Boiler and Firebox
The source of power in the steam locomotive is the fire. There is nothing else. No electricity is collected from outside - only air, coal for the fire and water to boil are needed. Good steam generation needed a fire running at 2,500°F, and good combustion required:
A boiler converts the heat of the fire into steam via the heating surface: as the blast
at the front end of the engine pulls air and gases from the firebox
through the tubes, the fresh air pulled through the grate makes the fire burn more fiercely.
This heats the exterior of the firebox and the tubes running through the boiler, all
surrounded by water. Some heat is lost to the outside of the boiler and at the front and
back but only the barrel can be lagged. A large 'heating surface' was desirable. Increasing
the number of tubes, increasing the diameter of the boiler, or its length, all made this
figure greater.
Compounding
In the steam locomotive, steam produced by the boiler produces
power in the cylinders, forcing the pistons repeatedly fore-and-aft but then it is normally
released to atmosphere via the chimney. It is common sense that if the steam could be used
more than once, the engine would be more efficient. Using less fuel - coal and water - was
always an important objective. But the steam locomotive is restricted for space. Compounding
- where steam is used two, three or even four times - was tried very early on for stationary
engines, but on moving locomotives, which shake and vibrate and have to fit through tunnels
and bridges - it became a Holy Grail which was rarely achieved with success.
Engineering can never be the sole consideration - management priorities have to be taken into
account too. While Mr. Richard Moon was chairman of the LNWR, dividends for shareholders
were paramount. Maximum economy in running the company was the watchword controlling progress
in development. Passenger trains of the time averaged only 40 mph and for goods engines, the
greatest fuel economy was sought.
Having built passenger engines on the compound principle since 1880, in 1893 Mr. F.W. Webb
experimented with a 'simple' (single expansion) heavy goods engine and a 3-cylinder compound
He considered the trials to be a success and proceeded to build the 'A' Class, totalling
111 locomotives.