locomotive sand system

hello! I'm transport engineering student. I have to write a term paper about locomotive sand system. Is there anyone, who can help me to find information about my isue?

Simona

Here's some sources:

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/ ... /i3885.htm

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/Counse ... r_Rule.pdf

The Origin of the Sandbox Sept. 1946 Railroad Magazine



Meet grocer, stovemaker Jordon L. Mott, who gave the railroad industry its first locomotive sander in 1841. Born in Manhasset, N.Y., two years before the turn of the Nineteenth Century, Mott began his career as a shopkeeper at the age of twenty-three, turned his attention to iron founding in 1829, and quickly won fame as the inventor and manufacturer of the first anthracite-burning cooking stove. The success of that product led the enterprising young ironmaster to leave his original plant on Water Street, in lower New York City, and move to new and larger quarters erected on grounds of the old manor of Morrisana beside the Harlem River, and adjoining the bridge at 3rd Avenue.

Few of the thousands of New Haven and New York Central System passengers who glide through Mott Haven yards today are aware of the origin of the name; still less suspect that the man who once shipped his products from that site developed and patented a little funnel-shaped box to pour sand on slipping driving wheels. It was a crude device, yet it pointed the way to huge sand domes which are a basic part of all modern locomotives. In his specifications Mott even suggested the present method of application to the rails, though apparently without conviction.

“Although I prefer to discharge the sand upon the wheels,” Mott wrote, “it may be directed with like effect to the rails in advance of the driving wheels.”

On many roads, prior to 1890, the locomotive sandbox occupied very nearly the position indicated in Mott’s drawings, being placed directly above the drivers. The boiler top dome, however, had the advantage of keeping sand dry, and allowed for a greater angling of pipes to reach widely-separated wheels."

Heelo Simona,
Sanding is a very important locomotive equipment. In Germany we usually had the Krupp type sanders mounted.
In the past, as the prussion railways befor WW2 had mounted manually working sanders.
So from the sand dome, which as formerly explained, was mounted on boiler top to ensure a dry sand, pipes were running down to the wheels, and spead sand in front of the wheel onto the rail.
This was done by a simple shutter, which often jammed and sanding was often a game of luck. Also the sand was only trickeled by gravitiy down the pipes, so if once the sand had become oily or wet, the tubes plugged and had to be manually unplugged with a steel wire, as the sand reservoir in the sand dome had often to be mixed with wooden stick, to ensure not beeing sticky.
The fireman was adviced to check the non-stickness of the sand in the reservoir regulary and mix it.

That lead to funny stories on some stations, were the fireman climbed on boiler top, opened the lid of the dome, but out a wooden stick and started to stir the sand in the reservoir and ensure the non-stickness of the sand.
A passenger at the station spotted curiouly that action, and asked the fireman about his doing.
The fireman, maybe little fretfully from the ride, viewed down to the passenger and replied: "I only look in the boiler if the water is well boiling, and stired a little to ensure good steam development for the start in a few minutes!"

Later, the check of non-stickness was done, before the locomotive left the yard, but was not neccessary to do so often than before.
Because Krupp made a sand delievery unit. Here a small trap was mounted beside the sand dome, with two air nozzles inside. If you now open an air valve, compressed air was entering this trap box trough the nozzels. The first nozzle was used to raise sand from the reservoir and enter the trap. The second nozzle raised the sand from the trap and blew it into the pipe down to the wheels, were it was now dropping the last few inches by gravitiy onto the rails, dividing by gravitiy from transportation air, and thus prevent to get blewn off the rail by the transportation air.
In next step, Henschel removed the Sand boxes from boiler top to the sides at the running boards. Non stick, dry sand from a reservoir was filled to reservoirs, for each wheel one. Sand was now delievered also by a sand trap and air nozzles by pipes to the wheels.
This was usually done, to ensure refilling, even if the locomotive was in a yard with live wire above the track.
Because locomotive footplate staff should not be roasted from the electricity...
That's why the sand dome were abandoned... but the air deliever of sand by sand traps mounted to the reservoirs mdae the process very trustiness.

Hope, this helps...