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Kahuku Specifications and Tractive Effort Calculations

May 26, 2020 01:48PM
Hi everyone! Hope you're all healthy!

This is going to be a two-part post, so bear with me.

1) I decided to do a little research on the Kahuku, Roaring Camp's little Hawaiian Baldwin-built 0-4-2T. I had hoped to find her specification sheet in the Baldwin Speciifcation volumes available online via Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library, but I cannot find it in the scanned microfilm archive. I was wondering if anyone knew where to find her specifications, such as her Total Weight, Adhesive Weight on Drivers, Cylinder Size, Driving Wheel Diameter, Boiler Pressure, Firebox Area, Tractive Effort, and her Fuel and Water Capacity.

2) I have been trying to accurately calculate Tractive Effort for the past few years, and when I compared my results to a known standard (in this case researching the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad's two Porter-built 0-6-0s), my calculation came out a lot lower than the quoted tractive effort (4,043.2 pounds, versus 5,950 pounds, as stated in the Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History's entry on the SC&FRR). I always seem to undershoot the quoted numbers I find, so I was wondering if the formula I am using to calculate these figures is wrong.

The formula I have been using is as follows: Tractive Effort = (Loss Coefficient x Boiler Pressure in PSI x [Bore of the Cylinders in Inches]^2 x Stroke of the Cylinders in Inches) / (Driving Wheel Diameter in Inches).

For the loss coefficient stated above, I generally use 0.8 for engines that use saturated steam and 0.85 for engines that use superheated steam.

Is there a better calculation formula out there? Or did everyone have a habit of slightly over-quoting tractive effort figures?

Thanks in advance,
Eric
Subject Author Posted

Kahuku Specifications and Tractive Effort Calculations

Eric Ross May 26, 2020 01:48PM

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bcp May 26, 2020 02:29PM

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narrowgauge May 26, 2020 02:46PM

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bcp May 26, 2020 02:53PM

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Earl May 26, 2020 03:40PM

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MattM June 04, 2020 11:03AM



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