Skip to page content | Text onlyGraphical version of this page

Tiscali Quicklinks. Please visit our Accessibility Page for a list of the Access Keys you can use to find your way around the site, skip directly to the main navigation, to the page content, or to more links within reference.



Main Navigation


 Home  
  Products  
  My Tiscali  
  Living  
  Money  
  Motoring  
  News  
  Play to Win  
  Shop  
  Sport  
  Travel  
  Video  
  Help 

Content Starts Here


locomotive

encyclopaedia header
Encyclopaedia Search
Click a letter for the index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Or search the encyclopaedia:
 
 
 
all results tagged with the © symbol denotes content that is relevant to the national curriculum

Locomotive

locomotive - Click to enlarge Stephenson's <I>Rocket</I> - Click to enlarge

Click images to enlarge

Engine for hauling railway trains. In 1804 Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick built the first steam engine to run on rails. Locomotive design did not radically improve until English engineer George Stephenson built the Rocket in 1829, which featured a multitube boiler and blastpipe, standard in all following steam locomotives. Today most locomotives are diesel or electric: diesel locomotives have a powerful diesel engine, and electric locomotives draw their power from either an overhead cable or a third rail alongside the ordinary track.

In a steam locomotive, fuel (usually coal, sometimes wood) is burned in a furnace. The hot gases and flames produced are drawn through tubes running through a huge water-filled boiler and heat up the water until it turns to steam. The steam is then fed to the cylinders, where it forces the pistons back and forth. Movement of the pistons is conveyed to the wheels by cranks and connecting rods. Diesel locomotives have a powerful diesel engine, burning oil.

The engine may drive a generator to produce electricity to power electric motors that turn the wheels, or the engine drives the wheels mechanically or through a hydraulic link. A number of gas-turbine locomotives are in use, in which a turbine spun by hot gases provides the power to drive the wheels.

© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.


 
 

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends


Fiji Islands Flag
Fiji Islands Flag The bright blue field stands for the Pacific Ocean. The shield is taken from the coat of arms. Effective date: 10 October 1970. >>

Advertorial

AdvertorialFind out how to buy the things you've always wanted and sell the things you don't on ebay.

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Page Footer


Access keys


You will need to use different key combinations in order to use access keys depending on your internet browser, find out which on our accessibility page.
  • (0) Navigate to Accessibility page.
  • (1) Navigate to Home page.
  • (2) Navigate to My email.
  • (3) Navigate to My Account.
  • (4) Navigate to Site Map page.
  • (5) Navigate to Contact us page.
  • (6) Navigate to Members channel.
  • (7) Navigate to Services channel.
  • (8) Navigate to News & Info channel.
  • (9) Navigate to Entertainment channel.
  • ([) Skip down to the Primary navigation block.
  • (]) Skip down to the more links within this section block.
  • (=) Bypass all navigation and jump to the content.
  • (x) Text only version of this page.
Background images used:
furniture images used in the site icons used in the site images used in the header