find which brake cylinders were doing the leaking, or were leaking the worst, by closing the individual brake cylinder cutout cocks except-say, the tender brake, leaving it cut in; then make a full-on independent brake application, close the cock in the main-reservoir supply pipe to the distributing valve and watch the red hand on the small duplex gauge, the rate at which it would fall back toward zero indicating the rate of leakage from the

condition. Just the other day, up at the other end of the line, Number Nine's engine was waiting on time outside the train-shed at the station, and I noticed that the air pump was working so very slowly and quietly-up against the governor' that it indicated a most perfect condition in the pump and a brake pipe and signal line on this locomotive practically free from leakage. Pressures on the big air gauge were 110 and 130. But the engineer said to me there's something tender-brake cylinder. Then, to cut out wrong with the high-pressure governor head; you see, she's all right, now, but when I set the brake or lap the automatic brake valve the pump goes to work to beat the band, but the high-pressure governor won't let her pump any higher than the regular 130 pounds which she's got now. I've reported the governor, but they didn't do it any good. You going down with us? Good! We'll have nine cars today. Can't get prompt release on that train with only 20 pounds excess, and you'll see that the trainmen will have to bleed the air at every stop.'

the tender-brake cylinder, and make a similar test with the driver-brake cylinders; and then test the engine truck-brake cylinder; the red hand of the small gauge showing in each case the pressure conditions of the cylinders under test.

"Another time a passenger engineer was reported for doing rough braking. I rode behind him for a distance that included several slowdowns, station and watering stops, and at his first applications made while the speed was high there were no perceptible shocks, but when he applied the air at slower speeds there were most uncomfortable jerks; and when he 'spotted' the engine at a water column there was a shock that brought angry comment from the passengers generally. This was one of the heaviest passenger engines on the road, and she has the ET brake. I found that when the brake was applied the piston of the tender brake and the piston of the driver.brake on the left side were bottoming against the non-pressure cylinder heads-doing no braking at all. To heighten the bad effects, there was an excessive amount of slack between engine and tender and between the tender and the first car. When the air was applied at low speeds the brake shoes on the cars clutched the wheels with powerfully quick-stopping effect, while the practically unbraked, big, heavy locomotive surged ahead with a 'crack-the-whip' effect as she stretched the slack solid, and then came the shock!

"I told him that as long as the pump was working strongly right along and making air, the governor-neither regulating head-could be operating to interfere; that the brake-cylinder leakage was getting rid of the air as fast as the pump could compress it. To prove this, I said if you make an independent brake application the pump will run just as rapidly and without raising the main-reservoir pressure, won't it?' and he said 'yes; the red hand on the big gauge even drops below 130 pounds sometimes.' So I told him then to close the cut-out cocks in the pipes leading to the driver-brake and tender-brake cylinders, which he did; and then, when he made an automatic application the pump didn't start up so rapidly, it made a few quiet strokes and brought the red hand of the large duplex gauge right up to 140 pounds and stopped. An application by the independent brake valve had about the same effect-hardly "Excessive drawbar slack is the excuse disturbing the restfulness of the pump. often given by engineers for their rough'Now,' said I, 'I have simply cut out your ness in making stops and in starting brake cylinders, but I seem to have also trains, when, as a matter of fact, if the cut out the seat of the trouble that you braking power is being properly developed complained of, hav'n't I?' He conceded on the locomotive and cars very little that it was so, but that he couldn't hardly shock is usually caused to a passenger realize that the brake cylinders were as train of ordinary length at brake applicaleaky as the test indicated, because the tion or release by reason of the drawbar locomotive brakes had held with the same slack; in the case just referred to, the power as usual, and which of course roundhouse foreman wouldn't hold the enwould be possible as long as the pressure could be maintained. He promised to book a work report on his brake-cylinder leathers when he got in, and to see that the job was done. I explained to him how he could make a more detailed test to

gine in long enough to reduce the draftgear slack at each end of the tender, and there was also more slack in the mail car; but I had the over-amount of brake-gear slack taken up as quick as the engine got in, and thereafter with the locomotive

brake doing its equal share of the train being served-many of the passengers braking there were no more complaints of shocks to passengers.

have no doubt paid real money to ride on that train; and, by the way, railroad officials are paying more attention to the complaints of the traveling public now than they used to, and are seeing to it that there are fewer grounds for such complaints. I am getting a little off the air-brake trail just now, but the topic is the same concerning the avoidance of rough handling of trains.

"But there is often considerable free drawbar slack in our pasenger trains, and by not taking that into account some of our engineers who have the best reputations as air-brake stoppers are getting bad names as starters-innocently enough, too, as on the engine they don't realize the force of the shocks they are producing. Usually a train on comparatively "And while we are considering passenlevel track is stopped with the slack at ger trains in particular," the instructor least lightly bunched-anyhow, it is sel- continued; "long piston travel in the lodom stretched. There is always a ner- comotive brakes causes uneven braking vous sort of hurry about the movements power, and shocks, when you are making of a passenger train, and at the instant two- or three-application station stopsthe engineer gets the conductor's 'start' even with the ET equipment, and when signal he opens the air sanders and jerks out the throttle; and with a very little drawbar slack to go on, one of these big Pacifics will punish the train severely under the circumstances. It's better to get an easy revolution or two of the drivers before you begin to 'maul' her.

"Yes, I know that quite often when the throttle is opened she won't start the train, and you have to bunch 'em and then use the slack to get started; but even in that case you seldom have to use it viciously. And one thing I have noticed in this connection: quite frequently when a passenger engineer shuts off steam approaching a station he doesn't take the trouble of dropping the reverse lever clear down into full gear-often he just lets the lever go a few notches ahead, to the limit of his extended arm, without shifting his seat or position; and when he tries to start the train the valves are not giving the cylinders sufficient steam-port opening, the engine won't move, and he climbs onto the reverse lever trying to push it ahead-and presently with the steam chest at full boiler pressure the reverse lever beats him to it and goes to the forward corner notch with a bang! Drivers start turning-in the air-he shuts off until they stop slipping, and then again opens her up on sand-and the train gets one of those jerks that are complained about. Or, as is sometimes the case, the engine moves with the short cut-off until the train slack is stretched, and then stalls before the lever can be cornered and then it's a case of having to make and take the slack, in which there is always good prospects for a shock and a jerk-you get 'em going and coming. Make it a point to always drop the reverse lever clear down every time you shut off. And in starting a train always use the same delicate consideration that you would if you knew the president's car was on the hind end and dinner was

the brake pistons don't strike the nonpressure cylinder heads-you don't understand how that can be, because the cylinder pressure should be the same, in the ET equipment, regardless of the length of piston travel? Yes, but the air of three (or four, with engine-truck brake) cylinders is combined, and must be released through a single valve and outlet, and on that account the second or third application is often started before the locomotive brakes are entirely released of the air from the previous application; and you understand that if all brakes are not uniformly released at such times, there will be more or less jerking or shocking effects."

A passenger engineer asked-"With the ET equipment and very long piston travel, do you not have to leave the automatic brake valve in running position longer than is sometimes desirable, to allow time for the discharge of the very large volume of locomotive brake-cylinder pressure? You know, that when you move the brake-valve handle over to lap position the engine-brake release port is closed and retains the rest of the braking pressure, while meantime the car brakes are fully releasing."

"No," the instructor replied; "the volume of brake-cylinder air has no bearing on the length of time it is necessary to keep the brake valve in running position to secure locomotive brake release; remember, it isn't the brake-cylinder pressure that is exhausted through the engineer's valve-it is the application-cylinder pressure that you let out there, and its volume is uniformly the same, regardless of anything. But, it is the case that some engineers do not leave the brake valve in runing position long enough to discharge all of the application-cylinder air, and for every pound of this pressure retained there will be an equal amount of pressure held in the locomotive brake cyl

inders; and it is the result of using the the possibility of wheel skidding-and full release position of the automatic killing the locomotive brake at the same brake valve too long, which is unneces- time; but with the ET equipment, excessary and undesirable with a passenger sively long piston travel has caused flattrain of ordinary length and ET equip tening of driving-wheel tires: not that ment on the engine. the increased travel makes any difference "After the first application of a station in the piston pressure; but that when the stop and it is desired to release the brakes, drivers do start skidding-as they surely shove the automatic brake-valve handle will sometime, if the brake is any good clear to the release-position shoulder, but at all-there will be so great a volume right back instantly to running position; of air to be discharged from the three you can find the running position easier locomotive brake cylinders of the long and quicker this way than to move the piston travel before the wheels will start handle directly to it from lap position, revolving again that will give the time for in that case you would be confused and distance necessary to badly flatten by the holding position and the several the tires. With short travel, the brakes shoulders and notches intervening; when are quickly applied and quickly released." the brake valve has found the running The instructor looked at his watch and position you will hear the applicationcylinder pressure beginning to escape from the large exhaust port in the back of the automatic brake valve, and as soon as the sound of the exhaust ceases you can move the handle over to lap position at once, in readiness to make the succeeding application; but, now, if on account of excessively long piston travel the air is not yet all out of the driver-brake cylindersas evidenced by some pressure still show ing on the red hand of the small duplex gauge-hold the brake valve in the lap position for just a moment longer, and the brake will be clear off and you can begin the re-application with smooth effect.

"Remember that if possible the time used in releasing the triple valves on the cars should also be allowed for the discharge of the application-cylinder pressure on the locomotive, and which is only effected in running position; with brakes applied on an engine and a train of only three or four cars, a short kick of air into the brake pipe by throwing the engineer's valve to running position for three or four seconds will force the triple valves of the cars and the distributing valve of the engine to release position; but whereas, with the brake valve immediately returned to lap position the triple valves (in ordinary PM equipment) of the cars remain in the released position and complete the full discharge of brake-cylinder pressure, and although the equalizing portion of the distributing valve on the engine also remains in release position, its exhaust port is now closed by the engineer's brake valve and the application-cylinder pressure is partly retained-it in turn closing off the exhaust of pressure from the driver- and tender-brake cylinders.

"With the common automatic brake, long piston travel may so weaken the power of the driver brake as to prevent flattening of tires, by simply preventing

was about to announce that the meeting was over, when a freight-transfer engineer said he wanted further light on a matter that had been brought out earlier in the day. Said he-"You stated that while running along with a train, if the brakes creep on automatically on two or three cars back there somewhere, the cause is usually due to an irregular working feed-valve on the engine; all right—I reckon I understand that; but suppose, on the other hand, while we are running along with this here train the independent brake on the engine goes to sticking on you-of course, you can knock it off right away by shoving the handle of the little brake valve to release position; but what I want to know, is-why the independent brake sticks?"

"There ain't no such an animal," quoted the instructor, with a smile; "but I am glad you put the question in just that way, for I have often been asked the same thing. The independent brake did not-can not-stick, because we haven't got an engine on this railroad with an independent brake. When we speak of the 'independent brake' we are referring to independent braking; but (and pay attention to this now), the small engineer'svalve of the ET equipment represents and includes all there is of an 'independent brake'-being merely an independent brake valve. There is only a single set of brake cylinders and rod-and-lever gear for the driver brake, and a single set for the tender brake, isn't there? And only one air-gauge pointer showing the brakecylinder pressure-the red hand of the small duplex gauge? I have heard enginemen speak of it as the 'independent gauge hand'! But, doesn't that gauge hand register the brake-cylinder pressure when you make an automatic application? Certainly it does. Well, then: if the locomotive brake creeps on while the train is running along, you glance at the little

brake valve and note whether its handle from precisely the same cause that is has been accidentally pushed around on blamable for the stuck car brakes that lap or in the slow-application position, was referred to a while ago that is, from and if it has, why, then it is possible that a drop of brake-pipe pressure, due to a there has been an independent creeping sluggish-working feed valve, and which on of the locomotive brake; but if the handle of the independent brake valve remains in running position there can be nothing but automatic brake action on same results." that locomotive. The driver brake And the class for air brake instruction 'sticking' in this proposition, would be was dismissed.

affects the equalizing portion of the distributing valve the same as it does the triple valves on the cars, and with the

THE PNEUMATIC FIRE DOOR OPENER

By F. W. BENTLEY, Jr.

The pneumatic fire door opener is not It is the aim of the writer in the followunlike many of the other labor-saving ing discussion to explain the nature of devices on the locomotive in being a fine the device's operation in such a manner proposition as long as it is in perfect that the subsequent treatment of diffiworking order. The general construction culties can be clearly understood. Fig. of the opening device is for the most part 1 is a distorted sketch of the general layvery simple, but the actual construction out of the parts in connection with the

of the same for affording the best results Franklin improved door opener, and in under operating conditions embraces a the writer's experience 90 per cent. of few points not to be lost sight of when working it or reporting its defects.

As this part of the equipment is in many instances regarded as secondary in importance, knowledge concerning its operation and defects is not emphatically demanded of the engineman, and the engineer or fireman is for the greater part left to gain such knowledge and information about it as is generally a result of difficulty and trouble with it in service.

the difficulties experienced with it can be eliminated or at least temporarily overcome through a fair knowledge of its manner of working.

The operating pressure is admitted into the chamber B through the valve A. Pressure on the foot-lever raises or unseats the opening valve C and allows the air to pass down into chamber D and from there up through passage E behind the operating piston head H. This pressure of