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LONG DISTANCE HAULAGE
Diesel-Electric Locomotives
Two of the largest Diese. electric main Une locomotives ever built in Britain were recently shipped to India. Their mission in life will be to do a special job of work, and un arduous one at that.
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These locomotives, each of 1,300 70 ft... in bh.p., measure over length, and weigh 117 tons. The Indian State Ralways have sche- duled them to work the daily mail train services over the 780- mile route. across the notorious Sind Desert, between Lahore and Karachi...
In ordering these locomotives the railway authorities had definite object in view.
B
Data
s required concerning the suitabi- 1.ty of Diesel locomotives for working over Wines passing through The Waterless desert countries.
very experience gained will be useful in determining the type of power units to be used on pro- jected new lines-such for ex- ample as the proposed Bom bay-sind connection for unking up Bombay direct with Karachi. It is anticipated that this new F're will be powered entirely by great Diesel locomotives at a saring in capital cost. engine sheds, water facilties, and other
neccssary special plant so tracks d'icult to work.
(Engineers), Ltd., Scotswood " Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, load- ed them direct on to a steamer to the River. Tyne, from which they were "off-loaded," in full Working order, by the steamer's derricks on arrival at Karachi, India.
A 15-coach train with a total weight of 600 tons can be hauled dt a sustained speed of 60 m.p.b. The distance of 780 miles bet- ween Lahore and Karachi will be covered without refuelling or shed attention. Fuel tanks of Ave tons capacity are, in fact, surf- 1,000 clent for
of over Brun miles. Thus Diesel-electries will save all the time that the existing steam engines lose in taking fuęl and changing Yocos and water, at, various running sheds.
The ine runs across country uicted to very severe c.imatic conditions. The heat is intense, with a shade" temperature which sometimes exceeds. 120 degrees F. Dust and sand storms are fre- quent.
Al working parts, there- fore. are dust-proof and air al- tering is provided for the Diese! engine and power equipment. The driving apartment is fitted with a air double "Stun proof" roof
uvres, and an electric fan. This makes the third Indian order on
railway for which Armstrong- Whitworth's have now suppled large mat Une Diesel-electric locomotives, the others being the Buenos Ayres Great Southern Rallway, who have been running these units for several years, and Ceylon Government Rall- the waya The Diesel-electric locomo~ tive will become increasingly po- pular for working over long dis- tance lines in overseas countries.
TOO BIG FOR BRITAIN The locomotives under review. o the "Universal" type capable of dealing with high speed pas- senger or heavy freight services. and Bre of 5. ft. 6 ins., gauge. were, therefore, too big to run on that any British railway. For reason the manufacturers, Sr W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth & Co.
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1936.
ENGINEERING AND BUILDING
DIVIDING YOUR OFFICE ROOMS
Steel Partitions Cheapen Erection
Office construction has under- gono a radical alteration" during the past few years. The modern tendency is to divide roums' by means of partitions easily movable without the help of skilled labour.
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The use of steel partitioning enables office re-arrangements to be effected rapidy and at neg Higible cost. All the latest office series of buldings comprise a fire-resisting floors supported on stanchions. These floors can be
'][ partitioned off as required. permanent partitions are speci- fied the architect has to plan according to fixed requirements. and in the case of any variance of floor allocation the pulling per- down and re-erecting of manent walls is a costly business. Steel partitions of the type made by G. A. Harvey & Co. (London). Ltd., of Woolwich Road, London, S.F7, allow office or factory al- teration to be carried out rapidly and at the minimum cost. An Important point about these par- titions is that they are fireproof, easily assembled, and involve no Ta costly structural alterations. other words, these steel partitions can be quickly adapted to sult varying requirements.
THE HARVEY TYPE The Harvey type of steel par- titioning is on the unit principle, a "method which gives elasticity
AIRCRAFT ENGINE LUBRICATION
BY E. L. BASS
A paper read before members of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences at Columbia University,
Any discussion on this subject may be expected to introduce that of the purely physical and che- mical properties of o'ls, and per- haps to attempt to define that clusive quality known as "olliness." This will certainly not be attempt- ed on this occasion, as apart from being quite outside the scope of the paper, aircraft engine manu- facturers and operators are con- cerned only with practical results and it is with these that we are chiefly concerned in the develop ment of the most suitable lub- ricating oils.
For same time past it has been evident that results have been obtained in Europe appreciably different from those in the Unit- ed States and while conditions of operation and the types of air- craft used may have some in- fluence on this, the different types of oils used have played an One of the most important part. striking diferences apbears to be
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der of those. made possible by the introduction of new fuels of very high
octane number. This is chiefly, due to the ability of cas- tor oll to provide the required ad- ditional degree of lubrication needed by heavily loaded bear-.
ngs, etc.
The original work carried out by Messrs. Ricardo & Co. for the Shell Company between 1925 'and 1929 shows
whereas a that, straight mineral oil could not be Icünd to provide Satlăfactory hub- rication
for a than representa- tive air-cooled aero engine, a suit ably compounded oll was capable of doing so. At the same time, an cl was toting which gave free dom from sludging and the other disadvantages usually associated with mineral oils, allowing very considerable increases in overhaul. perlods to be obtained. As pre- vicusy mentioned, 500 to 700 hours (on engines of American, British, French and German manufac-
in the overhaul periods obtained,ture) is a normal period between.. 500 to 700 hours being the regular running times between overhauls obtained on many of the chief alr lines operating in Europe and the Far East. Prior to the use of the on specially compounded which these results are obtained, alla similar to those in common use in the United States had per- mitted only 300 to 400 hours to be run between overhauls under exactly similar conditions.
These results have all been ob- tained on comparatively low out- put engines, but this does not ne cessarily detract from the interest of the subject before us; namely, the lubrication of high output engines of the future.
SPECIFIC OUTPUT
As the specific output of engines is increased, conditions for lub- rication will be more arduous and unless the requirements of higher lubricating value ("olliness") in an oil and resistance to deteriora- tion under high temperature con- ditions are met, excessive wear and even bearing failures may occur due to the greater loading of the frictional surfaces.
overhaul periods in European transport service, and even so, the limiting factor is not then one of depreciation of the oil, but rather the mechanical necessity for the servicing or renewal of some part of the engine. With further mechanical development there is every reason to believe that overhaul periods of 1,000 hours will be obtained in the near future.
Success ubtained in this direc- on has led to many interesting particularly investigations and
into methods of testing, since it has not yet been possible to de- velop labaratory tests from which the performance of lubricating oils can be accurately predicted. The fact that most of the impor tant lubricating oil specifications for aircraft engine oils completely exclude, compounded oils is of tu terest and is justided on the Frounds that it is not possible yet to specify any simple laboratory test or series at tests for com- pounded oils which will exclude those, of which there are many, which are likely to be unsuitable for blending with mineral oils för aircraft engine lubrication.
SOLVENT PROPERTIES
It is well known from laboratory experiments that the addition of dopes (fatty acids, etc.) and fatty
It may be said that one of the o'le results in considerable fi provement in lubricating value. Awst Important characteristics of One of the best known" olls pos- lubricating, olls is the way in sessing this characteristic is casaich they are capable of holding for all, although it has other ser- sludge and the products of oxida ious disadvantages which rom- tion lo suspension,This might be pietės preffude its use in com termed their solvent properties mercial service. It is still used. Some of the most stable oils avall in Europe on stunt engines which able according to laboratory tests, are well known to cause severe are producing powers of the u
carbon
40,000 CANDLE-POWER LAMP
A small mercury vapour lamp, an inch long and a quarter of an inch thick, is stated to be of 40,- 000 candle-power and to have n practical light intensity of appro- ximately one-quarter of the sun as seen from the earth.
These lamps will be of particu- lar interest to the cinematograph industry for the use of film pro- jection. There is the possiblity that, its use would render obsolete the revolving shutter, by using alternating current.
This lamp, manufactured in the Phillips
laboratories.
research
gives a very white light which, c t claimed, will be particularly sultable for medical purposes. Experiments are being conducted with the idea of produc'ng smaller lamp with a great light intensity.
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in arrangement and allows after- ations or additions to be made. Services such as telephones, eler- tric.
Fe light wiring, etc., can concealed in a space, between the units, which is covered by a re movable plaster
sprung into position.
For office work the upper po- tions of the partitions are gased, since managers can then super vise their staff more easily. The doors. are assembled, in rigid at the man - built-up frames.
Thus, it is n facturers works,
distortion to occur possible for owing to incorrect hanging. Ball. bearings at the top and bottom ensure sllent and easy movement. Fanlights are avaliable if requ'r- ed. A Harvey steel office may be made even more complete. and soundproof. by the addition of steel ceiling, or double cased metal banels with perforated sheets and sound-absorbing mate- tial Introduced, where special All sound-Insulation is required.
this stee work is rustproof, and finished in stove enamel or two- tone colours.
PISTON RING STICKING In the selection of oils for air- craft engines, the most important property to be considered is that of piston-ring sticking. It has
formation and sludging when used in an engine for any length c time, Nevertheless ac- cording to laboratory tests the ol drained from such engines will be found to retain its original properties remarkably well. Dur- ing the use of such an oil, how- ever, it will have thrown out those undesirable deposits in the crank-long been realized that there is case and on to the pistons of the engine involving more frequent overhaul for cleaning and the cor- rection of lubricating oil con- sumption which increases" abnor- mally through the oll control rings
choked becoming sludge, etc. By suitable selection and treatment of the fatty com- ponents of aircraft olls the ne- cessary solvent properties may be obtained giving maximum cleanli- normal ness of the engine and oil consumption over long periods of operation. Incidentally, this function of certain compounded olis has been found to be of con- siderable advantage in compres- sion-ignition aircraft engines where the amount of contamina- tion from partially oxidized fuel is very great-
with
At least one important Euro- pear aircraft operator throughout the entire overhaul without period of 500 hours changing the oil, whereas others change only at 75 and 100 hour periods. These #gures, it is be- lieved, represent a substantial im- provment over those obtained in the United States
It is of interest, in this con", nexion, to observe the effect of the rate of lubricating oil consump- tion on os condition, from which the necessity for oil changing is usually judged. With engines of high consumption the amount of oll passing the piston is excessive, and therefore a greater volume of oil becomes partially oxidized on the cylinder walls. Due to the Inefficiency of the oil control'er. scraping arrangements, much at this oxidized material again passes the platon in the reverse dir tion and contaminates the oil passing through the crankcase, On the other hand, the effect of the additional make-up oll require ed by engines of high consump
no suitable laboratory test from which the piston-ring sticking characteristics of an oll can be predicted. For the testing of lub ricating oils it is obvious that a simple test must be devised both from the point of view of cost and economy in time. In cooperation with Mesara Ricardo & Co. the Shell Company has developed a test using a small motorcycle en- gine of 250 c.c. capacity (15.2 cuble inches). At 3000 r.p.m. this en- gine develops approximately 100 BMEP at full throttle. Cylinder are controlled by temperatures. varying the speed of the cooling alt; still further to increase the severity of the fest, a fuel is used which gives continuotis alight de- tination, By a process of trial and error the cylinder tempera- ture can be found at which the lubricating oil under test just causes the top piston ring to antick;' after a period of 10 hours run- ning. This temperature is used as the criterion in Judging lubricating on for its piston-ring sticking pro- perty. For the purposes of con trol and calibration of the engine, a standard of is used for check tests which are carried out after. every three or four tests made on unknown oils, ...
An important variable needing 'control in these tests is the rate of o'l consumption. In a short "test of this nature, with a high con- sumption the additional cooling and ""Washing" effect of the off be- bind the piston rings play an im portant part in reducing the pls ton fings play an important part In reducing the ring sticking ten- Tency of any all. For this reason, and to eliminate errors which would be due to variations in con- sumption occurring with oils of different viscosities, the lubrien ton of the test engine used 14 carried out on the total loss prin- ciple by this means the rate of
tion is to reduce the concentration flow of all to the engine, and
ELECTRIC RLY. IN LONDON
A New Line To Leyton
At the end of last week the London Passenger Transport Board announced that they were seeking powers during the forth- com.ng session of Parlament to extend certain lines of the Un- derground system in the east and north of London. The scheme generally was. discussed in En- gineering of June 14, when the proposals were outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but some further details are now available. In East London it
to extend London rallway
15 proposed Central
the
frem
its terminus at Liverpool Street to Stratford and thence to build From a new line to Leyton. Leyton to Leytonstone the Cen- tral London trains will run over` the London and North Eastern Ralways tracks "which will also be electrided. A new line will also be constructed, via, North inford, between Leytonstone and. New.. bury Park, where it will be con nected with the London and North Eastern's Grange H. loop. New stations will be bullt "at Bethnal-green, Mile End. Strat- ford, George-green, Red House and North Ilford Interchange facilities will be provided Stratford with the London and North Eastern Railway's Shenfe'd service, which, it will be recalled. is also to be electrined.
at
THE PLATFORMS The platforms of the exiting stations on
London the Central Rafway will be extended to re- commodate eight-car trains." Tu North Landon the Highgate tube is to be extended to East Flach- ley, where it will join the London and North Eastern Railway's High "Barnet and Edgware bran- ches. These will be electrified, so that it will be possible. to run. through trains to City and West End...
produced Saving piston-ring sticking temperatures as high as those of the best generally ac- cepted aviation olls, with the ad- ditional advantage that the com- pounded alls possess of giving freedom from sludge formation. It is very interesting to observe with which the disparagement single-cylinder aero engine testa are regarded in the USA for Some European engine manufac- turers consider the results of lab- ricating ou tests on single-cylin- der editions of their full-scale engmes as giving satisfactory in- dications of the value of the dll. In fact, it is claimed that it is possible to run the single cylin der under, more severe conditions than could be permitted on a full- acale unit if the risk of a complete engine failure were to be avoided. CONSUMPTION
The next most important char- acteristics of lubricating oil to be considered are those controlling startability and consumption. These are dependent, upon res- pectively the low-temperature and viscosities. high-temperature Clearly the viscosity index of the of constituenta basic mineral used for blending compounded oils is of the greatest importance and must be considered in relation to their other essential characteris- tica. The startability and con- sumption requirements are in on- position. If consumption alone is considered, high viscosity and good viscosity ratios are essen- tial, although some engines hin sensitive to viscosity to the ex- tent that consumption increases after a certain optimum viscosity. is reached apparently this is a fanction of the oil control hr rangements. Experience has shown that olls of 100 to 120 ser unds Saybolt at 210°F. are the most popular-the lighter grade being used practically exclusively“ by European engine manufac curers. Undoubtedly, many of the lubricating all requirements of engines are better able to be met by the lower viscosity oil, but this may involve some sacrificedn all consumption unless improve-
of the sludge, etc. in the all sys-therefore its consumption, is un-ments in all control can be effect-
ud. It also appears possible that in the engine installations used. in high speed aircraft of the fo ture in which the drag of oll coolers becomes increasingly-in-
der exact control tem of the engine, Generally
Generally speaking, it has been speaking, however, engines with Figh oil consumption usually strip found that the addition of fatty in a diriter condition than those olls to mineral oils results in an with a low consumption so that appreciable lowering of the ring control of oil consumption is im-cking temperature, but by suit-por portant for more reasons than ene
able selection of the various com- panente, compounded offs can be
Lome advantages, may be gained by Increasing the all outlet températur
PORTL
AND
GEMENT
EMERALCRETE
RAPID HARDENING
PORTLAND CEMENT
IN PAPER BAGS OF 94LBS NETT
PRODUCT
or
GREENSLAND CEMENT CO.LTD.
EXCHANGE BUILDING. HONG KONG
THE TAIKOO DOCKYARD & ENGINEERING COMPANY OF HONGKONG, LIMITED.
BUILDERS OF ALL CLASSES OF SHIPS.
BUILDERS OF RECIPROGATING STEAM ENGINES. BUILDERS OF MARINE AND LAND BOILERS. BUILDERS OF TURBINE MACHINERY
Under License From Messrs Parsons. BUILDERS OF DIESEL ENGINES
Under Special License"
From Messrs. Sulzer Bros., Winterthur. Licensed To Manuracture Lanz Perfit fron, Spermally Suitable
For Internal Combustion Engine Working Parts."
DOCK & SLIPWAYS.
FOR DOCKING VERY LARGE AS WELL AS SMALLER VESSELS,
ON ANY TIDE
ALL CLASSES OF SHIP, ENGINE AND BOILER
REPAIRS AND EXTENSIVE
WELDING BOTH ELECTRICAL AND OXY- ACETYLENE SKILFULLY AND PROMPTLY CARRIED OUT.
BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE, Agents,
HONG KONG, CHINA & JAPAN.
TEL ADDRESS: Táreconoce," Hong Kora, TELEPHONE: 30311,
CALL FLAG
NUMERAL ONE" OVER » PINFANT ANR”
SPEED EASTWARD
FROM SEATTLE IN
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the freshness of its als conditioned equipment. You'll maht discriminating travelers who prefer to travel. Milwaukee You'll Hírili sa magnificent scenery. Include Me Journey between Seattle and Chicago on The Ohi part of your Minerbrý.
For Sardine Máformation incusten ut you sowroot stea
*
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1. F. MANDALEN DUE,
THE MILWAUKEE ROAD