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The largest (that I am aware of) in the Kismet range of pumps by William Turner & Bro LTD of Sheffield England.
The one has been restored with considerable effort!
Photohraphed at the Hays Antique Truck Museum, Woodland, Ca
Please be aware that most museums change their displays from time to time. It's a good Idea to make sure the exhibit you want to see will be there when you visit.
Photos in this collection may not be used for commercial purposes.
These are photos from an old air compressor we have sitting in our back yard. My husbands work decided to get rid of it because it has a leak. He decided to take it home instead to tinker with. On of these days he will get to it ...
This shed is in a better state of repair than some of the others, in that it still (sort of) has a roof.
Why it works.
Steam in the top, compressed air out of the bottom. Dual action piston on top cycles automatically with a "Shortend Stroke" valve (that's the small rod in the center) to drive the main rod that compresses atmospheric air, intake from a filter, to a pressure vessel (tank) to maintain the brake line pressure. If the line is dumped, or slowly released, springs on each car in the train no longer hold the brakes away from the wheels, which apply the brakes until line pressure is restored, releasing the brakes by overcoming the springs. Each brake shoe is balanced in equilibrium with all the others, applying exactly the same dynamic pressure evenly along the entire train. There are many ways to compress air, this is the most common on steam locomotives.
Identical pumps can also be used to compress feed water into the boiler, so often there will be two compressors on the fireman's side of the engine. One to maintain the boiler water level and one to maintain the brake system air pressure.
Why not just use steam pressure? Steam pressure changes depending on the load of the locomotive and this isolates that variability. But more importantly, steam condenses into water when cooled, taking up less volume -decreasing the pressure - applying the brakes, and worse is the maintenance nightmare of water rusting the interior of the brake system parts. The moisture in the air, when compressed, precipitates out and is caught in the first pressure storage tank, which is why one finds a drain valve at the bottom of it.
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