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The steam locomotive
Among the thousands of mechanical devices which we find about us there is none that is more fascinating than the steam locomotive. Its rugged outlines, its great size, its tremendous power, its aggressive noise—it is the perfect symbol of the machine age in which we live, the embodiment of the power and the speed, which, more than any other qualities, have characterized modern industrial progress. The steam locomotive is a factory in itself, a self-contained industrial plant. It has a furnace and a boiler, which turn water into steam; it has an engine, in which the expansive power of steam is converted into motion; it has the machinery which the motion of the engine serves to operate. In the ordi- nary factory these parts are separate. The furnace and boiler are in one room; in another room you will find the engine, with its glistening, rapidly moving rods and wheels; while in other rooms you will see the machines which are driven by the power of the engine, transmitted through shafting by means of a belt encircling the engine's fly wheel. The steam locomotive is all of this in one. The big driving wheels form the machine to which the engine's power is ap- plied, though it is applied directly by driving rods, and not by means of a belt. The object of the machine, unlike the object of the machinery of a factory, which gives form and shape to various materials, is movement, the transfer of the locomotive and the cars attached to it from one place to another. The product of this machine is not a tangible com- modity, but a service—the service which we call transportation. When water becomes very hot it turns into an invisible gas which we call steam. This gas expands, and if tightly en- closed, it exerts pressure, the amount of pressure depending upon the temperature of the water from which the steam comes. A steam engine is a device for using the pressure of the
steam to do work, to cause movement. It is the device through which the energy of heat is transformed into motion or me- chanical energy. There are not many things in the world much older than work. But the steam engine is not very old. Before the first one was built, all work had to be done by other kinds of power. Long, long ago, the first people who inhabited the earth had no power with which to do their work of hunting, plant- ing, harvesting, weaving and other activities by which they made their living except the power of their own muscles. Man made a great advance on the road toward civilization when he first domesticated animals and taught them to do his harder, heavier work, when he began to use oxen and camels and horses to carry burdens from place to place, to aid him in the
planting and cultivation of his crops. What wonderful inven- tions the first windmill and the first waterwheel must have been, providing the means of using forms of power stronger and more tireless than the muscles of either men or animals. We do not know when these things first came into use. Nor do we know about the origin of the sail boat, by which men could employ the power of the wind to travel on river, lake and ocean. Have you ever read about the galleys which the Romans and other seafaring peoples once used as vessels of commerce and of war? Great ships they were, driven over the water by dozens of long oars, pulled by slaves, chained to their benches and chained to the oars. The sailing vessels were surely a great improvement over the galleys.
The discovery of the way to use the expansive power of steam meant that man had a source of power far greater, and much more dependable, than the power of muscle or the power of rushing winds and running water. So great was the change which the steam engine effected in industry that we say it helped to bring about an "industrial revolution." There were various other changes in productive methods which characterized the industrial revolution, but none of them was so far reaching in effect as the introduction of the steam engine. Some engineers prefer to use the term "power revo- lution" instead of "industrial revolution" because they know that the most important feature of the so-called industrial revolution was the introduction of a new agency of power. It is said that James Watt, who built the first commercially successful steam engine, got the idea of making steam do work from seeing the steam lift the lid from his mother's teakettle boiling over the kitchen fire. "If steam can raise the lid of the kettle," he said to himself, "why can it not be made to do other kinds of work?"
Whether this story is true or not, when James Watt grew to manhood, he spent many years studying the problem of making steam do work, using the ideas of other men who had studied the problem, as well as many fresh ideas of his own. The first use made of the steam engine was to pump water out of coal mines in England. In many English mines water collected more rapidly than it could be pumped out by the muscular power of men or horses, and the mines had to be abandoned long before the coal was exhausted. The steam engine made it possible for these mines to be opened again. There were a few steam engines built before James Watt's time which could be used to pump water. But these early engines could not be used for any other purpose. Watt built engines which not only were better for pumping water than any engines which had been previously built, but could also be used for doing other kinds of work. He built engines which could turn wheels, and operate machines of any kind.
There were not many machines in use, of course, when Watt built his first steam engines, but his engines were eagerly sought to run the machinery that was known. Before long, many new machines were developed to do things which men had before always done by hand. Perhaps the most important of these machines were those employed in the textile industry. With the introduction of these new machines, operated by steam power, a great deal of the spinning and weaving, which previously people had done in their homes, was transferred to factories. The "factory system" of industry is said to have come with the industrial revolution, though as a matter of fact there were many factories where workmen toiled for wages before the steam engine came into common use. Unquestion- ably the steam engine greatly stimulated factory production, and many people believe that it was responsible for the be- ginning of the factory in industry. Not only the manufacture of textiles, but many other home manufacturing industries were established in factories using machines driven by steam engines.
The next step in the use of the steam engine was to have it do the work of transportation, to harness it to a vehicle for moving people and goods from place to place. Robert Fulton proved that the steam engine could be made to turn paddle- wheels to drive a boat over the water, in 1807, when he gave the world its first commercially successful steamboat. We still have steamboats driven by paddle wheels, but many more are driven by screw propellers, which are turned by steam engines in much the same way that paddle wheels are turned. Finally, as you read in a previous chapter, George Stephen son built the "Rocket," a steam locomotive which could pull a train of cars on a railroad.
The steam locomotives of today are much like the loco- motives that Stephenson built. They are larger and heavier, but their essential features are the same, the principle upon which they work is the same, and you can find in the steam locomotive of today the very same important parts that were in Stephenson's first successful locomotive. The biggest parts of the steam locomotive are the boiler and the firebox. They rest on a heavy steel frame, and this frame rests on the axles of the wheels. You have probably noticed that the door of the firebox is near the rear end of the locomotive, while the smokestack, through which the smoke from ihe fire passes to the open air, is at the front end of the
engine. In a large locomotive it is a long distance from the firebox to the smokestack. That part of the boiler just below the smokestack is called the smokebox. In going from the firebox to the smokebox, the smoke, flames, and hot gases of the fire pass through the boiler tubes, or flues. These flues are simply long pipes, and the boiler water is all around them. They are a most important part of the boiler, because they furnish most of its heating surface. If a locomotive boiler had no tubes or flues, it would not be possible for it to make the amount of steam which the engine requires for pulling a heavy load at high speed.
When the water in a locomotive boiler is heated to a point sufficient to create a working steam pressure, ordinarily not less than 200 pounds per square inch, the engine is ready to start. By means of the valve and lever called a throttle, the engineer lets steam from the boiler into a pipe, through which it passes to steam chests. From these steam chests the steam passes through valves to the engine's cylinders. The round cylinders, each with a steam chest just above it, are to be seen, one on each side of the locomotive, near the front end, forward of the driving wheels.
Inside each cylinder is a tight-fitting circular plate, known as a piston. The steam is admitted to a cylinder, first ai one end and then at the other, by the moving valve in the steam chest, and its pressure pushes the piston back and forth in the cylinder. The valve in the steam chest, by which the steam is admitted to the cylinder, works as the piston moves to and fro, letting the steam enter, first on one side of the piston and then on the other. As the valve lets the steam into one end of a cylinder, on one side of the piston, it leaves an opening at the other side through which the steam which has previously spent its force on the piston may pass out of the cylinder into an exhaust pipe. This pipe carries the exhausi steam to the smokebox, and from there it goes up the smoke- stack into the open air. As it rushes out it causes the "choo choo" sound you hear as the locomotive speeds along. The exhaust steam has an important use. It creates a heavy drafi through the smokestack, and this forced draft causes the fire to burn more fiercely in the firebox. The exhaust draft and the multitubular boiler were the two things which made Stephenson's "Rocket" a success. They provided the heating surface and the rapid fuel combustion which were necessary to produce enough steam to keep the locomotive moving at high speed with a heavy load.
Fastened to one side of each piston, at the center, in fact a part of the piston, is a long round piston rod, which sticks out through a central hole in the rear end of the cylinder. The piston rod is made to fit tightly in this opening by means of asbestos or metal packing rings, which prevent steam from leaking out of the cylinders.
The outer end of the piston rod is fastened to a crosshead, a heavy steel block, which moves back and forth in steel guides. Joined to the crosshead by a large steel pin is the connecting rod or main rod of the locomotive. The connect- ing rod extends from the crosshead to a crankpin, a bit off- center, on one of the driving wheels. This driving wheel is connected with the other driving wheels by long side rods, which likewise are fastened to crank pins.
As the steam makes the piston move back and forth in the cylinder, the main rod and side rods also move, the moving rods make the wheels turn, and the turning wheels carry the locomotive along the track. Steam pressure does the work. Such an engine is a reciprocating engine, so named because of the back and forth movement of its piston. In the next chapter we shall have something to say about another kind of steam engine, known as a turbine, in which there is no piston and no back and forth, or reciprocating motion. Nearly all reciprocating engines accomplish their work by transforming the reciprocal motion into rotary motion. In some mechan- ical contrivances, operated both by steam power and by mus- cular power, you may see this reciprocating motion trans- formed into rotary motion, which is then transformed once more into reciprocating motion. An example of such a con- trivance is the old fashioned sewing machine, which is driven by a foot-operated treadle. In the mowing machine, with which a farmer cuts his hay, the rotary motion of the mower's wheels gives a reciprocating motion to the cutter bar.
The working pressure of the steam in our older locomo- tives is usually about 200 pounds to the square inch. A piston with a diameter of 24 inches presents a surface of more than 450 square inches. With a full pressure against its surface, it is subjected to a force of 90,000 pounds. Many of the Ameri- can locomotives built in recent years have a maximum boiler pressure considerably higher than 200 pounds per square inch, some of them having 300 pounds, or even more. The boiler of a locomotive must be very strong to resist a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch without "blowing up." All locomotive boilers, in fact all steam boilers, even those which provide steam for heating homes, are fitted with safety valves. When the pressure of the steam in a boiler reaches such a point as to make the boiler unsafe, the safety valve
opens, the steam escapes to the open air, and the pressure is relieved. You have all probably had a chance to see a loco- motive with its safety valve open, and hear the loud hiss of the escaping steam. While locomotive firemen try to keep a full head of steam, they try to keep pressure low enough so that the engine will not "pop off," because if there is such an excess of pressure that the safety valve operates, it means that fuel is being wasted.
Even at its best a steam locomotive wastes much of the heat which its burning fuel produces. It must be remembered that while the pressure of steam makes a locomotive go, it is the fuel—the coal or the oil consumed in the firebox—that really furnishes the locomotive's power. Of all the coal or oil which is burned in a steam locomotive, only a small part does any useful work. Scientists tell us that in the very best of our reciprocating steam locomotives only about ten per cent of the heat produced by the burning coal or oil is used in moving the locomotive and in pulling a train of cars. The rest of the heat is wasted. Part of it escapes through the smokestack in smoke and exhaust steam, part is lost by reason of the frictional resistance of the moving parts of the engine. A machine which uses only eight per cent of its source of power and loses the remaining ninety-two per cent is truly a wasteful machine. Many of our locomotives do not use even eight per cent of the energy stored in the fuel which they burn.
During the last forty years there has been a marked im- provement in the efficiency of the steam locomotive. Before 1900, few locomotives employed in useful work as much as five per cent of the fuel they consumed. The improvement in the locomotive's thermal efficiency has been brought about in part by the use of devices which permit a better combustion of fuel and other devices through which some of the heat which once was wasted is now saved and put to work. More- over there has been a great improvement in the design and construction of steam locomotives.
A device which has helped greatly to increase locomotive efficiency has been the brick arch, with which the fireboxes of all locomotives are now equipped. This brick arch is a kind of baffle-plate of firebrick, extending from the lower front end of the firebox, backward and upward toward the firebox door. Of course it does not reach all the way to the rear of the firebox. It is supported by tubes through which water from the boiler circulates. The flames from the burning coal do not go directly forward toward the boiler tubes, but are directed backward till they reach the edge of the brick arch, where they turn upward and forward toward the tubes. The deflection of the flames by the brick arch gives a longer time for combus- tion, and not so much unburned coal and gas are lost through the smokestack.
Nearly all locomotives are equipped with steam superheat- ers and many locomotives also have feedwater heaters. A feedwater heater is a device in which the water for the boiler is heated, almost to the boiling point, before it passes into the boiler. The heat is obtained from exhaust steam. In i he old locomotives, all of this exhaust steam once passed out through the smokestack. Now a part of it is diverted, and heat which once was lost, is made to serve a useful purpose. Locomotive feedwater heaters are found in different places. Many of them are located just in front of the smokestack. They remind one of the knapsack which a soldier carries.
More important than the feedwater heater as a fuel saving device is the steam superheater. It can not be seen on the outside of the locomotive. It consists of a header, placed in the smokebox. and a number of small looped, or U-shaped tubes which extend from the header back into the boiler tubes, some of which are made larger for the express purpose of giving room for the superheater tubes. The superheater gives the steam added heat after it leaves the boiler and before it gets to the cylinders. The steam passes from boiler to super- heater, from superheater to cylinders, and while in the super- heater it gets additional heat from the hot gases which flow through the boiler tubes into the smokebox. Steam, as it comes from the boiler, is said to be saturated, that is, it begins to condense into water as soon as its temperature begins to fall. When saturated steam enters an engine cylinder there is an immediate loss of power because of condensation. Super- heated steam does not begin to condense until its temperature is reduced to that of the saturated steam as it entered the superheater. When the superheated steam enters the cylinders there is no immediate loss of power by condensation. A
smaller amount of steam is required, therefore, for the same amount of work. Since much of the heat which the super- heated steam receives would otherwise be lost through the smokestack, it can readily be seen that the superheater is a most effective device for saving fuel. An engine with a super- heater also consumes less boiler water. Since a superheater has no moving parts to wear out, it is not costly to maintain, and it soon saves its cost of manufacture and installation many times.
There are many parts to the steam locomotive, in addition to the essential parts which we have been discussing. Every locomotive has a tender which carries the fuel and water for firebox and boiler. Some locomotives burn oil for fuel, but most of them burn coal.
The water tank of the tender is fitted with pipes through which the water may pass to the boiler. When a fireman or the engineer thinks the water in the boiler needs replenishing, he turns on an injector, an ingenious contrivance, in which a jet of steam draws water from the tender and blows it into the boiler. Some injectors are operated by exhaust steam, a further saving of fuel for the locomotive. On some locomo- tives and especially upon those which have feedwater heaters, fresh water is forced into the boiler by a pump instead of by an injector.
Boiler water often has to be "treated" before it is put in the locomotive tender, to rid it of lime and other mineral sub- stances which the water holds in solution, and which, if not removed would soon form a thick, crusty deposit on the boiler's inner surface and on the boiler tubes, greatly dimin- ishing the boiler's steam producing capacity. Some boiler water is treated in the tender itself. As this treated water boils and evaporates it leaves a soft sludgy deposit in the boiler which may be blown out at frequent intervals in the engine terminal. All locomotive boilers must be cleaned out regularly. An oil burning locomotive makes work fairly easy for the fireman. 1 he liquid fuel is sprayed into the firebox, much as it is done in an oil burning furnace for heating a house, only in much larger quantities. 1 he fireman merely watches his steam pressure gauge and water level and turns a valve to in- crease or reduce the How of oil into the firebox. Anybody who has ridden on an oil-burning locomotive knows how much easier the work of the fireman is than the work of a fireman who works on a coal-burning locomotive and shovels coal into the furnace by hand.
But the work on coal burning locomotives has become much easier in recent years. As manufacturers built larger and larger locomotives, many of them came to have such large fireboxes that it was very difficult to fire them by hand. Mechanical stokers were invented to lire these large locomotives. Now all of our largest coal burning locomotives, and many of our smaller ones too, are stoker-fired, and the firemen are not sub- jected to such backbreaking toil as they once performed. A mechanical stoker is run by a small auxiliary steam engine, which gets its steam from the locomotive boiler. There are several different kinds of locomotive stokers, but they are all much alike in their operation. The coal is carried from the tender to a crusher, which reduces the large lumps of coal into small particles, though it does not pulverize it. The particles are carried by a screw conveyor to a flat iron plate inside the firebox. Small jets of steam, coming from pipes so arranged that they point toward all parts of the firebox, blow the coal from this plate and scatter it over the grate surface. The mechanical stoker not only saves the fireman's back, but it saves coal. It spreads the coal more evenly over the grate surface, and its use makes it unnecessary to open and close the firebox door every time coal is added to the fire. Moreover, the crushed coal burns more completely and cleanly i ban coal in large lumps.
Every locomotive has a cab, in which the fireman and the engineer ride. There is a seat on each side, and windows at the side and front. Through the windows at the front the engineer and fireman can look out along the sides of the boiler to the track ahead, observing whistle posts, crossings, and vari- ous signals, and watching for obstructions. The engineer sits on the right side of the cab, the fireman on the left. On the hand-fired locomotive the fireman does not sit much, however, for he is kept pretty busy shoveling coal from the tender to the firebox, and looking after the fire, so that there will be plenty of steam. On many of the smaller locomotives on English and other European roads there are no seats in the cabs. Both the engineer, or driver, and the fireman must stand during their runs.
A locomotive has a headlight to light the track ahead at night. Large oil lamps were formerly used for headlights, each with a large reflector back of the light, but the head- lights now used are electric. The electricity comes from small dynamos or generators, placed on top of the boiler. They are run by steam from the locomotive boiler. On some of our locomotives the electric headlight is just in front of the smoke- stack, on others it is attached to the circular front of the smokebox, either at the center, or just above. On the top of a locomotive there are ususally two round- topped boxes or domes. From one of these the steam is taken from the boiler; it contains the throttle valve. The other dome is a sandbox. It is filled with clean, dry sand. Small pipes run from the sandbox downward almost to the railroad rail just in front of the driving wheels. When these wheels slip because of cold or rainy weather, or because the train is heavy and difficult for the locomotive to start, the engineer opens a valve which lets tiny streams of sand fall on the rail in front of the
driving wheels. It gives the wheels a better grip on the rails, just as the dust in which a baseball player rubs his hands gives him a better grip on his bat. From the sandboxes on most locomotives the sand is forced out by compressed air instead of being let run out by its own weight.
Every locomotive has a bell and whistle. Passenger train locomotives have two whistles. One is the big whistle on top of the boiler, which is blown by steam or by compressed air and used to let people know the train is coming. The other is a small whistle in the locomotive cab. It does not make a very loud noise, and only the engineer and fireman listen for it. It is a signal whistle by means of which the conductor on the passenger train communicates with the engineer. This whistle is blown by compressed air. In the passenger car of a half century ago there was a long cord above the aisle, reaching from one end of the car to the other, and it was by means of this cord that the whistle in the engine cab was blown. In a modern passenger car there is no signal cord running down the center of the car, but a metal valve mechanism at each end of the car. On some of the older cars, however, the overhead signal cords may still be seen. The cord is not attached to the whistle,—it is used to operate a valve which serves to admit a blast of air into the whistle. Each passenger train has an air signal pipe line, extending throughout the length of the train.
The engineer knows what message the conductor is giving him by the number of times the whistle blows. The whistle code employed on our passenger trains is uniform on American railroads. If a train is moving and the whistle blows three times, it means, "Stop at the next station." If it blows twice when the train is moving, it means, "Stop at once." If it blows three times when the train is standing still it means for the engineer to back the train. There are other signals for other messages.
- The standard code of operating rules, in force throughout the United States, prescribes many engine whistle signals, of which the following are extensively used:
- Approaching public grade crossing—Two long, two short.
- Approaching station, junction or railroad crossing—One long.
- Alarm for persons or animals on track—Succession of short toots.
- Apply brakes, stop—One short whistle.
- Release brakes, proceed—Two long whistles.
- Flagman protect rear of train—One long, three short.
- Flagman return from west or south—Four long.
- Flagman return from east or north—Five long.
- Call for signals—Four short.
- Back up (when standing) —Three short.
- Stop at next station (when running) —Three short.
Some day when you are on a train you will hear a long
"Too-o-o-o-oot!"from the locomotive whistle. The engineer
is saying, "We are getting close to a station." The conductor
reaches up to the cord and pulls it once, twice, three times.
Then the locomotive whistle goes, "Toot, toot, toot." The
engineer is saying to the conductor, "I heard your signal and
will stop at the station." Pretty soon you will feel the brakes,
the train slows down, and comes to a stop at the station
- The bell cord communicating signals from train to engine cab are:
- Two short: When standing, start.
- Two short: When running, stop at once.
- Three short: When standing, back up.
- Three short: When running, stop at next passenger station.
- Four short. When standing, apply or release air brakes.
- Four short: When running, reduce speed.
- Five short: When standing, recall flagman.
- Five short: When running, increase speed.
- Six short: When running, increase train heat.
- One short, one long, one short: Shut off train heat.
- One long: When running, brakes sticking; look back for hand signals.
In 1944 a few American railroads began to use a new system of train communication, a system which could be installed on both freight and passenger trains, a system which not only enabled the engineer in his cab to communicate with the con- ductor in the caboose, but made it possible for the crew of a moving train to communicate in a new manner with operating forces in railroad stations, yards and oflices and even on other trains. This new means of communication was not by a code, nor by any kind of visual signal. It was vocal; the communica- tion was by actual speech. The new science of electronics about which we have heard so much, in connection with radio, and radar, and all kinds of automatic devices for controlling the operation of machines, made it possible to develop this new method of train communication.
Some railroads are making use of radio. A two-way tele- phone, like that found in patrolling police cars, or like the "walkie-talkie" of the army, provides the means of communi- cation, and government authority has already assigned certain wave bands for railroad use. Other roads use an "induction" system, in which the electrical impulse is transmitted first to the railroad rail, picked up "inductively" by wires on the train or along a station, and amplified in cab, caboose or sta- tion. Another method employs radio transmission between the train or station and the telegraph or telephone wires along the railroad's right of way, and the wires carry the impulses to the amplifying mechanisms.
This new method of communication is proving to be very useful, especially on long freight trains, where heretofore it has been difficult for the conductor in the caboose to give messages and instructions to the engineer. Hand signals are often impossible to discern because of weather conditions, and freight trains have never had the "bell cord" and loco- motive signal whistle. On a train with telephone communi- cation, a trainman who detects a smoking hotbox on a freight car can tell the engineer and have the train stopped in the proper manner, before an accident occurs. Formerly, if the trainman could not have his hand signal perceived, he either had to endeavor to make his way forward to the locomotive, or set the air brakes himself, running the risk of having the train break in two.
The new means of communication enables the conductor and the engineer to co-operate in getting the train ready for its departure, and to exchange information at any time with regard to the movement of the train and the state of its equip- ment. Exchange of information between moving trains, and between a moving train and operating offices, often permits train movements to be speeded up. It can readily be seen that the new means of communication may be a safety device of high importance, just as is the radio on a ship at sea. Many of our railroads are installing one or another of the different kinds of telephonic train communication, and there is no doubt that its use will soon be general.
At the front end of a locomotive is a pilot or cowcatcher. If the locomotive should strike an object on the track the pilot may throw it to one side and keep it from getting under the wheels and into the moving parts of the locomotive. On the steam locomotives of today there are a great many things which we often call "gadgets"—ingenious contrivances or devices, which were unknown to the engineers and firemen of a generation ago. There are machines to shake the grates ai the bottom of the firebox, work that was once a part of the fireman's job; machines to ring the locomotive bell. The en- gineer operates the reversing gear of his locomotive by a mechanical device now, instead of by a heavy reverse lever, which all locomotives had not so many years ago. All these gadgets make the labor of the engineers and firemen much easier than it used to be. Some of the devices are operated directly by steam, others by compressed air. But in either case it is steam which really does the work.
One of the most useful parts of the steam locomotive, which should be described with some detail, is the air brake mechanism, consisting, on the locomotive, of an air pump, a main air reservoir, an engineer's brake valve, and the devices by which brakes are applied to the locomotive's own wheels. The air pump, which is run by steam from the locomotive boiler, compresses air in the main air reservoir, and the pres- sure of the air is used to force the brake shoes against the wheels of the cars and the locomotive and bring the train to a stop. The air pressure works just like steam pressure, but compressed air does not have to be hot, like steam. The com- pressed air is taken from the main air reservoir on the loco- motive to auxiliary reservoirs beneath the cars, through an air pipe. The air pipes of the cars are connected with one another by rubber air hose, which couple together between the cars. You can see the air hose and coupling at the end of any car or locomotive. On passenger cars you see three sets of hose couplings. One is for the air for the air brake; one is for the air which blows the signal whistle in the locomotive cab; the third is for the steam which comes from the locomotive boiler to heat the passenger cars in cold weather. On some trains the air connections, and other pipe connections between cars, are made of metal.
Before the air brake was invented trains were brought to a stop with hand brakes. Cars still have hand brakes but they are used now only when the cars arc disconnected from the engine. It used to be hard, dangerous work for brakemen to run over the cars in all kinds of weather, turning on brakes, one after another, as fast as they could. Now the brakemen can stay inside their "caboose," and let the engineer work the brakes from the locomotive cab, just by turning a little brass valve that stands in front of his seat.
George Westinghouse was the inventor of the air brake. It was one of the most useful inventions we have had on the steam railroad. It made it possible to have long heavy trains, which could be slowed down or stopped more easily than a very small train could be controlled by hand brakes.
The first air brake invented by Westinghouse was called a straight air brake. It had only one air reservoir, that be- neath the engine, and this reservoir was connected by pipe and hose to the brake cylinders beneath the cars. To set the brakes the engineer opened a valve in the engine and let the compressed air of the reservoir flow swiftly through the train pipe to the brake cylinders. Here it pressed against a
piston connected by levers to the brake rods, and the levers and rods pressed the brake shoes against the turning wheels of the cars. To release the brakes the engineer closed the valve
in the engine, shutting off connection between the reservoir and the train pipe, and at the same time permitting the air in the train pipe and brake cylinders to escape to the atmosphere, While this type of brake worked very well, it had one great defect. It was not automatic in its action. That is, if a train broke in two, or if the train pipe or an air hose broke, the straight air brake would not bring the train to a stop. In fact it became entirely useless, for if the engineer opened his brake valve all the compressed air in the reservoir would merely escape to the outside air, without affecting the brakes at all.
Seeing that a straight air brake would not be satisfactory on trains of cars, Westinghouse set to work to make an auto- matic air brake, such as we now have on all our trains. The most essential part of the automatic air brake is a de- vice known as a triple valve. Beneath each car is an auxiliary reservoir and a brake cylinder. They are connected with each other and also with the train pipe through the triple valve. The auxiliary reservoir holds enough air to operate the brakes on its car.
When the train is moving with brakes released, the adjust- ment of the triple valve is such that a passage is open between the train pipe and the auxiliary reservoir, and another passage is open between the brake cylinder and the outside air. The air pressure in the main reservoir on the engine, in the train pipe and in the auxiliary reservoir is the same. To apply the brakes on the train the engineer opens the brake valve in the cab of his engine. This valve shuts off the connection between the main reservoir and the train pipe, and at the same time permits the air in the train pipe to escape. The reduction of the air pressure in the train pipe causes the triple valve beneath each car to operate in such a way that it closes the opening from the brake cylinder to the outside air, closes the passage between the auxiliary reser- voir and the train pipe, and opens the passage between the auxiliary reservoir and the brake cylinder. The compressed air rushes from the auxiliary reservoir to the brake cylinder and causes an immediate application of the brakes.
To release the brakes the engineer closes the brake valve in his cab. The air from the main reservoir flows into the train pipe. The rise of pressure in the train pipe causes the triple valve to operate so as to open the passage between the train pipe and the auxiliary reservoir, close the passage be- tween the auxiliary reservoir and the brake cylinder, and open the passage between the brake cylinder and the outside air. The compressed air in the brake cylinder escapes and the brakes are released, and the air pressure in the train pipe, the auxiliary reservoir and the main reservoir again becomes the same.
Since the brakes are made to work by a reduction of the air pressure in the train pipe, it can be seen that if a train should break in two or if the train pipe or an air hose should become broken, all the brakes on the train would at once be applied and the train brought to a stop.
The first triple valve invented by Westinghouse was some- what slow in its action, and could be used successfully only in short trains. When it was tried on long trains the brakes in the cars near the engine set so much more quickly than the brakes in the cars farther back in the train that the cars would come together in a series of violent and destructive shocks. When the brakes were released, the action was so slow that often a train would pull in two because of the tardy response of the valves near the rear end of the train. In 1887 Westinghouse developed a much better triple valve, the action of which was much more rapid. This new kind of valve, known as Type H, could be used quite well in trains having as many as fifty cars.
But as time went on it became desirable for railroads to have larger and heavier trains. This meant that better brakes were needed, valves that would respond more quickly than the Type H valve. In 1905 the Type K triple valve was introduced. It was much more rapid in its action, and with it trains of a hundred cars could be easily controlled. But locomotives grew larger and more powerful, and trains longer and heavier. It became apparent that the Type K triple valve would not meet the needs of the railroads. Engi- neers must find something better, a valve which would make it possible to control trains having a hundred and fifty cars or more. After several years of research and experimentation in laboratories and in actual train service, a new valve known as the AB valve, was developed, and first put into actual use in 1933. The AB valve is not exactly a triple valve, though it performs the same duties, in a better fashion.
The AB valve works more rapidly and more smoothly than the triple valve, when the brakes are applied to bring a train to a stop. An even more important feature is its greater speed and certainty of action in the releasing of the brakes. With the K triple valve, the increase of pressure in the train pipe necessary to bring about the release of the brakes was supplied entirely from the air from the main air reservoir on ihe locomotive. On a long train it took too much time to restore this train pipe pressure. With the AB equipment, in addition to the ordinary auxiliary air reservoir beneath each car, there is a second supplemental reservoir. When it is desired to release the brakes, the AB valve permits the air in this supplemental reservoir to flow into the train pipe. The release of the brakes therefore comes more quickly, and there is no danger either that any brake will stick. The air in the supplemental reservoir can be used in applying the brakes too, when a sudden or "emergency" application is desired.
One problem the engineers had to solve in designing the AB valve was to make possible its use in trains of cars, pan of which were equipped with K triple valves. It would not be possible to change the valve on all cars at once. Many new cars now being built are fitted with the AB brake equip- ment, and as the old Type K equipment wears out on other cars it will be replaced with AB brakes. In a few years most of our railroad cars will have the new type of valve. The AB valve is one of the most recent of a long list oi important inventions that have done so much to increase the efficiency and the safety of railroad operation. Perhaps
it can hardly be called an invention. It is not the work of one man, but represents the combined efforts of many men, who for several years devoted much of their time and energy to patient study and research, trying to solve a problem which it was necessary to solve if the development of the steam rail- road was to continue.
Nearly all steam locomotives have some wheels which are smaller than the driving wheels. These smaller wheels are
called truck wheels. Those in front of the driving wheels carry the weight of the front end of the locomotive. When two are used, they are called pony truck wheels. On many locomotives there are truck wheels back of the driving wheels, supporting the weight of the firebox. These are called trail- ing truck wheels.
Some locomotives have "boosters" attached to their trailing truck wheels, or to the wheels of their tenders. The booster is a small two-cylinder steam engine, geared to the axle of the truck wheels. It operates when the locomotive starts or is climbing a steep hill at low speed. By its use the truck wheels can be made to help the driving wheels in moving the engine forward. When there is no booster, the truck wheels have nothing to do with propelling the locomotive.
Truck wheels were an American invention, introduced very soon after the beginning of steam railroad transportation in this country. The wheels on the first locomotives were either all driving wheels, four in number, or perhaps two driving wheels and two carrying wheels, which could not turn inde- pendently of the driving wheels. Our early railroads were
built with many curves, because of the expense of making cuts and fills, and it was found that the first locomotives were likely to "jump the track" when going around sharp curves. Truck wheels placed under the front end of the locomotive helped overcome its tendency to keep going ahead in a straight line when it came to a curve in the track.
Trailing truck wheels were added many years after the in- traduction of leading truck wheels. As locomotives became larger and more powerful, fireboxes also had to be larger. Fireboxes directly over driving wheels were somewhat shal- low; those placed between driving wheels were somewhat narrow. With trailing truck wheels a locomotive could have a firebox both wide and deep. For nearly a half century no American locomotive had more than a single pair of trailing truck wheels. But on many of the heavy passenger and freight locomotives now in use there are four-wheeled trailing trucks. Such a truck makes possible the construction of a very wide and deep firebox, in which there can be a thorough combus- tion of coal in large quantities.
There are many kinds or types of steam locomotives. Some are built chiefly for speed, some are built not so much for speed as to draw heavy loads. The different types of locomo- tives are classified according to the number and arrangement of their driving wheels and truck wheels. This classification is known as Whyte's classification, after the man who first used it. Railroads have a more elaborate method of classifying their locomotives, using a combination of figures and letters which tell much more about the design of the locomotives than the number and arrangement of wheels.
Under Whyte's classification, a series of figures indicates the number of leading truck wheels, the number of driving wheels, and the number of trailing truck wheels. For example, a 4-6-2 locomotive has four leading truck wheels, six driving wheels, and two trailing truck wheels; a 4-6-0 locomotive has the same number of leading truck wheels and driving wheels but no trailing truck wheels.
The various classes or types of locomotives in use on Ameri- can railroads are also named. The American type (4-4-0) has four driving wheels, and four truck wheels in front. The At- lantic type (4-4-2) has four driving wheels, four truck wheels in front and two truck wheels behind. Both these types have been used chiefly for passenger trains. The Atlantic type is more powerful than the American, because it is heavier and because the pair of trailing truck wheels permits it to have a larger firebox.
The Mogul locomotive has six driving wheels and two truck wheels in front, while the Consolidation type has a pair of truck wheels in front and eight driving wheels. These two types are used for freight trains.
The ten-wheel locomotive has four front truck wheels and six driving wheels. The Pacific locomotive is just the same except that it has a pair of truck wheels back of the driving wheels. These two types are used for heavy passenger trains and for light, fast freight trains.
The Mikado type has two truck wheels in front and two behind, and eight driving wheels; the Santa Fe type has the same number and kind of truck wheels, and ten driving wheels. These two types are used to draw heavy freight.
Switching locomotives have no truck wheels. The whole weight of these locomotives rests on the driving wheels, and they can stop and start more quickly than other locomotives. Some of them have four, some six, some eight, and a few have ten driving wheels. The most powerful steam locomotives are really two loco-
from the Smokestack motives joined into one. They are articulated or jointed loco- motives but are usually called Mallet locomotives, after the French engineer who built the first one. An articulated loco- motive has but one firebox and one boiler, but it has two sets of driving wheels and cylinders. The articulated locomotives also have truck wheels in front and behind, sometimes four, and sometimes two. They are very heavy and strong, and are often used as "pushers" to help heavy freight trains over steep hills. They are also used on high speed, heavy freight trains.
On American roads each locomotive is numbered, and has its number painted in large figures on the tender, or on the cab, and often on a plate at the front end of the boiler, or at some other place. The name of the railroad which owns the locomotive is also painted on the cab or on the tender, and sometimes on both.
When steam railroads were new, most of the locomotives were not numbered, but had names. Some were named after famous men, such as Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, Frank- lin; some were named after old Greek and Roman gods and heroes, such as Jupiter, Vulcan, Mars, Hercules, Mercury, Jason; some were named after animals, such as Lion, Tiger,
Antelope, Elk; some were named after towns and cities, count- ies and states, and some had beautiful Indian names. The famous "John Bull" locomotive was brought from England and placed on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in 1831. Robert L. Stevens bought this locomotive. Do you remember what important thing he did on the ship while on his way to Eng- land to buy it? The "John Bull" was the first locomotive used in New Jersey. Some day, when you go to Washington, go to the Smithsonian Institution, and there you will see this famous locomotive. It does not look exactly as it did in 1831, for after it had been here a few years a headlight, a cowcatcher, a bell, a whistle, and a shelter for the engineer and fireman were added to it. Some of our railroad companies have re- cently begun to name their locomotives again, though they still keep their numbers too.
Many new ideas in the design of steam locomotives have been brought forward both in this country and in Europe in recent years. Nearly all of the locomotives now built in America have a working steam pressure of at least 250 pounds, and experiments are being conducted with much higher pressures. In Germany, before the war began, a locomotive was constructed to operate with a steam pressure of 1700 pounds. Some American locomotives have three cylinders instead of two, the third cylinder being placed midway be- tween the other two, and the driving wheels with which its piston is connected being fitted with a crank axle. In 1939, the Pennsylvania Railroad built in its own shops a locomotive with four cylinders, eight driving-wheels, six leading and six trailing truck-wheels. It was exhibited at the New York World's Fair and was said to be the largest high speed locomo- tive ever built. New types of boilers have been designed in which the amount of heating surface has been greatly increased over the amount found in older types. Locomotives are now built with roller bearings, which, it is claimed, reduce the frictional resistance of wheel and axle, and result in a saving of fuel. Some of these new locomotives are veritable giants of the rail. It is interesting to note some of their specifications.
These are some typical locomotives built in recent years by American locomotive builders for use on American railroads, in freight and passenger service. Many other locomotives have been built, some larger, others smaller. They represent a great change in American locomotives since the beginning
of steam railroad transportation, particularly with respect to size. A hundred years ago a steam locomotive of 25 tons was considered to be gigantic. Now locomotives with a total weight, engine and tender combined, of 500 tons, are common sights on American railroads. While the efforts to improve the steam locomotive have led to important results, the attempts to find a substitute for it have been extremely interesting, and perhaps even more im- portant in their results. Other kinds of motive power have been introduced on many steam railroads, both in the United States and in other countries, with such marked success in many instances that many persons profess to believe the old style steam locomotive is doomed to pass entirely out of use on our railroads. In the next chapter we shall tell about some of the engines which have been developed to take the place of the reciprocating steam locomotive.


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When i ran the SAN Health (Version 4) on SAN Ports tab i can see it reports as Duplicate WWN under port world wide name tab. I can see that those ports are not duplicate and unfortunately i can see the duplicate WWN's for the ports where there ports are offline.Last week whe i ran the report it was not evident bit yes this week i saw this. We didnt do any changes in the environment. I guess this might be the bug on the version but am not sure. Please let me know if you have came acorss this scenario or any information regarding this issue.
Switches firmware version isv7.4.1e.
Thank you and appreciate your help.
S11/P29 16 G Emulex HBA SRV_TEST_HOST02 DuplicateWWN98_0e:69:26 No Device Connected
Hi Brocade Savys,
If you have come across this scenarios please do let me know or let me know if need to contact support.
There was a bug in the report genertors that was causing this. It's resolved now, if you want to correct any reports that had this issue, just send the BSH file in again and new reports will be generated.

subset: commoncrawl


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To utilize the BTR you'll need to set up virtual envelopes and assign percentages to them, allocate your expense categories for tracking in the BTR, and finally add deposits and transactions.
Setting up your envelopes:
- From the Shortcuts form, click Business Tracking Register(or from the Business Tools menu, select Business Tracking Register).
- Click to define envelope labels, and allocate a percentage to each (combined envelope percentages must equal 100%).
- Click OK when finished.
Default Categories & Suggested Percentages:
- Inventory: 55% (50% for Section 1 & 5% for Section 2)
- Sales Tools: 5% (Preferred Customer Program)
- Bus. Income: 40% (Profit)
Allocating Expense Categories:
- From the Shortcuts form, click Expenses (or from the Business Tools menu, select Expenses).
- Click then select Expense Categories from the drop-down menu.
- In the list, find the category you want to track in the BTR, and select the BTR category from the drop-down items listed under the Business Tracking field.
- Click OK to save.


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Technology has reached the justice system. This goes beyond video conferencing witnesses in courtrooms, filing a case electronically, and displaying electronic evidence. In an era when drones are making deliveries, and AI on smartphones are engaging in conversations, you may soon expect wearable technology as a probable means for your attorney to win your personal injury case, Marc J. Bern & Partners observes.
Credible Data for Your Case
The strength of your personal injury case will rely on several factors and the most critical of which is the doctor's evaluation. Whether you've filed a claim for a car accident or a workplace accident, the doctor's observations determine the weight of your claim. Should you get more in damages or should the court throw out the case?
The trouble with a doctor's evaluation is that it may not provide sufficient data. A doctor will only have a short period, like a couple of hours in a week, to observe the effects of your injury. This may not be sufficient information for your lawyer to document and file as evidence.
But if you wear a device, such as the Fitbit, your lawyer may have enough credible data to use in court. A Fitbit can record your activity, and indicate whether your lifestyle changed because of the accident. It can support your claims better because the device provides longer recorded periods of your condition. Of course, clinical interpretation is still necessary.
No More He Said, She Said?
The application of wearable technology also extends to substantiating your witness's account or disproving the other party's claim. Google Glass, for example, can take video of a car accident and capture audio.
So instead of relying on just the eyewitness account, your statement and that of the other party's, the courts could soon consider data from Google Glass into evidence. Some attorneys may even use the technology to show juries a first-person perspective of what plaintiffs go through after an accident. This could prove very effective in obtaining more benefits and compensation for your injury.
Insurance companies can also use data from wearable technology to manage personal injury claims and risk assessment of clients.
Personal injury lawsuits are complex. With the right lawyer building your case and technology strengthening it, you may have an easier time of making a claim.


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Coaching Assistant
Coaching since 2012.
Active competitor in Road, Trail, Cross Country and Hill Racing
Coaching since 2012. Active competitor in Road, Trail,…
Motherwell Athletics Club
8 hours ago
Very proud of these athletes tonight. Solid running from them all in horrendous windy conditions and overfilled races (again)at Livingston open graded. Well done Emma, Ava, Joey , Emma and Dylan. Richie.💪🏻🏃🏽♀🏃🏻♂ ... See MoreSee Less
14 hours ago
Wishaw Track is closed on Saturday - The Senior Endurance Session on Saturday 24 August is now at Strathclyde Park Boathouse @ 9.30 AM. Spread the word.www.motherwellac.com/index.php/senior-endurance-session-on-saturday-24-august-is-now-at-strathcly... ... See MoreSee Less
2 days ago
Senior Endurance Championship & League Tables updated on the Motherwell AC Road Racing Championship page of the website following the Paisley 10K Road Race on Sunday 18 August 2019. Please note for 2019, all of the designated races in the Championship count towards your total score, and in the leagues it is your best 6 performances out of 10 (including the Hypothetical Marathon). Road Racing Championship Pagewww.motherwellac.com/index.php/senior-endurance-championship-league-tables-updated-following-the-... ... See MoreSee Less


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by Kathy Jenkins | April 4, 2017 | | No Comments
Dear Mr. Jenkins,
I am writing this testimony in behalf of those people who need a confirmation, that even the night is dark and threatening, there is a tomorrow with realistic hope in the future.
After all the relevant stomach cancer testing, I am cancer free again. Following my positive biopsy results in 04/2015, I was researching only alternative options. The Science based, proven complex approach of Dr. Budwig and Mr. Jenkins made me to put all my eggs into the basket of his distant healing program. Beside the World famous Budwig Diet, the organ specific detoxifications, and the multiple ways of immune system strengthening, it was the recommended emotional treatment, that helped me tremendously to keep my spirit up and to see the end of the tunnel. It is great to plan for the future after all these challenges at the 66.
I am writing this letter also to express my gratitude to Mr. Jenkins for his heart filled guidance and to his professional staff.
Now I am waiting for the crucial "Maintenance" Program to stay in remission for ever.
Agota Poros
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


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Toyota officials initially said they would keep the names of Scion models even after the youth-focused brand went away, so we expected to see the Toyota iA, Toyota iM, and Toyota FR-S in showrooms this fall. But Toyota took the opportunity to refresh its rear-wheel-drive sports coupe, renaming the Scion FR-S as the 2017 Toyota 86.
That name matches up with the fact that the Toyota is known as the 86, GT86, or FT86 in other markets worldwide; nerds will like to note that 86 is also the bore and stroke of the car's 2.0-liter flat-four engine, in millimeters.
Speaking of the engine, it receives its first serious upgrade since the Toyota/Scion coupe launched. On manual-transmission models, the engine now makes 205 hp and 156 lb-ft of torque, up from 200 hp and 151 lb-ft. Toyota says the extra power came from revising the intake system, and reducing pumping losses within the engine. The manual transmission's final-drive ratio has also been shortened for snappier acceleration. (Opt for the automatic transmission, however, and you get the old power ratings.) As of now, it's too early to tell whether the 86's Subaru BRZ counterpart will receive similar updates.
Toyota has also changed the suspension spring rates and damper tuning for the 2017 86; the company says the changes result in "enhanced control and agile performance."
To signal all this newness to the world, the 2017 Toyota 86 receives a new look, starting with a restyled front fascia with a new grille opening, as well as new head- and taillights, and a new rear bumper. The alloy wheels have been redesigned, and there are new "86" badges on each fender. Inside, the steering wheel finally adopts controls for the sound system — though purists appreciated the simplicity of the old button-free three-spoke wheel — and there are new materials for the door panels and seats.
The updates should help juice sales of the 2017 Toyota 86. As is the case with many sports cars, even ones as affordable as the FR-S/86, sales have fallen every year since the car was launched. In 2015, the FR-S finished the year with 10,507 U.S. sales, down more than 25 percent compared to 2014.
The 2017 Toyota 86 reaches dealerships this fall.


text: The temperature is moderate with no extremes of hot and cold, so Switzerland can be visited at anytime of year. Summer is warm lasting from about June to September, and although good for outdoor activities it is also the most crowded time for a holiday. Ski resorts open in late November and remain so until the snow begins to melt in April.


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프릴리지구매 Yube22.Com 프릴리지구입주소 프릴리지구입 비닉스구입 조루치료제인터넷구매 프릴리지후기
Animation Music
A Dizzying Visual Experiment Animates 19 Hours of Single-Shot Video
https://vimeo.com/295439437 In a new music video for the musician and DJ Max Cooper (previously), Páraic Mc Gloughlin (previously) turns a single viewpoint over an anonymous highway into a nearly five-minute-long psychedelic collage. The Irish film director was tasked with "visualizing the Platonic realm of form underlying reality," writes Cooper in a statement about the video. To do so Mc Gloughlin situated himself on a bridge in…
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Art Design
Eccentric British Houseboats Built from Decommissioned Ambulances, City Buses, and Airplane Parts
https://vimeo.com/294241366 Tucked into the estuary of the River Adur in the coastal town of Shoreham-on-Sea in Sussex, England is a row of houseboats in dazzlingly slapdash designs and bustling with the creative energy of its residents. One such person is Hamish McKenzie, an older man with swirls of gray hair shaved into his short beard and a laid-back attitude that comes from spending most of his days living inside of a docked boat. McKenzie…
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26 Paper Engineers From Around the World Turned the Alphabet Into a Limited Edition Book
Kelli Anderson The Movable Books Society, a non-profit organization of pop-up book professionals and enthusiasts, recently released a collection of pop-up cards dedicated to the alphabet. The letter-filled tome, titled A to Z: Marvels in Paper Engineering, features designs from 26 paper engineers and celebrates the Society's 25-year history. Each card is consistent in size, measuring six by eight inches, but features strikingly different…
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A Rare Tropical Glacier Captured at Night in Drone-Illuminated Photographs by Reuben Wu
Photo Credit: Reuben Wu courtesy of Coors Light from its Great Big Story video series "Made From Mountains" In the ever-widening world of drone photography, Reuben Wu (previously) has made a name for himself with his unique images that combine lighted drone patterns with stark observations of natural land formations. Two months ago, Wu travelled to Peru to continue his body of work called Lux Noctis. Peru's Pastoruri Glacier is a rare…
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Striking Three-Dimensional Interventions by Mr. June Layer Geometric Paintings Onto Architectural Elements
October 2, 2018
Sasha Bogojev
Denver, USA Since 1985 David Louf, aka Mr. June, has been creating striking urban interventions, recently producing murals that layer three-dimensional effects onto architectural elements. Within the last year his vibrant geometric abstractions have challenged viewer's perceptions in projects across the world, including a piece in Little Havana, Miami, an over 130-foot diameter dome in North Carolina, a mind-bending 3D mural for RAW…
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Amazing Design Food
Watch How Steel Ribbons Are Shaped into Cookie Cutters
CookieCutter.com makes and sells exactly what you think they do. The Missouri-based company uses a combination of hydraulic and hand-operated machines to shape steel ribbons into classic shapes like gingerbread men, along with more complicated designs like deer and even the Statue of Liberty. The methodical push and pull of the shaping devices makes for great visual fodder, and CookieCutter.com frequently shares their process videos on…
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The Other Art Fair Comes to Chicago to Connect Artists With a New Generation of Collectors
On September 28, a new kind of art event is coming to Chicago: The Other Art Fair connects collectors directly with emerging artists at immersive, interactive events around the world. After successful installments in the UK, Australia, and Los Angeles, The Other Art Fair will fill Mana Contemporary in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. From September 28-30, TOAF Chicago will present a full weekend of opportunities to meet and talk with…
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Editor's Picks: Sculpture
Highlights below. For the full collection click here.


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Bible Journaling- Acts: The Power of the Holy Spirit
Guest post by Neely Beattie
I'm going to admit something to you that I'm a little embarrassed about.
The Holy Spirit is something that took me a long time to really understand for some reason. It seemed ghostly, unattainable, and strange until I really sat down to deliberately learn what and who it was.
And when I really think about it, the Holy Spirit is something that's extremely easy to take advantage of.
It's one of those really important things that you don't realize how much it does for you until it's gone (Lucky for us, He's not going anywhere!).
I don't think we realize just how much the Holy Spirit does for us and how influenced we are by it.
Those little whispers we get throughout the day as we make decisions.
The comfort we feel when we're hurting.
The prayers that seem to pour out of us when we weren't sure what we were going to say when we began.
The fire in our hearts we feel when we speak about God and His goodness.
The journal entries we write.
The paint we cover our pages with.
The joy we feel despite the world.
The Holy Spirit leads people to Jesus and proclaims the promises of God with a passion and conviction that's hard to deny.
The Holy Spirit opens eyes and hearts.
All of these things, plus more, come from the Holy Spirit.
Imagine if God had not given us this gift. What if He hadn't given us the Holy Spirit after Jesus left. No counselor, no helper, no comforter, no one to intercede for us. What a lonely life that would be. How desperate and hopeless would we all feel? We would be down here feeling like we're grasping at straws.
The Holy Spirit is a gift from God that is literally life changing. God knows what we need. We need Him. We need Jesus. And we need the Holy Spirit. It's the trinity for a reason. Without all three, even if just one is missing, we aren't complete either.


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Heal Your Dry Skin with Natural Methods this Winter
One of the most common skin care complaints when winter arrives is DRY SKIN. And when we have a harsher-than-normal winter that drags on like it has this year, the problem gets even worse.
It can be a non-stop battle to try and calm that dry, flaky skin that tends to take over as soon as you step outside in the freezing temperatures. In our attempts to get back to normal, we go through an arsenal of soaps, exfoliators, lotions…but that can end up doing more harm than good.
Why? The answer lies in the cause of the dryness. Skin becomes dry through a combination of loss of water and a loss of its natural skin oils. In winter, we lose moisture when the cold air brings along with it a decrease in humidity. The harsh winds "pull" the water right out of our skin when we are exposed. Then, soaps and chemicals applied to the body strip out more of the skin's natural oils. This can lead to a vicious cycle that ends up making your skin drier and drier over time.
The good news is, there is a 3-part way to prevent this from happening this year, and to heal your dry skin:
Step One: Avoid exposure. For starters, wear gloves, scarves, and other clothing to protect yourself from the winter winds.
Step Two: Increase moisture. This can be done by making sure you are drinking enough water (at least 8-10 glasses per day) and also by using a humidifier while indoors.
Step Three: Preserve your skin's natural oils. The key to making sure that your skin can protect itself using its own natural defenses is to avoid harsh solvents and soaps and to use gently, organic cleaners to wash your skin.
Commercial soaps are hard on regular skin, and even tougher on skin that is battling dryness. Not only do they strip oils and remove naturally present glycerin, but they also introduce harsh dyes, synthetic fragrances, and preservatives that further damage the skin.
So, what makes a good alternative? The good news is there are options for 100% organic, natural soaps that can cleanse your skin while preserving your natural oils, like the ones crafted at Aroma Roots. We are an all-natural handmade soap company that uses an ancient artisan recipe using a cold-process method and only the finest organic herbs and essential oils. Each bar is 100% organic and is a wholesome product that is safe for the whole family.
The best thing you can do for your skin this winter is to switch to a gentle cleanser so it can protect itself and retain moisture during the cold months. As an added plus, going organic doesn't mean you have to give up being pampered! If you haven't tried organic before, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the rich lather you get from these soaps. And, you can choose from a wide variety of essentials oils that add a safe, luxurious scent to your bath or shower.
Take care of your skin this winter, and enjoy being flake-free as the days get colder. With a little preventative maintenance, your skin will be able to stay naturally clean and hydrated throughout the whole season so you can enjoy the more important things.
Shop our soaps now and experience the difference. Be sure to come back and let us know how it worked for you!


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Five babies die from whooping cough6th July 2012
The Health Protection Agency has urged parents to ensure they get their babies vaccinated against whooping cough after five deaths from the condition.
In what is thought to be the biggest outbreak in two decades, 1,781 adults and children have had the illness, according to HPA figures, compared to 2010 when there were just 137 cases of the condition named after the whooping sound children make in between coughs.
The HPA data also reveals that up to the end of May this year there have been 138 cases in babies aged under three months, six times the number compared with two years ago when there were just 22, with five deaths.
Dr Gayatri Armithalingham, consultant epidemiologist in the immunisation department at the HPA, said: "Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, affects all ages. However, over the last few months the increase has extended to very young babies who have the highest risk of severe complications and death."
Whooping cough can spread easily to close contacts but vaccination is the most effective way to protect people and uptake of the vaccine is very good with figures showing 88% of all children have had the injections.
Dr Armithalingham added: "Parents should ensure their children are up to date with their vaccinations so that they are protected at the earliest opportunity."
At present the NHS vaccinates all babies when they are two, three and four months old as part of their 'five in one' jabs and then again just before school as part of their pre-school booster.
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Article Information
Title: Five babies die from whooping cough
Author: Mark Nicholls
Article Id: 22291
Date Added: 6th Jul 2012


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By Kristen Olson
Guess who's coming to dinner? Assuming dinner is in the U.S., Mamoru Hosoda's "The Boy And The Beast!" When French film studio Gaumont International was deciding which distributor would chaperone their latest sweetheart around the U.S., a distributor with loyalty and ambition was on the forefront of the agenda. And when it comes to upholding the Mamoru Hosoda flag, no distributor has been more invested than FUNimation Entertainment.
Dutiful from the beginning, FUNimation has distributed two other Hosoda works within the U.S. on VOD and home video (first in 2010 with "Summer Wars," then in 2013 with Studio Chizu's critically-acclaimed, award-winning "Wolf Children"). Commercial success helps, but more importantly, the loyalty is there.
While Gaumont received several offers for distribution, deputy head of sales Yohann Comte said Gaumont "chose to work with FUNimation because the company has been faithful to Hosoda's work since the beginning, and they also have the ambition and commitment to screen the film to the widest possible audience." This marks a significant exposure for Hosoda, as this will be his first-ever film to receive theatrical release in the U.S. FUNimation is not stopping there, for scheduled to come out this summer in the U.S. and Canada is "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F."
The talk around Mike Duboise's (FUNimation EVP & COO) table is that "The Boy and the Beast" has potential to be an Oscar candidate.
With one Ghibli-esque flick and one of the gateway drugs to anime (for Americans, at least) on the distribution slate, this isn't a bad to time to invest stock in FUNimation… Albeit emotional stock.
The film will open in select U.S. theaters this fall with a wide release slated for early 2016, just in time for the academy.
Source: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/funimation-entertainment-acquires-u-s-rights-to-mamoru-hosodas-the-boy-and-the-beast-exclusive-1201497564/


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Starring: Thambi Ramayya, Santhosh, Akhila and many more
Editing : Sudharshan
Music Songs: Alphons Joseph, Sharreth, Vijay Antony, Thaman Music Background: C Sathya
Cinematography: Rajarathinam
Directed by: Radhakrishnan Parthiban
Difference always never gets accepted and in most of the cases it gets overlooked. That was the initial case for this film which just informs us that the film does not have a story but it names itself as the 4 most important aspects for a film. Thats the mettle which the director R.Parthipan who is known for his difference. For a change he has rechristened himself as Radhakrishnan Parthiban too from this film for reasons known only to him.
Film without a story. Thats the story of the film. Apart from that if we search something in the film then it leads us to a group of people with the dreams of becoming big in the film industry headed by one of the seniormost assistant director Seenu Sir (Thambi Ramayya) along with few others who works as assistant to Tamizh (Santhosh). Their daily work is to find a story for their film and have their discussions in Tamizh's house which disturbs his wife Daksha (Akila). Are the terms good between them? Has the group found the story? Did Santhosh directed it? Check out.
The film as mentioned is really a tribute to 100 years of Indian Cinema as no one has ever had the guts to announce that their film does not have any story as such. This film just go throughs the different phases of the film industry, its plus and minuses and it has its similarities with the few weeks old Jigarthanda as both deals about film in a film. The film packs with Parthiban's stamp all over which makes the film to watch carefully not with your eyes but also with your ears too.
As the subject is a bit tricky, director depended on a fresh star cast with backing of a senior Thambi Ramayya and he proves why he earned a National Award. He is an extraordinary performer, and has been aptly chosen for this role. The extra support has been given by many senior actors viz. Arya, Vishal, Taapsee, Amala Paul, Vijay Sethupathi and many more in a cute and sweet cameos. The director himself appears in some important scenes of the film which makes the film to develop more interestingly.
Rajarathinam deserves to be lauded for his spectacular camera and angles setting the mood right in every frame. Seeing the film to be completed with just a few minutes over 2 hours makes us to laud Sudharshan, the editor. The songs are nice as they are little and the BGM tickles the thrills and chills of the movie. The director has penned a different story with crisp and interesting screenplay backed by sharp and witty dialogues and directed it well to make sure he has titled the film aptly. Parthiban has given us a film based only on a good writing and proved that director and story always marks the success of a film and not only the star power. 🙂


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Designer Charity Baubles winners announced!
An enormous THANK YOU to all of you lovely people who donated to the Designer Charity Bauble project in aid of the NSPCC - so far we've raised nearly £600 for the charity which is wonderful! I have left the JustGiving page open to still acept donations after the winners have been drawn so I hope that we can continue to raise a little bit more for this worthy charity.
I am very excited to announce that the 'prize draw' took place last night with help from a very fancy random number generating spreadsheet (Thank you to my spreadsheet-loving engineer fiance for doing that!) and each of the lovely baubles now has a lovely new owner! Each winner has been notified and will hopefully receive their bauble in time for Christmas - I have asked each winner to send a photograph in of their bauble upon the tree so hopefully I'll be able to share these with you in the New Year.
Please see all the lucky lucky winners below in bauble alphabetical order:
Congratulations to all the lucky winners and I hope your new bauble will take pride of place in your home this Christmas! Thanks so much again for everyone who donated, each and every wonderful designer who took the time to create these masterpieces, and everyone who helped share and spread the word about the project! Well done and MERRY CHRISTMAS! (If you would still like to make a donation, please please do so here)


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Leave Whitney alone tomorrow. She has just put up with people for about 36 hours straight.
Bless her heart.
I wonder what Whitney O. is up to. Haven't spoken to her for close to six years. I liked her a lot.
I once had some kind of pastry thing with cheese and - I think they were blackberries. Darn if I can remember what it was, but I would really really like some right now - even as vaguely as I remember it.


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Florida Shooting Case Documents Unsealed
The Florida judge overseeing the George Zimmerman case in Sanford, Fla., ordered Monday morning that the court file be unsealed.
The previous judge, Jessica Recksiedler, had sealed it, prompting numerous news organizations to sue to open it up. Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. apparently sided with the media groups, though he sought to allay some lawyer concerns by ordering some witness names to be redacted.
In short order, the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit court posted more than two dozen documents related to the case on its website.
They include numerous routine filings but also the prosecution's much-discussed probable-cause affidavit and documents related to Mr. Zimmerman's previous rubs with law enforcement. The court said it will continue to update the site as additional documents are filed.
In other developments Monday, Mr. Zimmerman posted bond around midnight and was whisked away by a caravan of cars, and Sanford city commissioners were expected to vote on the resignation of former police chief Bill Lee.


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Art-Nr.: 6320R1MS
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Ih honour of Labour Day, here's some superhero solidarity from a postcard I got from a Toronto comic book store:
When I was on the picket line, I just wish I had Green Lantern, Flash, and Wonder Woman with me!
Postcards sent to celebrate religious or secular holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Canada Day, etc.
Ih honour of Labour Day, here's some superhero solidarity from a postcard I got from a Toronto comic book store:
When I was on the picket line, I just wish I had Green Lantern, Flash, and Wonder Woman with me!
Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas. As my gift this year, here's one of my Christmas postcards circa the turn of the last century.
If you thought bunnies were just for Easter, you've obviously forgot about the Christmas Bunny as pictured here:
I love how the sender wrote "You" on the nose of elf.
Here's the back side. As usual whatever they were talking about in them old days is a complete mystery to me now:
Postcard message:
"Hello. You certainly took a long time to answer. Well I must say I like a [unsure at this point] turnip better than a root any time. Them rats look just like you."
Merry Christmas!
This year is the 100th anniversary of the World War 1 era poem "In Flanders Fields". The poem, a tribute to fallen soldiers, was written by John McCrae. McCrae is from my hometown of Guelph, Ontario – his Guelph home is a museum. Remembrance Day services here in Canada always include a recital of this poem.
Veteran Affairs Canada, who I mentioned in prior posts is keeping print postcard traditions alive and facilitating digital communications with through e-cards and forums, provides an e-postcard to commemorate the centenary of the famous poem:
Here is the full poem:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
The poem which still resonates with Canadians (as discussed in a recent CBC article) is a large part of the association with Remembrance Day with poppies. Many Canadians wear a poppy pin for Remembrance Day. A recent tradition of leaving one's poppy on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or a war cenotaph is depicted in another Veteran Affairs e-postcard:
It's Mardi Gras today! When I was a kid in Guelph, Ontario we called it "Pancake Day" and ate pancakes for breakfast and again at school – I loved it. But the ultimate place to celebrate is New Orleans' Mardi Gras party
I've never been to Mardi Gras, but I was there a few days afterwards and it was still a blast.
One of my family members has been there for Mardi Gras in 1967 and sent this postcard home:
This float is from the Rex Parade. The party looks so orderly and restrained, in contrast to eye witness accounts:
Postcard caption:
[Top]"A colourful Mardi Gras Float pausing in front of one of the many reviewing stands lining the sidewalks, along the route of this colourful and historic pageant, New Orleans, Louisiana."
[Bottom] "New Orleans – America's Most Intriguing City"
Postcard message:
"Hi. We are at the Mardi Gras, boy what a crowd just like the [Canadian National] Exhibition only worst there was over 1/2 a million people there and they all want the place where I was. I got a lot of beads and junk. Leaving for Texas early to-morrow."
Enjoy your pancakes, beads, or more adult celebrations today.
Last Valentine's Day, I posted about Vinegar Valentines – these are postcards sent to people you don't like. It was a popular trend about a hundred years ago.
This year I have another bizarre Valentine postcard from the turn of the last century:
I've seen some strange Valentine cards in my day – but I don't quite get this one. It was unsent and has been saved for over a hundred years, so clearly someone else appreciated the humour!
Hope you spend your Valentine's Day with someone you can count on in similarly messy situations!
Happy Valentine's Day!
I'm spending the last few hours of 2014 grading papers, getting ready to go see the Hobbit, and blogging here of course.
Here's an antique postcard from Brussels, Ontario to my great-grandfather sent to him in Clinton, Ontario on December 31, 1909. It is postmarked for January 1, 1910 – so I guess Canada Post used to work New Year's Day back then!
I find the holly a bit odd in conjunction with new year's as we associate holly only with Christmas now. But then we still have our Christmas decorations up, so why not.
Here's the back of the postcard:
Postcard caption:
"Brussels, Dec. 31, 1909
Here I am. Arrived nearly starved and frozen. Better [unknown] thanks. 'Me'
J.D. says to put in a word for him and want to know how you would like to go to [unknown] again. Just wait now."
Hope you have a equally eventful New Year's Eve!
Christmas is over and Grinch that I am, I say hallelujah!
I find Christmas just too much. The postcard below depicts my resulting emotional pain and rejoicing at the end of this holiday:
The angels are supposed to be singing to the glory of God, but their facial expressions suggest otherwise (particularly the two on the right).
I feel like they know truly how I feel!
Surprisingly, this is a detail from an altarpiece – the world-famous Ghent Altarpiece (which features prominently in the recent film The Monuments Men). To see the angels piece and the entire altarpiece in amazing detail, visit the site Closer to Van Eyck.
Here's the back side of the postcard sent to Canada from Germany.
Postcard caption (translated):
Jan Van Eyck (from 1390-1440), The Singing Angels (detail), Ghent, Ghent Altarpiece.
Postcard message:
"Dear X. We wish you and your beloved a most joyous Christmas and a very prosperous and blessed new year. Are you planning on coming to G again? We are well so far. My mother-in-law is living with us now. Our children are growing. I am the smallest in the family now. Love Y."


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Keeping track of the locals on the national stage today. Gov. Tim Pawlenty went on CNBC today.
The CNBC anchor — the same one who suggested waterboarding Bernie Madoff — prefaced the interview by saying they were talking to Pawlenty "about whether bipartisanship is even a word anymore." She didn't ask any questions about bipartisanship.
Elsewhere, Politico guesses that Norm Coleman will be the next chairman of the Republican Party.


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FRESNO, Calif.—Cal State Fullerton set four new school records, broke two previous meet records, and claimed four top-three finishes in what arguably was the team's most productive outing of the season up at the Run for the Dream Invitational at the Save Mart Center over the weekend.
Katie Wilson set a new school record and placed second in the 600-yard dash (1:25.06), while Ashley Sims set a new school-best mark in the 55-meter dash (7.11), which converts to a school record-breaking time of 7.63 in the 60-meter dash. Wilson's 600-yard dash time is currently good enough for 23rd in the nation.
Deena Pierce set a new school record in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.12. The mark is also is a personal best in the 60-meter hurdle converted time of 8.69.
Katie Bathgate (10:11.23) and Lauren McIntyre (10:14.94) placed fourth and fifth in the 3000-meter, both smashing what was a previous meet record of 10:17.37, set by Cal State Los Angeles' Vivien Wadeck back in 2010.
"I thought the kids looked great this weekend," said head coach John Elders. " It was really great to see them perform that well at this point in the season. This is definitely an excellent boost for us now as we head into the outdoor season."
Jasmyne Davis recorded a top-four finish for the second straight weekend, as she took third in the triple-jump with a leap of 38-02.00, while Amanda Mercado finished ninth in the women's weight throw with a personal best 38-08.75.
Ana Valdovinos (5:20.43) and Casey Candelaria (5:22.83) placed third and fourth in the mile run, while Tijerra Lynch (2:27.15) and Sara Taylor (2:27.15) finished fourth and seventh in the 800-meter to round out the rest of the top performers for the Titans.
On the men's side, Javon May ran an 8.06 in the 55-meter hurdle and placed fourth. With the 60-meter hurdle conversion, the time was 8.59, which is a personal best for May. Bryan Luther (6.40) placed third in the 55-meter dash. With the 60-meter conversion, that is also a personal best (6.86). Shawn McNany placed fourth in the pole vault with a jump of 16-00. All three competed unattached in the open section.
The Titans now look ahead to March 1 when Fullerton will get its outdoor season under way at Cal Poly Pamona.


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Moana Hope is no ordinary athlete. At 29 years old, she works and trains for an astonishing 20 hours each day.
That arduous schedule includes holding the position of marquee player for Collingwood FC in the AFL Women's competition, running her own traffic management business and acting as the primary carer for her younger sister. Lavinia 'Vinnie' Hope was born with Moebius Syndrome. Moana Hope has also recently released an autobiography of her life to date.
Hope's achievements prove she is driven, successful and kind -- but most strikingly, the AFLW player is modest.
"I've never looked at myself and gone, 'They all say you're amazing so you must be amazing,'" Hope said.
"I play football because I love it, and I live life because I'm passionate about the things that I do in life, and my family. And if that inspires young girls or boys, or adults, to follow their dream or do what inspires them, that makes me happy, but I don't ever want to sit there and go 'I'm above you, so you look up to me'."
Hope is arguably one of the most familiar faces of women's AFL. Collingwood was one of the eight teams in the inaugural AFL Women's competition, which kicked off in February 2017; the team finished in fifth position. The competition will return in 2018. In 2019 it will expand to include new teams.
And while she may be too modest to admit it directly, her success as a women's AFL player -- and no doubt her work ethic -- is already influencing younger generations.
"I did some filming a few months back and a young girl was one set turned around and said to me 'I'm going to take your spot in 10 years,'" Hope said.
It's something that brings the athlete and businesswoman no small amount of joy.
"That's amazing, she's seven, she's thinking about AFL women's. She's got it planned out. That is phenomenal. Moving forward, if that young girl gets to play football full time, for a living, I'm pretty happy about that."
At Johnnie Walker, we love sharing stories of personal progress, innovation and spirit. And why wouldn't we? Our own story is one of a pioneering spirit passed on from generation to generation. It's this belief in the philosophy of perseverance and progress that allows us to continuously share inspiring stories to all.
In this series, we are shining a light on people who approach life with this same philosophy – one of a humane, resilient and optimistic mindset, especially in the face of adversity that enables them to Keep Walking.