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Here is an interesting question I haven't been able to come up with an answer for. Perhaps one of the older railheads can help me out. In a compound mallet, steam first enters the rear smaller chamber to power the rear set of drivers. As it is exhausted, it is passed, under reduced temperature and pressure (some of the energy having been used to move the piston) into the larger forward cylinders, where it is used and then expelled. Now my question, how does this work? The first part is easy; however once the steam exits the first set of cylinders, it must exert a back pressure on the first cylinder as it enters the front cylinders, reducing the efficiency of the movement of the first piston. Once the steam is in the front cylinder, it pushes the larger cylinder to drive the front drivers, then is expelled against what is minimal pressure. So simply, at least as I see it, the steam entering the back cylinders moves the drivers and forces the ejected steam into the front cylinder. This seems to be a big waste of energy reducing the efficiency of the locomotive. So how do they compensate for the back pressure? Is there somekind of reheating of the steam for the second use and a one way valve. Can anyone help me with this one?
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