Table of Contents; Page 5; Page 8; Index


The Boston & Providence Railroad built several locomotives during the time the Winans locomotive was being developed. One of these, the Daniel Nason, illustrated in Fig. 5, was built in 1858. The Daniel Nason weighs 52,650 pounds, has 16 by 20 inch cylinders, 54-inch driving wheels, and 30-inch truck wheels. Steam pumps were used in feeding the boiler instead of the injectors. The top members of the frame are built up of rectangular sections, while for the bottom members, 4-inch tubes are used.

The prevailing thought in the early development of the locomotive was, that sufficient power could not be secured by depending upon the adhesion of the drivers to the rail; as a consequence many cog locomotives were developed and used. This was true on the old Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianpaolis Railroad at Madison, Indiana. A portion of the road at that point included a six per cent grade three miles long. From the opening of the road in 1848 until 1858, the grade was operated by cog locomotives. On the last-named date, there appeared a locomotive named the Reuben Wells which was destined to have both a very interesting and successful career.

The Reuben Wells, illustrated in Fig. 6, was designed by Mr. Reuben Wells, then a master mechanic of the road. It was built in the company's shops at Jeffersonville, Indiana, in July, 1858. The Reuben Wells has cylinders 20 X 24 inches, and five pairs of drivers each 49 inches in diameter, all being coupled. No front truck is used. The boiler is 56 inches in diameter and contains 201 two-inch flues 12 feet 2 inches in length. It has a heating surface in the fire-box of 116 square feet while that in the tubes is 1,262 square feet. It is what is commonly known as a tank locomotive since it carries the water and fuel upon the frame and wheels of the engine proper instead of upon a separate part, the tender. The total weight with fuel and water is 112,000 pounds. The tractive effort under a steam pressure of 100 pounds per square inch is about 21,818 pounds on a level road. After having been in service for a number of years, it was rebuilt with four instead of five pair of drivers and was shortened by the cutting off of a section at the rear which had been used for coal and water. Sufficient water capacity was provided by placing a tank over the boiler.

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