| In an unknown magazine in 1944, the Science section article was titled "Steam Turbine Locomotive." Subtitled, "New railroad engine runs more smoothly and efficiently," the article included: The huge locomotive above is a 500-ton threat to the future of the old familiar steam locomotive which has chuffed and pounded its way through a century of American history. It is the Pennsylvania Railroad’s new steam turbine locomotive, first of its kind built in the U.S. This locomotive lacks one of the most impressive features of the conventional engine: the furiously moving complexity of sliding pistons and rods which drive the wheels. The only visible driving apparatus in the steam turbine engine is a single connecting rod on each side. Power in the steam turbine engine is applied through turbine wheels to the middle pair of driving wheels which, through the connecting rod, turn the outer wheels. The working of this new locomotive is described at left. Results of tests show that the steam turbine uses the energy of steam 20% more efficiently than conventional systems. In operation it starts without the familiar jerkiness, accelerates smoothly. Tests also indicate that it decreases pounding of the roadbed and cuts down maintenance work. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works and Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, the locomotive can pull either freight or passenger trains, may be steam’s answer to the growing challenge of the diesel-electric locomotive. Photo shows the PRR steam turbine at the switching turntable at the Harrisburg, PA enginehouse. Considerably longer than the ordinary steam locomotive, it covers 123 feet of track, the tender carries 37 ½ tons of coal, enough to drive the engine about 220 miles. |