Home > Terms > English (EN) > regulator

regulator

Once the boiler has generated sufficient steam, it can be used for useful work. A valve fitted on top of the boiler and often housed in a dome, is used by the driver to admit steam to the cylinders. The valve is called "the regulator" (known as the "throttle" in the US) and is opened and closed by means of a long shaft connected to a lever accessed from the driver's position in the locomotive cab. The steam collected in the dome can be admitted, by use of the regulator, into a steam pipe which is connected to the cylinders. Some locomotives have superheated steam and in such cases the regulator may be located in the smokebox. The regulator is controlled from the cab by a lever. UK practice is to mount the lever on the top centre of the firebox backplate so that it is moved clockwise or anticlockwise to open or close the regulator valve. The shaft connecting the lever to the regulator valve passes through the boiler steam space. An alternative form of regulator control has the operating rods mounted on the outside of the boiler (along the left or right side) and actuated by a forward and aft lever in the cab. This type was popular in the US but was used on many of the more modern locomotives in the UK. It should be noted that just because the operating rods are visible on one side of the boiler, it will not necessarily follow that the driving position is on that side. Some locomotives have the driving position on the other side with the regulator handle connected to the operating rods by a cross shaft. In some cases, regulator handles were provided on both sides of the cab.

0
  • Part of Speech: noun
  • Synonym(s):
  • Blossary:
  • Industry/Domain: Transportation
  • Category: Railway
  • Company:
  • Product:
  • Acronym-Abbreviation:
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Billy Morgan

Sports; Snowboarding

The British snowboarder Billy Morgan has landed the sport’s first ever 1800 quadruple cork. The rider, who represented Great Britain in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was in Livigno, Italy, when he achieved the man-oeuvre. It involves flipping four times, while body also spins with five complete rotations on a sideways or downward-facing axis. The trick ...

Marzieh Afkham

Broadcasting & receiving; News

Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially. Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a ...

Weekly Packet

Language; Online services; Slang; Internet

Weekly Packet or "Paquete Semanal" as it is known in Cuba is a term used by Cubans to describe the information that is gathered from the internet outside of Cuba and saved onto hard drives to be transported into Cuba itself. Weekly Packets are then sold to Cuban's without internet access, allowing them to obtain information just days - and sometimes hours - after it ...

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Banking; Investment banking

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution established to address the need in Asia for infrastructure development. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia needs $800 billion each year for roads, ports, power plants or other infrastructure projects before 2020. Originally proposed by China in 2013, a signing ...

Spartan

Online services; Internet

Spartan is the codename given to the new Microsoft Windows 10 browser that will replace Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. The new browser will be built from the ground up and disregard any code from the IE platform. It has a new rendering engine that is built to be compatible with how the web is written today. The name Spartan is named after the ...

Featured Terms

tula.ndex
  • 0

    Terms

  • 51

    Blossaries

  • 11

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Holiday Category: Religious holidays

Frankincense

It is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia,The English word is derived from Old French "franc encens" (i.e. high ...

Featured blossaries

Photograpy Framing

Category: Arts   1 55 Terms

Oil Companies In China

Category: Business   2 4 Terms