Pictures of old steam locomotives show a steam dome atop the boiler, the one closest to the cab with the whistle attached to it. Yet on later versions there is no steam done, at least not obvious to me.
My very limited knowledge of steam locomotive operation makes me believe there has to be a devise where the pressure is created ready to be send down to the steam cylinders.
Where is the steam dome or its replacement?
Nick
NYC's Niagara pushed the overhead clearance of the Hudson Narrows tunnels so hard that the steam dome disappeared! Steam was collected by a horizontal, perforated dry pipe at the top of the boiler (Think French drain) and controlled by a front end throttle in the smoke box. The safeties were mounted in an `inverted dome' depression in the boiler top.
A lot of the volume of the old-fashioned tall steam dome was taken up by an inside-the-dome throttle valve, usually controlled by a rod that ran inside the boiler. Front end throttles and superheating did away with the need for that much volume, and the larger diameters of latter-day boilers seriously reduced the available vertical height for a plumbing-trap type steam intake.
Chuck
tomikawaTT,
Thank you for your reply, that helps
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