[N&W] Re: Water Buffalo?

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

 >I hear a Z1 was towing a dead K3  and went about 48 MPH causing the K3's
 >driver to bounce for about 14 miles???  In "Hooters on Blue Ridge" you can
 >see several J's with the arrow on driver #3.  I thin I also saw some on a
 >Pocohontas Glory tape too.

The Z-1 K-3 incident was the one referred to in the A book where the K-3 was
missing all its rods; it had broken a main crankpin and was being hauled
back to Roanoke Shop for repairs.  There was a 25MPH limit for the movement
authorized by the office of the Mechanical Engineer, which was violated.
The K-3 was entitled to bounce under the circumstances.

The only counterbalance arrow in the "Hooters" tape (I just reviewed it,
again) on any locomotive is, indeed, on a J - the 605 sequence at Ada - and
there were no arrows on the #3 counterbalances.

 >
 ><< How an arrow
 > > pointing at the edge of the counterbalance would assist in circumference
 > > measurements is beyond what little mechanical comprehension I have.>>
 >
 >OK.  stop the engine with the arrow pointing straight down. put a mark on
 >the rail.  then move the engine til its pointing down again.  put another
 >mark.  the distance between marks is the circumfrenceof the heavy
 >counterweighted driver.

That's OK, Mark, but if you're going to stop the engine, just take a tape
and measure the circumference.  You must have one with you, so you can
measure between your marks.  Or, if you will accept less accuracy, just take
the diameter and multiply by Pi.

  a 67" driver and a 66.75" driver will have
 >different circumfrences.  measure the distance between the kinks in the
 >rails and find the closest matchs.  of those, look at the times each engine
 >went by the location and compare to when it was first noticed.
 >
 >[Mark Lindsey]


What if you have two engines with drivers the same diameter?  Why don't you
just take the high-speed movies, which is what the arrows were intended
for - to provide a reference point on the wheel where wheel lift is noted?

Don't make it too hard, Mark.  It wasn't.

The Ol' Curmudgeon
Ed King