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It is an out-of-balance force on the wheel (known as overbalance [3]). It is the result of a compromise when a locomotive's wheels are unbalanced to off-set horizontal reciprocating masses, such as connecting rods and pistons, to improve the ride. The hammer blow may cause damage to the locomotive and track if the wheel/rail force is high enough.
Whether slipping occurs depends on how the hammer blow compares on all the coupled wheels at the same time. Excessive hammer blow from high slipping speeds was a cause of kinked rails with new North American 4–6–4s and 4–8–4s that followed the 1934 A.A.R. recommendation to balance 40% of the reciprocating weight. [8]
The main disadvantage of the two-cylinder locomotives is the heavy hammer blow on the rails caused by the attempt to balance the reciprocating parts with additional masses mounted in the wheels. This effect can be reduced by using multiple cylinders acting on more drive wheels.
A divided drive locomotive is a steam locomotive that divides the driving force on its wheels by using different cylinders to power different pairs of driving wheels in order to give better weight distribution and reduce "hammer blow" which can be damaging to the track, or else to enable the wider spacing of the driving wheels to accommodate a larger firebox.
Unlike nearly all steam locomotives, the pistons had rods on both ends, which transferred power to the wheels. The idea was to balance the driving forces on the wheels, allowing the counterweights on the wheels to be smaller and reducing hammer blow on the track. Test runs showed, however, that the OR23 design was unsuitable as a practical ...
The purpose was to balance the driving forces on the wheels, allowing the counterweights on the wheels to be smaller and reducing hammer blow on the track. The design was a failure and no further examples were built.
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When the effects of hammer blow were taken into account, the 'Rivers' put the same total weight onto the track as the previous 'Castle' Class 4-6-0s. The first two engines were delivered to Perth around the end of August 1915, when a row immediately erupted between Smith and the company's Chief Civil Engineer Alexander Newlands.