departed for their homes very jolly after the good time spent and voting Sister and Brother Trafford a genial hos. and hostess. SECRETARY 351.

SINCE being introduced to our JOURNAL friends by Sister McBride, who so efficiently organized us last December, I thought that Burlington Division 343, Burlington, Iowa, should say a little in a modest way about ourselves and what we are doing. Our membership is steadily increasing and our Division is in a flourishing condition. The members work in perfect harmony and each one strives to do her best for the welfare of our order. Our first social affair was in the nature of a surprise party tendered to Sister Williams who has been unable to attend our meetings for some time on account of prolonged illness. The afternoon was pleasantly spent wih music and sociability, after which ice-cream and cake were served. On the evening of July 31, Brother and Sister Long invited us to their home to assist them in celebrating their wedding anniversary. Our President, Sister Richards, in behalf of the Sisters of the Division, presented them with a beautiful Haviland china berry set. Several

musical selections were rendered on the piano by different ones present and the hostess served dainty refreshments. This being our first meeting with our Brothers of Div. 151, a very pleasant and sociable evening was spent and we left for our homes wishing Brother and Sister Long many more happy anniversaries.

On August 2, our Sisters, accompanied by their families and well-filled lunch baskets, went out to our beautiful Crapo Park on the banks of the Mississippi, where the afternoon and evening were spent in recreation and in doing justice to the ample picnic supper spread in tempting array on the tables. After supper we adjourned to the band pavilion where dancing was indulged in and a general good time followed. The Burlington Division meets every second and fourth Monday afternoon in Elks' Hall, where all visiting Sisters will be gladly welcomed. Yours in F. L. & P.,

MRS. HARRY TURNER, Sec. 343.

G. I. A. Voluntary Relief Association.

TOLEDO, O., Oct. 1, 1905.

To Division Insurance Secretaries, V. R. A.:

You are hereby notified of the death of the following members, and for the payment of these claims you will collect 50 cents from each member carrying one certificate, and $1.00 from each one carrying two; providing, however, that no one be assessed on a certificate, if the application for the same was dated later than August 31, 1905. ASSESSMENT No. 228.

Died Aug. 11, 1905. Sister Phebe J. M. Davis, aged 52, of Div. 66, Port Jervis, N. Y. Cause of death, phthisis. Carried two certificates, dated May 10, 1900, payable to Alfred Davis, husband.

Died Aug. 30, 1905. Sister J. M. Putney, aged 48, of Div. 134, Hornellsville, N. Y. Cause of death, carcinoma of breast and stomach. Carried one certificate, dated May, 1904, payable to J. M. Putney, husband.

Assessment Nos. 239, 231, 232 and 233 will be paid from the Assessment fund.

Members will pay their Insurance Secretaries on or before Oct. 31, or be marked delinquent; and in order to reinstate must pay a fine of 10 cents on each certificate besides the delinquency. Insurance Secretaries must remit to General Secretary and Treasurer not later than Nov. 10, or stand delinquent till remittance is made.

Members in good standing Aug. 31. 1905. five thousand and fifty-one in the first class; and twenty-one hundred and fifteen in the second class.

The date of Sister Brown's certificate was Aug. 11, 1904. See September JOURNAL, Assessment No. 226. Error made in copying.

MRS. GEO. WILSON, Pres. V. R. A. M. L. ROBERTSON, Gen'l Sec'y and Treas.

Technical

Contributions for this department must be received by the Editor on or before the 12th of the month to be in time for the succeeding issue.

The Westinghouse Improved Locomotive Equipment.

R. H. BLACKALL.

The Westinghouse Air Brake Company is just introducing an improved brake equipment for the engine and tender. This equipment has been installed on a number of different roads.

This article is not supposed to give a detailed operation of the different mechanism, simply to tell what can be accomplished with it and giving the uses of the different positions of the brake valve

FIG. I. STRAIGHT AIR BRAKE VALVE.

RUNNING POSITION AND LOCOMOTIVE

BRAKE RELEASE WHEN AUTOMATIC

BRAKE VALVE HANDLE IS IN
RUNNING POSITION.

RELEASE LOCO.BRAKE WITH AUTOMATIC VALVE ON LAP

LAP

SERVICE

service, be it switching; freight, in which either 70 or 90 pound brake-pipe pressure is used; and passenger service used either with the 70 or 110 pound brake-pipe pres

sure.

The use of the Straight-Air during the past three or four years has convinced the different railroad officials as to the necessity for this device. The new equipment includes this, and hence will be available on passenger as well as freight and switching engines. Not only has it all of the advantages of the combined automatic and straight-air, but it has the additional advantage that permits of an independent release of the driver and tender brake in case the wheels are being over-heated or slide.

The automatic brake valve also includes additional features. These permit of the train brake being released while retaining those on the engine and tender as long as desired; they, of course, can be released with the train brakes if so desired. In releasing the driver brakes they can, if desired, be graduated off, the same as can be done with the straight-air brake.

It will thus be seen that either the locomotive or train brakes can be applied at the same time or independently. If they are both applied they can be released together or they may be released independently at the will of the engineer.

and the results which will follow their use.

What is known as the distributing valve, with a small reservcir to which this valve is attached, takes the place of all of the triple valves and auxiliary reservoirs now used with the present standard equipment on both the engine and tender, there being nothing on the tender except the brake cylinder and a pipe connection from it to the distributing valve.

One of the special features of the valves and parts employed is that they may be used in any class of

These additional advantages have been obtained by adding one more position to the automatic brake valve and by adding a straight-air brake valve. The straightair brake features are obtained by adding this straight-air brake valve only without the necessity for the other accessories now used when the straight-air brake is employed. This means that both of the double check valves are dispensed with as is also the second line of pipe for the straight-air, the two safety valves, and the reducing valve and bracket.

From this very brief description it will readily be seen that while the advantages over the present equipment are very marked, these advantages have been obtained while at the same time the number of pieces of apparatus has been materially lessened.

It will be seen by referring to Fig. 2 that one new position has been added to the brake valve; this is called the "holding" position, and is midway between the running and lap position. With the brake valve handle in this position the brake pipe will be charged to 70 pounds, but the brakes on the locomotive will not release. The release position is the same as "holding" except that the brake-pipe pressure will equalize with that in the main reservoir if the handle of the brake valve is permitted to remain in this position. These two positions, aside from the usual functions, permit the slack of the train to remain bunched and tend to greatly reduce any tendency for the slack to run out and break the train in two when release is made at slow speed. If steam were used under these circumstances very little power would be exerted by the locomotive as long as the brakes were applied on the engine and tender. If there were any reason why it was desirable to release the locomotive brakes this could be done by moving the brake valve handle to running position or by moving the straight-air brake valve to release position.

The other positions of the valve are the same as with the present valve.

Please note that when double-heading, the brake valve on the trailer engine is

carried on lap position instead of running position as at present. Carried in this position the brakes on the trailer engine will act the same as a car when the lead engineer uses his brake valve. This point will be described more fully when the operation of the new equipment is described in detail. In this connection would say that the trailer engineer also has an independent release for the brake on his engine and tender available in case there is any call for an independent release of these brakes due to sliding, overheating, etc.

The following gives a brief description and explains what will result with the automatic and straight-air brake valve handles placed in the different positions.

In the Full Release Position of the automatic brake valve the main reservoir and brake pipe are directly connected and these pressures will equalize if the valve handle is allowed to remain there. In this position the brake cylinder exhaust on the locomotive is closed and these brakes, if applied, will not release. If desired to retain the locomotive brakes and not overcharge the brake pipe, move the brake valve handle to holding position.

Running Position-In this position the pressure which feeds through the brake valve to the brake pipe is reduced to some predetermined pressure by a feed valve the same as the present standard valve. In this position the air which controls the brake cylinder pressure is exhausted and the locomotive brakes will release.

Holding Position-This is the same as Running Position except that the brakes on the engine and tender will not release in this position, as the port through the brake valve which controls the release of these brakes is closed. As already explained, this position produces the same results as Full Release Position except that in it the brake-pipe pressure is controlled by a feed valve.

Lap, Service and Emergency Positions in this valve are the same as the corresponding positions in the present standard or G6 brake valve.

The positions of the Straight-Air Brake

Valve will be understood by the notes attached to the cut Fig. 1.

To apply the automatic brakes on both the locomotive and train, proceed the same as at present with the G 6 brake valve.

To release both locomotive and train brakes with the automatic brake valve: Go to Full Release Position with the automatic valve to release the train brakes. When desired to release the locomotive brakes move the automatic brake valve handle to running position.

To release the train brakes and hold the brakes on the locomotive by the use of the automatic brake valve: Go to Full Release Position to release the train brakes. The brake pipe will be overcharged if the handle of the valve is left in this position; to avoid overcharging and still retain the brakes on the locomotive, place the handle in Holding Position. When desiring to release these brakes place the handle in Running Position. If desired to release these brakes slowly, move the handle from Holding to Running Position intermittently and thus obtain a graduated release of the brakes, the same as is now done with the straight-air brake.

To hold train brakes and release driver brakes: With the brakes applied, permit the automatic brake valve to remain on lap and place the handle of the StraightAir Brake Valve in Release Position, see Fig. 1.

To apply locomotive brakes only, the automatic brake valve handle being in running position: Place the Straight-Air Brake Valve handle in the fourth or service position, until the brakes are applied with the force desired; then move the handle to Lap Position.

When double heading: Put the automatic brake valve handle on Lap Position on the second engine, and close the cutout cock under the brake valve; the brakes on the second engine can then be handled by the lead engineer the same as if this locomotive were a car, the same as with the present equipment. If engineer on the second engine desires he can prevent the application of the brakes on the second engine by placing the straight-air brake valve handle in release position. If

these brakes are applied they can be released in the manner just described. If occasion arises later for applying the brakes the engineer can accomplish this by placing the straight-air brake valve in service position.

When either the automatic or the straight-air brake valves are not in actual use they should be carried in their respective running positions.

If the straight-air brake valve handle is left in release position the brakes cannot be applied on the locomotive when the automatic brake valve is used.

The brakes cannot be released by the use of the automatic brake valve unless the straight-air brake handle is in running position.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Q.-J. G.-I would like to know what difference the equalizing reservoir they put on engines now makes in the application of the brakes. The one they have on the old engines is 12 inches long, but the one that comes with our new engines is 14 inches. I should think that the larger reservoir would make a slower application of the brakes as it takes a little longer to make the same reduction through the preliminary exhaust port of the brake valve.

A. It is as you say that, owing to the larger volume, it takes longer to make a given reduction of pressure in the equalizing reservoir, but this has no effect on the quickness of the brake application except on very short trains. When a train of any considerable length is considered, the speed with which the air can be taken from the equalizing reservoir has comparatively nothing to do with the speed of application, since, with a long train, it is a question of how long it will take for the air to escape through the train-pipe exhaust of the brake valve. This, on a train of 50 cars, requires about 45 seconds, in response to a reduction of 20 pounds. It takes but about six seconds to make this amount of reduction from the equalizing reservoir, hence the reduction has been made from this reservoir and the brake valve handle returned to lap long before the equalizing piston has seated. The

reason for making this reservoir larger was to make the brake pipe slightly slower on short trains, and thus to reduce the possibility of undesired quick action to a minimum.

Q.-W. F. G.-When handling long freight trains will you tell me what is most likely to cause brakes to stick?

A.-About the most likely thing that will cause brakes to stick is to make a light reduction and then, in an effort to release them, place the brake valve handle in running position. This practice will not only stick brakes on long trains but will occasionally on short ones as well.

Running position of the brake valve should never be used to release the brakes and, if there are any poor packing rings in the triple valves, there is a likelihood of the brakes on the cars on which these rings are, sticking even when the release position of the valve is used. When it is possible, and especially when the train is long, a 15 or 20 pound reduction of brakepipe pressure should be made before trying to accomplish a release. There are many conditions, of course, where this practice cannot be followed, but the idea we wish to convey is that the heavier the reduction made up to the point of equalization, the easier it is to accomplish a release. The heavy reduction results in a greater excess pressure, which means that the driving head is greater with which to "hit" the triple valve at the rear of the train.

Q.-J. B. O'D.-I am studying the air brake and should like to have this question explained: If you have 100 cars with the Westinghouse brake cut in and the engineer makes a ten-pound reduction, how many pounds pressure will he get in the brake cylinder on the last car? He has about 3,000 feet of train pipe; will the piston pass the leakage groove?

A.-With Westinghouse or New York brakes the question of whether the brake on the 100th car will apply is a very uncertain thing. The result depends largely on the condition of the triple valve.

The air brake for freight cars was originally designed and based on results obtained with trains of 50 cars as a maxi

mum. With a train of double this number the action of the brakes is quite different than with a train of half this length and it is quite doubtful if the last brake would apply with this reduction on a 100car train. If it did, the resultant cylinder pressure would probably not be more than sufficient to compress the release spring in the cylinder.

Because a triple valve is the last in the train it does not necessarily follow that this is the one most likely not to apply, although, of course, this is much less likely to apply than the ones near the engine. The condition of the triple as to sensitiveness, also the condition of the feed grooves, are important factors. If the piston moves sluggishly there is a much greater chance for the pressure from the auxiliary reservoir to feed back into the brake pipe, thus allowing the brake pipe and auxiliary reservoir pressure to remain equal, with the result that the triple piston fails to move and the brake does not apply.

The longer the train the greater chance for the brakes failing to apply. This is not alone because there is a larger volume of air to be handled, due to the longer brake pipe, but there being more feed grooves, more air feeds from the reservoir back into the brake pipe. This back feed presents an additional amount of air for the brake valve to handle and the final reduction desired is prolonged correspondingly.

experiment a

Q.-T. H.-I tried an while back to see if the triple valve on my tender would work all right if I put it back dry after cleaning. It seemed to work all right for two or three months and I took it apart to see what it looked like. When I took the piston out of the slide it seemed to have the proper amount of oil on it, but the piston was dry. What I want to know is how the oil got on the slide valve.

A. If you wanted to be sure that the slide valve would be dry you should also have taken the oil out of the brake cylinder. The air passing from the cylinder through the exhaust port of the triple nudoubtedly carried oil with it so that suffi