TRYING OUT A NEW STEAM WAGON.
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Details of a 66-mile Journey with Full' Load at a Fuel Cost of Just Over One Penny per Mile.
LAST week we were able to give exclusive and complete particulars regarding the new 6-ton W.G. model Yorkshire steam wagon, the • chief features of which are a unit-constructed engiue and gearbox carried vertically in the standard Yorkshire position, a flexibly mounted countershaft and final drive by aider chains, whilst important detail modifications have been made in the boiler, which is also now protected by a hinged bonnet.
At the invitation of the makers, the Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Co., we
visited their works a short time ago with a view to carrying out -a careful test of the capabilities of this wagon.
The particular vehicle employed for The purpoSe was the first one of the new pattern, but except for external finish and the ,arrangeMent of a few sniall parts it is identical with the example which is being shown at the Royal show, Reading, to-day.
We arrived at the works of the company at 'Pepper Read, Ilunslet, Leeds, one morning at eight o'clock, and found the vehicle ready for the teat, with the exception that the fuel required checking over and the boiler was 'completely cold. Lighting-up took place at 8.30 a.m., and the gauge read to 54b. pressure in 19 minutes, no recourse being made to the blower. In 53 minutes the engine was run to free the bearings and 160 lb. of steam was available in 63 minutes.
• Lighting-up was effected by utilizing a separate supply of coal, and, meanwhile, that to be used for the trip was weighed out into sacks and accurately chocked. It was then emptied into the
• capacious banker at the •near side r0f the cab, a spare sack of fuel also being carried for emergencies. On the vehicle were carried weights to make up the load together with a spare tank of Water.
The vehicle was driven an to a weighbridge, the figure given including the Crew.
For chocking the mileage and the
stops a Chronhodograph recording device was employed, and the distance was aLso checked by the speedometer on Our car.
A. start was made from the works at 10.5 a.m., and we proceeded thi•ough Leeds to Tadcaster. Right from the commencement, the engine ran smoothly, ample steam was provided and, in fact, a feature of the boiler, which was observed through:oat the trip, was that the bigger the hill the higher rose the steam pressure. All steam engines, like their petrol rivals, work very much better and more efliCiently when well warmed up, and on the fairly steep hill leading from Leeds it was necessary to utilize the late • cut-off, although a short time afterwards hills ,just as severe were surmounted-without recourse even to this simple means of increasing power, and only on one or two hills on the whole route was it found necessary to change to the lower gear, but this was a very simple operation and did not _necessitate stopping the wagon.
The driver had been told to keep to an average speed of between 13 and 14 m.p.h„ and during the first hour exactly 13 miles Were covered. This, however, was increased to 15.5 miles in each of the second and third hours, but it will be seen from the figures that the instructions as to average speed were well followed.
Observations of the stoking en route. showed that this was performed at an average distance of 2.5 miles, although if fuel consumption be not receiving consideration the vehicle can be run quite well by stoking every five miles.
Our route from Tadeaster lay through the outskirts of York, where we turned left to Goldsborough (the home of H.R.H. Princess Mary) and Knaresborough to Harrogate, but before reaching the last-named place a stop was made to transfer the water in the reserve tank to the main tank. We had expected the original supply to give out some miles before it actually did, and it gave the very creditable figure of 45 miles for the 180 gallons. A feature of the water -supply is that when the pump ceases to draw, the injector can be used for several miles, thus due warning is given to the driver .before the , supply actually ceases through the tank being quite empty.
Advantage was taken of the stop. just outside Harrogate to obtain' a photograph. The journey was then continued through Pool to a vvell-known hill named Pool Bank. This is 548 ft. long and, until recently, had a maximum gradient of 1 in 10, but as a result of cutting away the corner at.the top the gradient ,fet this particular point has been increased to something like 1 in 6.
The Yorkshire was driven on to the steepest portion and there held by its brakes while another photograph was taken, after which it was restarted with the greatest of ease.
Throughout the run there was a slight emission of steam from the safety valves, apparently through a slight leakage in one or both of the two valves, and, apart from this, a certain amount of water splashed up through an orifice in the reserve tank, but neither of these points was taken into consideration in compiling thb results, be that these are really even better than those shown. The steering of the wagon appeared to be particularly light, and the control the acme of simplicity, whilst the brakes proved quite adequate on the steepest hills. The exhaust from the engine was just discernible and by no means unpleasant. It was interesting to compare this with the absolute silence obtained in former Yorkshire models by utilizing a large number of jets in the doors of the smokebox. The reason for the change to a single jet was explained in
our article dealing with the description of the vehicle, and the running showed that. the increased efficiency and reduction in complication have been obtained without sacrificing anything important in the way of silence.
The return to the works was made at 3.20 p.m., when the vehicle was at once weighed and again after both water tanks lad been refilled the remaining fuel was shovelled into empty bags and checked, and a note made that the spare bag of fuel had not been touched. At this point we would mention that just before the start the fuel left from lighting-up was placed aside and the condition of the fire and of the height of the water in the boiler was observed. Further examination at the end of the test showed that these were both in practically the same condition as at the start ; if anything, there was a little more water in the boiler.
Another opportunity was taken for trying out the wagon from the point of view of running at speed, and careful checking over a distance of five miles gave an average speed of 24.6 m.p.h.
We were able to observe the vehicle both while travelling on it and from the road, and we found that the riding was extremely comfortable owing to the long flexible springs employed both at the front and rear, and that there was no tendency towards tail-wagging. The condition of the roads was, on the whole, good, but even over the roughest parts no discomfort was felt.
We will now give the results of the test in detail, and to make them clear we must point out that the fuel employed was Mabey's Merthyr Large Welsh, costing 39s. 3d. per ton on truck at the Yorkshire siding, to which price we have added 2s. for delivery cost. The average net load includes the fuel and water left at the conclusion of the run and half the weight of the water used from the reserve tank. The fuel actually consumed and the water in the ordinary tank of the vehicle have not been considered as pay load.
mile ... ... 3.37 lb. Coal per net ton-mile .82 lb. Water per net ton mile 7.40 lb. Cost of fuel per mile 1.10d. Mileage on wagon tank ... 45.
In conclusion, we must express Our appreciation of the merits of this new product, which it demonstrated in no uncertain fashion, and we think that there is a very good chance for this wagon to win for itself a considerable success amongst users.