In my toddler’s video on all kinds of trains, they show a few steam engines where the linkages move up and down, i.e., perpendicular to the length of the train. This is odd to see when it is more common to find most steam engines with linkages moving along the length of the train.
Is there a name for the former design described above, and is this a row of piston-cylinders, I wager?
Like this, even though the example is a stationary engine?
I’ve heard this refered to as a ‘walking beam’, though I can concede the terminology may not be correct.
You may be referring to a Shay locomotive. Shay locomotive - Wikipedia This uses pistons connected to a geared driveshaft connecting the drive wheels.
As the previous post stated, you most likely were looking at a Shay. The other two common designs where the pistons don’t move parallel to the direction of movement are the Climax (angled up) and the Heisler (in a V-shape).
It’s a Shay, a gear-driven locomotive. Advantage is that all wheels are driven, and wheels can be smaller. Useful where the roadbed is fragile, since the drive wheels don’t hammer the rails. Shay initially applied the locomotive to hauling logs out of forests, using quickly-layed ties and rails.
Yeah, the Shay seems to fit the bill. Interesting variation of the typical steam engine!
Plus, with a geared drive train, they had some of the best drawbar-tonnage ratings as a function of weight.
The walking beams I mentioned were used in the very early days of steam locomotion.
What you have here is a “walking Beam” steam engine.
You can ride on a train pulled by a Shay engine in West Virginia: the Cass Scenic Railroad. I did it sometime in the 1970s.
Most Shays were three cylinder geared engines. They were narrow gage engines. They also had a low top speed.
Yup…you beat me to it… Did it last fall.
Me too. In the seventies as well.
You can also ride a train pulled by a Shay engine in the Santa Cruz Mountians. Did it last year. Two years ago I go to ride in the cab of the engine on Father’s day
