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Duplex Steam Locomotive / Steam discussion
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Well, here's another slight deviation from the discussion, but the mention of the "double" Belpaire boiler in a few posts (which needed a three axle trailing truck) and the height restrictions of the Niagra and the J's of 15'+, all brings a new question to mind: <br /> <br />With today's 20' max height on most mainlines, could it have been concievable for a large firebox design such as the Belpair to ride ontop of a second set of driving wheels? E.g. getting the necessary steam quality/quantity necessary for superpower steam, while at the same time keeping most of the locomotive's weight on the drivers. I know this is getting to be an abstract beyond most of your interests, but bear with me for a moment. <br /> <br />Take the J with the 70" drivers. That's a tad under 6 feet, and we'll assume it as the minimum for speed/drawbar pull optimization. For a 20' clearance, that leaves 14 vertical feet in which to place a large firebox, so let's settle for a max height of 19 feet and 13 vertical feet of firebox to be safe. <br /> <br />1. Is 13' of vertical rise sufficient space to place a large enough firebox to produce the desired steaming quality that superpower loco's demanded? <br />2. Given that a high riding firebox would negatively alter the loco's center of gravity, what more would be needed to keep the COG in an optimum range? <br />3. Other than for firebox support, did superpower steamers need to have a trailing truck for stability, etc.? <br /> <br />If there is room for affirmation to some degree of those three questions, then why not a duplex 4-6-6-0 with the same length of frame as the J's or the Pennsy T1?
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