Although we have been rather slow in this country in taking up the automobile, inventors and manufacturers are now working at a pace that will soon make up for lost time. We already have a number of designs of steam carriages whose operation is highly creditable. [Fig. 14] illustrates one of these. The design of the engine, boiler and other mechanism can be well understood from [Fig. 15], in which a portion of the body is removed to expose the internal parts.
Fig. 15. Sectional View of [Fig. 14], Showing Location of Engine, Boiler and Other Details.
Fig. 15A. Plan of Steam Carriage Shown in [Figs. 14] and [15].
The boiler is a very compact form of the upright type, such as is used in fire engines. It is about fourteen inches in diameter and twenty inches high. To increase its strength, it is surrounded with two layers of piano wire. The engine is of the locomotive type, consisting of two cylinders, the pistons of which are connected with cranks on the end of the shaft, these cranks being set at right angles, so as to prevent catching the engine on the dead center. The direction of rotation is reversed by means of the ordinary link motion. The fuel used is gasoline, which is carried in the cylindrical tank located under the front of the carriage. The gasoline is vaporized and then, mixed with a proper proportion of air, passes to a burner placed under the boiler. The amount of steam generated is regulated by the amount of gasoline supplied to the burner, and this supply in turn is regulated by the pressure of the steam, so that the action is entirely automatic. The cylinder H is a reservoir of compressed air, connected with tank I, so that the gasoline is under pressure, and therefore is forced through the pipe to the burner under the boiler. Between the burner and the tank there is a valve controlled by the steam pressure, being opened when the pressure is low and closed when it is high. When the pressure reaches a certain point the valve is closed entirely, so that even if the carriage is running very slowly, it is not possible to run the pressure above the fixed limit. The exhaust passes from the engine cylinders into a muffler, from which it escapes into the pipe K. This pipe projects downward into an opening through the center of the water tank, and the draught produced thereby draws the gases of combustion through from the top of the boiler to the under side of the carriage body, where they escape into the atmosphere.
Fig. 16. Engine of Carriage Shown in [Fig. 14].
Directly in front of the exhaust muffler is seen the water gauge, which is in such a position as to be outside of the carriage body, as shown in [Fig. 14]. A mirror is placed at the front of the vehicle, and by looking into this the water gauge can be seen. [Fig. 14] also shows clearly the position of the operating levers at the side of the carriage.