1881. SHAW'S FOUR-CYLINDER BALANCED ENGINE
THE Hinkley Locomotive Works in 1881 built a locomotive called
the H. F. Shaw which had four cylinders and which was publicized
as being entirely free from the pounding and oscillating action
of two-cylindered engines. As Sinclair describes it:
The cylinders were arranged side by side, transmitting the
power to crank pins diametrically opposite each other. One of
the crank pins connected outside the driving wheel at the same
position an ordinary crank pin would be located, and carried a
double crank, the middle of which was supported in a bearing secured
in an outside frame. The bearing was the driving fulcrum,a main
rod working at each side of it.
The engine was equivalent to one with two cylinders 16"
by 24" and driving wheels 63" in diameter. The weight
in working order was 74,000 pounds, of which 25,600 pounds was
on the truck wheels.... The engine was well designed and built
in first-class manner. It was used to a considerable extent on
train service in an experimental fashion, and worked quite satisfactorily.
They Don't Make
'Em | Contents Page
|