them to carry out the system of smokeless firing successfully. In the first place, every effort is made to purchase coal of uniform quality, so that the draft appliances can be adjusted and kept right. The coal is all cracked before being put upon the tender, the flues are kept clean and free from leakage, the grates are kept in first-class condition, a good brick arch is in the firebox, and bell ringers are on most of the engines to relieve the fireman from the work of ringing the bell. He has practically nothing to do but attend to the fire. I took the stand that unless a railroad company did as much to help the enginemen as was done by the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern people, they could not expect to see smokeless firing made a success. When any railroad company endeavors to give similar aid 35 of causes, yet the men were expected to operate them without smoke. The coal was bad and was dumped upon the tender as it came from the mine, the diaphragm in the smoke box was set so close to the flue sheet that the natural draft was obstructed, a great many of the flues were choked up with cinders, the grates were in bad condition, and there was no brick arch. That made steam generating difficult, and yet the engine used up more than the proper share, for the valves and pistons were blowing and the driving wheels bad, worn unevenly, so that a great deal of lost work was done turning the drivers. Yet the men handling an engine in this condition were expected to get along without making smoke, when it was all they could do to keep from stalling between stations for want of steam. To ex BRIDGE AT LECCO, ITALY, LECCO AND MALGRATE RAILWAY. and co-operation, I do not believe that the enginemen will refuse to do their best to prevent smoke. Everything being kept so favorable for them, the engineers and firemen told me that they liked the new system better than the old one, and that they did less work under it and things were more pleasant all around. If all railroad companies would treat their enginemen as those men have been treated, there would be very little kicking against the order that they should fire in the man ner that would prevent the smoke nuisance as far as possible. But when men have to fire engines that are in bad condition, they cannot be ex pected to respond warmly to orders that call for smoke prevention. I have been out on engines that steamed badly from a variety pect smokeless firing under these circumstances is unreasonable. That is the position I have taken throughout the whole controANGUS SINCLAIR. versy. If the agitation of "smokeless firing" brings to all firemen all the good things that Mr. Sinclair says the B. C. R. & N. firemen have, it will be a in disguise." blessing At the meeting of the St. Louis Railway Club, above referred to, Mr. Eugene McAuliffe was delegated to Should the answer the proposition: question of fuel economy receive more 44 attention from railroad men, not alone in the way of urging enginemen to ren The economical use of fuel presents the richest paying field in the mechanical departments of our railroads, and, unfortunately, it is one that is often in part or entirely neglected. It goes without saying that enginemen must be educated and encouraged if you would secure their best efforts, and a little leavening of "have to " is a stimulant that has done much for humankind. Indiffer ence to the quality of coal furnished, leaky steam and exhaust pipe joints, illy proportioned front-end appliances, poor lagging, valves and cylinder packing that waste steam, and grates that have not the proper air space, and which do not work properly, are some of the things that help to run the fuel bill up. Perhaps the one thing that creates the most trouble between enginemen and those just above them, with a consequent increase of expense, is the inability of the two to agree as to the necessity of certain classes of running repairs. Engineers want too much, or that which is unreasonable and improper, while the foreman, with a fixed force, cannot see any good reason for the engine not going out as she came in. The traveling engineer, with his invaluable lieutenant, the traveling fireman, can, if they possess the ability to handle the throttle and scoop, coupled with tact and good judgment, best decide these disturbing questions, satisfying all concerned as to what is right. A great many things bear on the fuel bill besides that which drops off on the right of way; the skill of trainmen, a competent telegraphic service, capable dispatchers, and the attitude of those in authority in other departments, have much to do with its size. Excessive terminal and side-track delays with a busy population, or a shifting of sidesheets and flues, are expensive luxuries. Locomotives earn when they are moving. They are an expense when standing still. would save 4 of a cent per mile on 500,000 miles per month would amount to $15,000 a An organization of this question that year. Reminiscences. The Editor remembers, very distinctly, firing a passenger engine on a certain run about twelve years ago when it was practically impossible to keep steam or make the time. Before starting out every precaution was taken to pile on all the coal the tank would hold, as often, when extra coaches were put on the train, it was a difficult matter to get over the road with one tank of coal. The engine had a small boiler and 16 x 24 inch cylinders, and pulled from seven to ten coaches and sleepers over a hilly division. Life was a burden to both engineer and fireman, and the engine went from bad to worse until finally the "Old Man" put her in the back shop. She came out with new flues, valves faced, etc., a few weeks later, and went on the same run with the same crew and pulled the same train over the same road and used less than half the coal. The fuel saved the first month more than paid the expense of repair. The Old Man" acknowledged this was a fact, but protested that he was "permitted to only expend a certain amount each year in repairs, and that amount was only about one-third what should be expended to keep the engines under his jurisdiction in proper condition." He had found enough scale and mud in the boiler of the engine in question to half fill the pitt under the fire-box where she stood, fully a third of the flues were stopped from one end to the other, and her valves and cylinder packing were blowing like a wind-broken horse. She was wasting enough fuel to pay the wages of one machinist and one boilermaker, yet the kind of economy practiced by the management forbade the employment of either one of them. The road went into the hands of "receivers " shortly thereafter - maybe that was the object of the management ! WOOTTEN BOILERS* has over 4,000 square feet of heating surface. It has about 100 feet of grate surface. It is capable of burning the most inferior fuels, and develops In order to give a more exact idea of the progress of this type of boiler, attention is called to Fig. 6. This shows one of the first passenger locomotives fitted with the sloping-back Wootten extraordinary horse-power. A number boiler. This locomotive is, of course, not the first Wootten boiler locomotive, but is one of the early locomotives having this style of sloping-back boiler. Fig. 7 shows the finished engine, the boiler of which is shown in Fig. 3. These engines not only reduced the running time between New York and Philadelphia, but are mainly responsible for the present excellent service maintained by the Reading Company to the seashore, built up by these engines and improved by the more recent Atlantic types. And lastly, the greatest of all is their superiority in the line of economy and capacity. Fig. 8 represents a locomotive operated by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. We have here two locomotives in one, capable of being operated with ease and comfort by two men. The locomotive is fitted with the boiler shown in Figs. 4 and 5; one showing the longitudinal and the other the cross-section of the boiler. The boiler *Continuation of address of Mr. S. M. Vauclain, of Baldwin Locomotive Works, at the meeting of the New York Railway Club, April 20, 1899. The subsequent discussion is also published, as considerable information may be obta ned from same. In order that it will not be necessary to refer back to the December number of the LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN'S MAGAZINE, Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are reproduced in this issue. Figs. 6 to 15 inclusive may be found on insert for half-tone engravings, also published in this issue. of these are now being constructed at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, for the Lehigh Valley Road. So much for the evolution. How about high speed? It is already a matter of record how the "1027," shown in Fig. 9, lowered all records for maintained high speed, hauling daily, except Sundays, for two months, the fastest scheduled train in the world, receiving attention abroad to such an extent as to bring forth similar types in foreign lands for similar exhaustive service. The Lancashire & Yorkshire the Great Northern, and a railroad in Germany, have all brought out Atlantic. type locomotives, increasing their heating surface; but, unfortunately, they have not Wootten boilers on them. Before the St. Louis Railway Club, during a discussion on compound locomotives, I presented indicator diagrams showing that these engines could develop and maintain 1,400 horse-power at high speeds. It has been definitely determined by actual service that it is possible to obtain a horse-power for each 14 square feet of heating surface of a Wootten boiler in passenger service; or, as the above observations were made with engines having compound cylinders, we will eliminate that feature and say we are able to evapo bustion of the fuel. It is apparent to all that to boil water, coal must be burned, and the more coal that can be burned effectively in a given time, the greater evaporation we should expect. In narrow boxes the limit is reached when the fire will no longer remain on the grate bars, due to the violence of the exhaust; but this violence is in a measure regulated by the area of the grate. In a large grate a less violent exhaust will supply the air necessary for combustion, and therefore the Plan of Longitudinal Seam been utilized in this direction. We have many railroads in the North, South, East and West, variously, indeed, but nevertheless so situated that immense banks of culm and soft coal slack are available; others have mines on their lines producing inferior grades of coal, such as to be unmarketable and obtainable at exceedingly low rates. Why do they not avail themselves of this boiler to assist the motive-power department to reduce one of the most formidable cost accounts of any rail |