedom to slide along each other as the weight is applied, but cannot slide sideways. The camber or amount of curvature allowed a spring is measured from a straight line through the centre of the end suspending pins, or from the point of support to the top of the top plate, and varies considerably. It should not be too much, as the more camber the less flexibility, and in theory the spring should be about straight when the maximum load is applied; however, in practice it is usual to allow them to have about 3 inches even tlien, as it is easier to get at the hornstays, pins, etc., and have shorter suspending links in many cases. On Continental engines the springs are often made straight, and when the load is applied they form a reverse curve. A coilecl spring of Timmis’ section is shown at F. It is used under an axle box, as illustrated on the frame draw- ing, Fig. 24, two or even three of them being employeel for one box, depending upon the weight to be supported. An enlarged section is shown at G, Fig. 28, in which it will be seen that the Steel has two thick parts, one outside and one inside, with a web connecting them. These thick parts are in different planes to prevent the spring from taking a permanent set, and to give greater resiliency. The outer thick parts are deeper than the inner ones, and alone come in contact when