Re: (erielack) Triplexes

[William Shultz <wshultz1_@_twcny.rr.com>]

Jeff,

It is posed as purely an academic musing. Of course train speeds 
increased although probably not as much as you think they did. The "drag 
era" mentality lasted well into the 1920's so even applying improvements 
up to that time, which were significant, would have had an effect on the 
designs efficiency. Would it have been enough? Could they have increased 
  boiler horsepower enough to adequately supply the engines? Maybe yes, 
maybe no. These were never intended to be high speed locomotives so it 
may well have been possible even without applying "Super Power" concepts.

Regards,

Will Shultz

eljefe3126_@_netscape.net wrote:
> Well, they were the product of their times.  Since they spent most of their time in pusher service, ripping out the draft gear wasn't the biggest problem, finding enough steam to fill all six cylinders was.  Of all the improvements you mentioned, superheaters (and increased boiler pressure) would have made the most difference there.  But by the time those improvements were not only available but developed enough to solve the steaming problem, speeds had picked up to the point where a gigantic low-speed pusher no longer made sense.
>  
> Jeff Larson
> ELHS #2683 
>  

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