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| Viewing staircase and monitor installed beside the Locomotive. |
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| Wheel chair logo is placed under the monitor |
This steam locomotive is Southern Pacific Cab Forward No. 4294. The visitor could look inside the cab
interior by climbing up the stairs but the stairs would exclude people on the
wheel chair, unable them to look inside of this unique drivers cabin.
Thus, a monitor playing the cabin’s interior view is installed
beside this tall steam locomotive for people who has difficulty to climb the
stairs.
Southern Pacific Cab Forward No. 4294 is unique in several reasons. The location of the driver seat is one of
them. The cab is located in front of the
locomotive that would save engineers from being asphyxiated by smokestack fumes
in the tunnels on their mountain route.
Also, they burn oil instead of coals like any other steam locomotives. That was the reason why they could make cab-forwarded
piece of machine.
Usually, the train
operator needed to throw coal from behind the boiler, however in case of oil as
the fuel, they could control the flow of oil even stayed in front of the boiler
(locomotive).
Also, cab forward
position is easy to see the up front view than normal cab location, less stress
for the driver, too.
This is why they installed
the monitor for people who otherwise had to give up seeing such an interesting
cab inside..
California State railroad Museum, Sacramento, CA
http://www.csrmf.org
http://www.csrmf.org
これはサウザン・パシフィック鉄道の前部運転室式4294蒸気機関車です。来館者は階段を登って運転席内部をみる事が出来ますが、車椅子の方は階段が上れずこの一風変わった運転席の様子を覗く事が出来ません。
そこで階段を使う事が出来ない来館者の為に、この大きな蒸気機関車の横にモニターが設置されています。
実は、サウザンパシフィック鉄道4294蒸気機関車にはいくつかの特徴があるのです。まず、この鉄道会社の山岳路線に多くあるトンネルを通る時、運転手が排煙で窒息するのを防ぐため、普通の蒸気機関車と違い、車両の先頭に運転席があります。そのため石炭ではなく重油を燃料とする事で、通常と違い運転席を先頭に出来ました。普通なら、投炭するためボイラー室の後ろに運転席がありますが、液体の重油なら運転手はボイラー室の前にあっても流入量の調節ができるからです。
また、運転席が車両の前面にあると、運転席がボイラーの後方に有る通常の車両に比べ、前方の見晴らしが良いのも特徴です。
この魅力的な運転席を覗けない車椅子の人たちにも、モニターでその内部空間を見てもらえるのです。
カリフォルニア州立鉄道博物館, カリフォルニア州サクラメント市
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