Chilton 1939

524 J O U R N A L OF THE INST. OF LOCO. ENGINEERS.
AIR CONDITIONING O F R A I L W A Y
PASSENGER STOCK
Pape? rend h e f o r e the Itzstitutiim by A . H . CHILTON

(Yon-Member) o n z z d M a r c h , 1933, in Lonrliivl.
PAPER No. 405.

Introduction.
From their inception, railways have progressively
advanced in speed, smoothness of running and punctuality,
resulting in ever increasing passenger comfort. The
luxurious equipment of modern restaurant, buflei: and
sleeping cars undoubtedly justifies the claim that railways
i u r n i s h the travelling public with amenities comparable with
the standard found in modern hotels and liners.
Until recent years, however, they have laboured under
the disadvantage by comparison with hotels and ships, that
no matter h o n luxuriously carriages may be equipped, the
noise and dirt, inseparable from railway tracks and motive
power, permeate the passenger space. However attrac-
tive the furnishings, fitments and other amenities may be,
and however smoothly trains may run, the comfort and
well-being of the passenger a r e generally adversely affected
by the infiltration of air unpleasantly laden with dust and
products of combustion, and by the noise consequent upon
open windows and absence of insulation.
Scientific ventilation and air conditioning have liecome
accepted features in modern buildings, and to some degree,
Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

A m CONDITIOXING OF RAILWAY PASSEKGER STOCK. 525
in certain forms of transport, although the surrounding

atmosphere is relatively free from impurities.
How much more is there a case for air conditioning
on railways, where the noise is considerable and the space
surrounding vehicles in movement is unavoidably laden with
the products of locomotive exhaust and track dirt, all oi
which are encouraged to enter the passenger space by virtue
of the principle of induced ventilation usually employed.
These fundamental facts a r e being appreciated more
and more by railway managements, and have led to im-
provements in ventilation ultimately leading t o complete air
conditioning of railway coaches.
Development.
We may conveniently divide the development of air
supply into three stages :-
I . ? h e first stage may be termed induced ventilation,
whereby some form of extractor ventilator, operating as a
iunction of train movement, is located in the roof, sides or
windows of the coaches. T h e extractor effect from such
devices creates a low pressure zone and encourages the
infiltration of outside air.
The low internal pressure, however, renders it difficult
to prevent the ingress of objectionable impurities.
A further undesirable feature is that the degree of
ventilation is a function of train speed and is consequently
variable.
2. The second stage may be classed as pressure ventila-
tion, in which system outside air in the desired quantity,
adequately filtered and cleansed, is forced into the car,
thus establishing a pressure and providing ample ventila-
tion free from dirt, dust and the products of combustion.
Such systems have been combined satisfactorily with
heating under automatic temperature control, and may
therefore be considered a reasonably satisfactory com-
promise in cold and temperate countries.
It follows also that some degree of relief and improve-
ment is obtained during hot seasons, by virtue of the dis-
placement of internal heat by outside air. But a t best,
inside conditions during hot spells can only approach out-
side conditions, and further improvement cannot be made
in the absence of refrigeration.
3 . The final stage is complete air conditioning, where
not only is the air filtered and fed into the car in adequate
quantities under satisfactory conditions of cleanliness and
pressure, but the internal air is in continuous circulation,

52h JOURSAL O F THE INST. O F LOCO. ENGINEERS.
and the control 01 temperature and humidity is efiected

through suitable heating and refrigerating- mediums.
Historical.
There are iiuinerous examples of pressure ventilation
in this Country and elsewhere dating from 1907, and it is
interesting t o note that one o€ the earliest efforts towards
air conditioning wa5 an evaporative system which was tried
out on the “ Southern Belle ” in 1908, followed by the
equipment 01 cars lor the Sudan Government, San I’aulo,
and Egq ptiaii rniln 2 1 1 s.
There is little available evidence t o show what d(>gree
of success wa5 achieved except that these applications
established the limitations of evaporative methods of cooling
over wide climatic variations.
The year 1928 saw the application of electro-mechanical
air conditioning on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, which
was followed by an extension on that line and the equip-
ment of some dining cars on the Santa FC Railway.
From then onwards, applications were extended to the
Pullman Company’s stock on all lines, until to-day the air
conditioned stock i n the United States totals some I I ,000
cars.
T h e development in British Dominion and Colonial
territories dates from 1935. Experimental services were
inaugurated initially on the Victorian Government Rail-
ways, followed quickly by similar trials on the Common-
wealth Railways, Kew South Wales and Malayan Railways.
T h e Victorian railways rapidly embarked upon a large
programme of air conditioning of new and converted stock,
and this was followed by the inauguration of air condi-
tioning in India, Portuguese East .\frica, South Africa,
\rgentine, French Equatorial Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Chile,
Intlo-China and Roumania.
Analysis of the Car Heat Load or the Cooling and Heating

Estimates.
I t may now be as well to consider broadly the factors
which govern the desired inside conditions, together urith a
Xeneral analysis of the heat load.
T h e chart on Fig. I shows the wet bulb temperature,
the dry bulb temperature, and the diagonal lines represent
the resultant relative humidity, whilst the lines of equal
effective temperature run transversely.
The human body experiences warmth and coldness as a
lunction of temperature, humidity and air movement. This

.4IR C O N D I T I O N I S G O F RAI1,lVAY P A S S E S G E R STOCK. 527
physical sense, for lack of a more exact definition, may be
called " the effective temperature. "
It will he seen Crom the lines of equal effective tempera-
ture that a dry bulb temperature of 80°F., with a relative
humidity of 40 per cent., results in the same effective tem-
perature a s a dry bulb temperature of 77'F. with a relative
humidity of 60 per cent.
It will also be noted that winter and summer comfort
zones are shown, and that the optimum effective tempera-
ture for summer comfort is 71'F. and for winter comfort
66'. These optimum effective temperatures are based upon
reactions collected from inhabitants in the United States.
en
~ 70
i:
il
pn B",bTlrnp(r.f"R r
Cowmar Cmmr POP Am V a ~ a r n a ror 16 I 0 25 VPM ( S r u N.)
FIG.I .
COMFORT CIIARTSITOTVIXG THE OPTIMUM EFFECTIYE TEMPER.1-
W R E S APPLICABLETO INHABITANTS OF THE UNITE^D STATES.
Generally- speaking, the desirable effective temperatures

tend to rise in more tropical countries and to be lower in
colder countries, although the wide range of temperature
in the United States forms a fairly good indication of re-
actions elsewherr.
Fig. z shows the influence of air velocities upon effec-
tive temperatures. T h e lines running transverse upwards
from left to right represent the various air velocities, whilst

528 JOURNAL O F THE INST. O F LOCO. ENGINEERS.
the transverse lines from right to left show the effective

temperatures.
A line drawn between the dry bulb value of 76'F. and
the wet bulb reading of 62' shows that the effective tem-
perature with an air velocity of zoft. per minute is 70',
whereas the effective temperature with an air velocity of
700 is 63'. Thus, a4 increase in air velocity lowers the
effective temperature-hence the common use of fans,
especially in humid districts.
The heat load gain in a car may be divided broadly

into :-
Heat gain due to solar radiation.
Heat transfer due to the differential between outside
and iiiside dry bulb temperatures.
Heat given off by passengers, electrical apparatus, etc.
Heat gain due to heat content in outside air brought
into the car.
The following shows a summary of these heat quan-
tities for a typical example of standard and broad gauge
cars.

AIR CONDITIONING O F RAILWAY PASSENGER STOCK. 529
APPROXIMATE OF LOADS
COMPARISON FOR A TYPICAL
EXAMPLE
OF A STANDARD
GAUGECAR WITH 40 PASSENGERS.
Heat Load. "1, of Total.
Solar heat . . . . . . ... 2 1 per cent.
Transmission ... ..' '3 ,,
Passengers . . . . . . ... 26 ,,
Outside air . . . . . . . . . 40' ,,
A typical standard or broad gauge car in a hot country
will call for about 72,003 B.T.U.'s per hour, representing a
requirement of 6 tons of refrigeration.
One ton of refrigeration is the amount of heat absorbed
in melting 2 , 0 0 0 lbs. oi ice in 24 hours, i . e . , 12,ooo
B.T.U.'s per hour.
The cooling loads on a broad gauge car usually demand
from 5+ to 7 tons of refrigeration, according t o size, passen-
ger load and climatic conditions, whilst the normal demand
on metre gauge cars varies from 34 to 54 tons of refrigera-
tion under comparable conditions.
Car Insulation.
Insulating materials must be selected with due regard
for a low heat conductivity, light weight, ease and con-
venience of fitting, and sound insulating properties.
In determining the total resistance to heat transfer,
account must also be taken of air films a t surfaces and air
spaces between outer and inner layers of insulating-
material.
Sprayed asbestos, aluminium foil, cork, rock wool and
various fibrous materials are commonly employed.
Windows.
Window construction is important and considerable
development is taking place in the design of suitable
windows.
These are usually double glazed, and in the more ad-
vanced window the air space between the glazing is sealed
and dehydrated.
In the luxury class of window, interesting develop-
ments are taking place; for instance, on the Union Pacific
Rly. " City of Los -4ngeles " cars have been fitted with
windows made up of two sheets of polarised glass, so that
when the inner glass is rotated through an angle of 90°,
the window becomes non-transparent.
In another example, the space between the glass is
hermetically sealed, and a motor-operated metallic venetian
blind is inserted, thus providing individual or collective

j30 JOUHXAL O F THE I N S T . O F LOCO. ENGINEERS.
push button control. Since the venetian blinds are finished

with highly reflecting external surfaces, the sun's radiant
energy is reflected outwards rather than absorbed interrially ,
thereby reducing the heat load.
Air Supply, Treatment and Distribution.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a simple air
circuit.
DIAGRAMOF SIMPLEAIR CIRCUIT

SCHEMATIC
FIG.3 .
The outside air quantities should be in the neighbour-
hood of from 10'to 2 0 cub. ft. per minute per person and the
internal air velocity at breathing level should be 30-70 ft.
per minute.
Usually, the total amount of air in circulation is from
two to four times that of the outside supply, and it follows
that this quantity must be sufficient to absorb t h e heat
gain in the car and bring about the desired internal
condition.
A further consideration is that the minimum limit of
outside air must be sufficient to inaintain the relquisite
internal pressure.
I n passing over the cooling coils, the outside and
return air is cooled and moisture condensed from the mix-
ture, which then leaves the unit in a condition approaching

m(im srrocR. -53'
saturation ;It a d r y b u l b tcmpcr;iturc approximately 20' t o

z.j°F. below t h e morn temperature.
T h e superhcat imparted to the mixture by the heat
load then raises t h e d r y bulb and t h e wet b ~ i l btemperature
t o a comfvrtable value.
T h e desirable value oC d r y bulb temperature and rela-
tive humidity for a comfortable condition is obtained by
careful analysis o f t h e design fxctors, so that althoug-h no
separate component is norinally necessary to control
humidity, nevertheless, this control will have been obtained

in ;I \vcll tlesipeti plant b y the skill of the tlcsigiicr in the
selcction o f the appropriate perloriiiancx! 01’ the refril<-cra-
l i o n and cooling u n i t s in relation t o t h e heat load ant1 the
total air in circulation.
JII some special cases, ho\\ cvci-, it may he found that
the sensible componc.nt oC the heat load is insuRicieiit to
liriiig a h o u t a n optimum inside wet bulb state, aiid in such
r a r e cases soiiie form o f re-lieatiiig m a y be necc
A s reg-artis the heating- auxiliaries, i t will he notc.d that
heating elcmciits a r c provided in the air conditioning unit
a n d in the hotly o f the coach, L I S L I ; ~a~t ~ tloor

~ level. ’Ihe
capacitJ- o f these units is proportioiicti to t:tlie care of‘ the
hcating of t h e outside air supply and the hcat loss from
the body o f the car.
Filters.
Perhaps t h c viscous oil type of filter is in most coiiiiiwii
r .
LIS~. I hese filters, which m a y be packed \vith fcrrules or

mctal \vool are dipped i n :I suitable non-odorous oil of t h e
correct viscosity, and t ~ i n tie conveniently cleaned a n d
re-conditioned.

Othcr types, utilising renewable filter eleincnts such as
cellular cardboard, glass \ \ 001, copper or bronzc wool and
cloth, also find f a i v u r .
Methods of Distribution.
There are several iiictho(ls of distribution, the rela-
tive merits of n-hich depend largcly upon the actual layout.
For short compartment cars. or lor converted stock,
FIG.6.
k!ETIIOJl O F ~ ~ I S T l I I B ~ T I OBY
K 1$OOF 1'LEXI-a1 C H \XRP,I{.
bulkhead distribution (Fig. 4) may be found satisfactory,
reasonably efficient and economical.
For long open cars, either the centre duct discharge
(Fig. s), o r the side ducts fed from the plenum chamber,
glve good results ; whilst for corridor compartment stock,
the roof plenum chamber with side inlet apertures (Fig. 6)
is a satisfactory method.

In general, however, one cannot lay down a h i - c l and
East rule for the most suitable method 01 distribution, a s
car construction sc) largely aftects this problem.
W h e r e smoking and non-smoking compartments have
to be treated i n the same vehicle, it is usual to discharge
the spill-over air through the smoking compartments in
order to avoid contamination of the air in circulation ; but
\\here the ratio ot smoking to non-smoking compartments
is exccssivc, the normal proportion of outside air must be
increased, and i n some cases the problem is best dealt with
FlirEns !-OR A M
INLirs A
by the installation of separate air ronditionirig units allo-

cated respectivcly to the smol,itig and tion-sinoking
coinpart ments.
1 typical isomvtric view she\\ i n g the air circulation in
a car is shown i n Fig. 7 .
Control.
‘The control of an equipment is extremelj important,
and thc common statement that an air conditioning equip-
ment is only a s good a s its controls is ver? true.
Since the returii air is a n accurate measure oi the s t a t r
of the car content, it is usual to locate the controlling
thermo5tats in the return air citcuit.

These therinost<its in turn control the operation of the
refrigeration o r of the heating equipment as may be
required.
The normal control panel is fitted n i t h a number of
selective thermostat positions, and a typical panel arranged
for hand selection is shown in Fig. 8.
LZs a refinement to manually selected controls, develop-

ments are taking place in America, India and South
America along the lines of automatic differential or
modulated control, where the optimum inside state is
selected automatically with due regard for outside
conditions.
In some cases, this modulation is progressively varied
n i t h outside conditions; in others fixed settings are ob-

536 J O T ' K S A L O F TIIIi I Isl~:l~l~s.
tainetl by automatic selection oi' the appropriate r e t u r n air

thermostat a s a function o f the outside dr!, bulb tempc2r;iture.
typical graph showing the results obtained by these
t\vo methods will be seen in Fig. 9.
There is, holvevcr, some tliffcrcmce of opinion ;is t o
uhethcr or not automatically selected conditions arc clcsira-
blc or necessary.
It would appcai- that soiiie reascinablc compromise has
to be niade 011 ac:c:ount o l the reaction of thc pa
\\.ho has been i n a citr for a long period, say 24 to 36 hours,
;is c~omparcdwith the reaction o f a pxsseiiger entering t h e
same car at the hottest part of t h e journey. .\ c o m f o r t a l ~ l e
-"t -
T&!c
FIG. 9.
condition for the former m a j he too great a c o n t r a s t Jor the

iininediate comfort of the latter.
I n practice, ho\sever, this contiition is not 50 acuie as
m:iy be expected at first sight, since it must be borrie in
mind that the bod) largely responds to total h e a t ; acid the
total heat i n the air of, 5ay, Northern India a t a tempera-
ture of r15'F. and a relativc humidit! 01 2.; per cent. is
not materially different trorn the total heat in the a u - at
Bombay or Calcutta with a temperature of 9oOF. and relzt-
tive humiditj o f 85 per cent. The shock on entering a
car a t 76'F. or H O O F . with :I humidit! of jo to 6c per cent.
is not so great, therefore, :is would appear a t first c,ight
f roin the outiide dry bulb value.

Refrigeration Systems.
,.
I he I-cfrigerant commonlj~~ised\rith inechanical relri-
geration systems is Freon, \\-hich is non-toxic, colourless,
odourlcss, non-corrosivc, non-inflammable. It possesses a
temperature pressure characteristic very suitable for r a i l n a y
applications.
Temperature - Degrees F:
V I G . 10.
From Fig. 10 the characteristics of other common

refrigerants are also she\\ r i , ot I\ hich the nearest to Freon
is meth) I chloride.
Meth? 1 chloride and sulphui di-o\ide, from the point
or view 01 their tciiiperaturc pressui c characteristics, are
all poysiblc retrigerants, but to a greater or less degree
the) compare utilavourablq \I ith Freon as regards inflam-
inabilit? , odour, irritation and to\icitq.

538 J O U R S A L OF TIIli I S S T . O F I I O C O . EP;GIKEI:RS.
Electro-Mechanical and Direct Mechanical Systems.

Substantially, t!ie clcctro-mechanical and the direct
mechanical systcins are comparable in respect o C refrigera-
tion details. Fig-. I I s h o w s schematically the refrigeration
system common to both.
i
!
z
E
&
+
:
I
.-
- -
C A
4 A j ~
PI(+.I I .
In the case 0 1 t h c clccti-o-iiiecli;iriic~il s!.stcm, storag-e
is provided electrically hy incans of' batteries.
In the case of the clircct mechanical systciu, hovvever,
where the comprcssor is operated directly from the carriage
ask, the system is usually augmented by s m i r form of cold
storage accumulating device (see Fig. 1 2 ) .
---- -- c

A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G O F RAILWAY P A S S E N G E R STOCK. j33
Refrigeration Components.
Since the components of the electro-1ncchanit:al and
t h e direct Iiiechaiiical systems are conip~ti-;ibIc, the drawings
sho\\-n o n the slide may lie or interest :-
.\ i I- coiid i t i on ing un it- F ig . 1 3 (p ul I- t hro ug h t ypc) .
.\ir conditioning ~init-Fig-. I 3" (blo\\-through tj.pe).
The Illo\\--through types are usually employed where
bulkhead distribution is required, but for general d u c t
applicatioiis the pull-through type is most coininonly used.
Fig., 1 4 sho\vs ;I photograph of a typical pull-through

air conditioiiing unit, designed for roof niounting.
Refrigeration Units.
Amcricaii practice gciierally cvinbines t h e compressor,
its motor, and t h e condcnscrs \vith thcir fans i n a sing-le
unit l i n o \ m a s the ' * I'ackagc " t>.pc.
Fig. 15 shows photograph of the I-'acl<ag:c: type.
I n other countries, hou.cver, it has frequently been
Jound advantageous to split up thc rcfrigcration u n i t s for
in d e petid en t inou i i t ing i 11 the i i i a n n c r 11011- shown .
Fig-. 16 shonTs R photograph o f ;in indcpcndent con-
denser (front view).
Compressors.
Compressors are 01' the reciprocating type, cspitcially
designed lor use with F r e o n a s the refrigerant.

AIR CONDITTONINC O F R A I L W A Y P A S S E N G E R STOCK. 541

jq2 J O U H S A L OF TIIE I K S T . O F LOCO. ENGINEI<IIH
Fig. 17 shows sectional drawings of two types of

compressor.
W e will consider the disposition of these components
on aetual coaches after wc have surveyed their respective
power equipnients, so that we can present slides showing
the combined power, refrigeration and air conditioning
details in their relative assembly positions.
The Drive.
Fig. 19 shows drawing of drive.
The large majority of drives employed in the S8tates
and elsewhere a r e of the gear and belt type. The 'inter-
position of the belt between the axle and the gear has a
very advantageous cushioning effe rendering the drive
smooth and free from vibration. is type of drive also
has the very important advantage that the gears themselves
are to some extent protected by the flexibility of the belts
from direct shocks.
Direct gear drives, and drives of the traction type,
do to some extent exist-especially where the cold season
temperatures arc so sevcre as to freeze up the belts and
render them unscrvireable.
The Generator.
I\ direct current generator is employed of special light-
\\eight design. I t must obviously be reversible and be
capable of tunctioning oker a wide speed r a n g e ; it must
:ilso be ot such c'ipacity that it will adequatelj handle a
refrigeration load, m d 111 a number of cases, other auxi-
liary services on the coach. Simultaneously, it must hupplq
charging current a t such rate as may be in coiiformitj with
the battery characteristics to maintain the batteries in a
high state of charge throughout the schcduled run.
Since the batteries provide the poi\ el for refrigeration
and in some cases for heating during the period whcn the
train is stationary, it follows that the capacity of the gcnera-
tor will be governed not only by its air conditioning duty,
but also bj the ratio 01 uselul generating to non-generating
time during the scheduled journey.
Pre=Cooling.
It is necessary to provide facilities for pre-cooling o r
pre-heating, either a t washing lines or at embarkation
plat t or in s.
11 here the appropriate D.C. supply is available, plugs
and sockets are provided. \Vhere, however, .\.C. supplies

1)ow1!,11EQUIPAII.NI C I I \\Ic.\L SYSTEMS.
FOK l3~l;.a~no-J11~
4 4xle Gear Drive to Generator

B Generator
C Refrigerating Uiiit
D Pre-Cooling Motor
E A C Pre-Cooling Plug arid
Socket
F D C Pre-Cooling Plug arid
Socket
G Grilles for Air Distribution
Grilles for re-circulating Air

Cupboard for S n itchgear
Control Panel
Viscous Oil Filters
0 Air Conditioning Unit \+ith
Evaporator
P Circulating Fans
FIG.18.
ISOMETHIU
VIEW OF POW IGII Egr IPMFTT
only are available, it is necessary that the compressor be

furnished with a dual drive, comprising I1.C. motor for
operating when the train is in service, and X.C. motor for
pre-cooling periods.
A typical X.C./D.C. drive combination is shonm in
Fig. 20.

5.14 J O U K S A L OF THE ICS'1'. O F LOCO. hK(iISEl<RS.
Switchboard.
The nor rna 1 t y pc o f s \i.it chboa rd , corn pr i s i n g genera tor,
compressor, heating- a n d air conditioning controls is shown
in Fig. 2 1 .
Power Equipment for Direct Mechanical Drive.

I n thc c a w ot the direct imechcinical sqstems, a con-
siderable ainount of stock i n the LJnited States is equipped
in the manner shonn i n Figs. 2 2 and 23.
I t is a point lor consideration with drives employing
a slipping clutch, in either r1ectric;il o r mechanical Form,
that there is a progressive loss at all train speeds abo\e the
minimuiii speed a t nhich the compressor full load output is

&
FIG. 22.

-546 JOIJRSAL OF THE 1 S S T . O F LOCO. ENGINEERS
obtained. ’The pou er loss is appreciable, so that the

economics of such a scheme need to be very carefully
analysed with regard to the type o f operating conditions.
I t must be borne in mind that electric power also has
to be obtained for certain auxiliaries, such as car lighting.,
air conditioning fan motors and circulating pump motors,
so that a generator of adequate capacity has to be installed
on the other bogie together with the necessary battwy on
the underframr.
Furthermore, the problem of relrigeration storage is

met by some form o l cold storage device, which functions
only a t periods \rhcn the output of the compressor is not
required for actual air conditioning- duty. ‘Ihcrcfore, the
availability and the capacity of the storage eyuipment is
limited b y the output of the compressor; whereas in the
electro-mechanical system, not only a r e the losses inherent
i n the clutch drive eliminated, but electric storage in lieu
of idrigeration storage is effected simultaneously xrith the
car air conditioiiii>g-duty. The rate of storage is thus only
limited by the generator capacity, which is more flexible
and far i n excess of the limit imposed by the compressor.
It should, moreover, he noted that i f heating is required

in the case of direct mechanical systeins, either steam or
electric generating equipment is necessary in addition.
Ice Activated System.

\%:e need not occupy much time with detailed descrip-
tions of ice activated systems a s it is perhaps sumcient to
say that the air conditioning unit is substantially compara-
ble with the direc~texpansion type o f unit except that the
direct expansion coils are replaced by suitable cold water
coils, while the compressor and condenser are replaced by
an ice bunker and circulating pump.
D"I%,D.
*I" LO.D.?."..' Y.,
FIG. '4.
SCHEM 4TlC DI.\t;it,Ahl OF 1c.K C001,IXG ~ Q ~ I P X V I F , N T .
,A typical example of an ice activated equipment is to

be seen in Fig. 24.
Steam Ejector System.

For the steam ejector system, the refrigerant is water.
I t therefore possesses the advant;rgc that no special steps
have to be taken to procure or maintain relrigerant supplies.
r .
I h e cornpressor is replaced by the steam jet, thus

eliminating the mechanical compressor and the provision
of electric, o r other power for its drive.
The function of this system is best explained by the
schematic: diagram i n Fig. "5.

548 J O U R S A L O F THE I S S T . O F LOCO. EXGISEl<I!R.
A typical steam ejector overhead air conditioning unit

is shown in Fig-. 2 6 , a n d a n uiiclerframe condenser uinit in
Fig. ' 7 .
'l.he ausilixry electrical equipment involved coiisliiutcs
motors f o r clriviiig the condenser water pump, cold \\:ater
pump, air conditioning (an, cooling to\\ e r fan.
'I'hc motor driving thc air conditioning l;in is, of course,
a debit coiiiiiion to all systems.
.\s regirds the a i r conditioning controls, since the
s t e m i ejector performs d u t y comparablc \\rith that 01' t h e
STEAM EJECTOR NOZZLE.

1STEAM CONNECTION
FAN
CONDENSER EVAPORArOl
PURGE EJECTOR
CONDENSER DRAIN TRAP
STOP VALVE
OLD WArER GAUGE

11 Ilj
qi=i
MAKE-UP
MAKE-UP WATER
WATER TANK
TANK
A)
"COLD WATER PUMP

STRAINER 'CONDENSER WATER PUMP
FIG. 2 5 .
Sc HI.VATI( D r \ ( ; ~ \ n ior S I E A M
ISJECTOR S Y S I I W .
by the
c o i i i p ~ - e s s o r , control is effected i n a similar manner
rcg-ul;ition of steam to the ejector through a suitable
motoriscd valve \vhich, i n turn, operates under the ni:istcr
trontrol of the air conditioning thermostat.
The motors driving the condcnser \rater pump and
condcnscr I a n ;ire interlocked \vith the injector valve, so that
these cease to operate whenever t h e ejector is closed.
Power Consumption.
1 t is sometvh;tt difficult to formulate a n exact cornpari-
son of the relative performxiice of the steam ejector and
electro-mechanic.aI s j stems, bccause of the fluctuation i n
engine performance with var!-ing train speeds ; but in

AIR C O N D I T T O N I N C O F RAILWAY P A S S E N G E R S T O C K . -34'3

550 JOIT11S.4J, O F T H E I . OF Loco. E N G I K I s.~ ~
general, it may be said that the steam consumption from

t h e locomotive lor electro-mech;rnical or steam ejector
s?,stems, taking into x c o u i i t the rlrawhar pull due to the
weight of the equipment and the steam required for actua-
tion of the ejector, shows that both systems are substan-
tially comparable in terms of steam consumption.
‘I‘he steam ejector system, however, is in inany respects
very attractive and is particular1:- \\-orth while considering
i n cases where the heating requirements are eyual i o , o r
in excess of thc steam required for the operation o f the
steam ejector during the cooling- season. . h d since the
amount of steam to lie directly f’ed to the steam ejector on
the coach is only i n the neighhourhood or 2 0 0 lhs. per
hour, it n-ould seem that o i i m a n y railways, operating in
temperate and c o l t 1 countries \\.here steam heating is aliready
i n existence, the steatii ejector s!.steni offers ;in economical
solution to the prolilein.
Conclusion.
I n [uriiiiiig’ o n c ’ s t.onrlusicJns a s to the most zippro-
priate s!.stem t o x l o p t , the duration o f the cooling- season
i~:tturally pla>,s an import:int part.
\\.here the cooling seasoil is relatively short, it is
obvious that the higher operating costs ot the ic-e-activated
s!~stem, due to the cost o f ice and servicing, can be justified
i n vie\\- of the lo\\-er capital cost a n d saving i n weight.
\\.here, however, the cooling sexson exceeds this
ec-.onomic limit, the electr-o-met:li;~tiical and steam ejector
s!.steins become i n o r e cconomicxl, as i n this case the princi-
pal charges a r e merely interest o i i capital.
‘ \ i i aiialysis w’as i-ecentl\. tiiatle i n the Ly.S.:\. of results
ohtaincd in servico from ;I l a r p nurnber a n d great variety
0 1 equipments operating i n that country. The conclusions
reached naturally cannot be ;tcceptecl lor other countries
without reservation i n respect ol cost a n d availability o f
ice, labour, etc., but as ;I general guide, the results shown
1x1o 11- a re interest i ti g .
OF RAILROAD
-IIRC ~ S ~ ) I T I O N EQ~-IPMI.~~.:sT
IXG I’ASSEK
GEII
C\RS IN r.s.Ai.
Total cost per I ,000 car miles, including fixed charges,
operating and maintcmance costs based on a n average train
speed of 50 ii1.p.h. arid total rnileag-e or i=jo,ooo car miles
per year.

AIR COKDITIONIKG OF R A I L W \Y t’.\ssmGk;n STOCK. 551
Three-Month Cooling System.
A s. d .
Ice activated system ... ... I 18 o
Electro-mechanical system ... 2 II o
Steam ejector system ... ... 2 I7 0
Direct mechanical system ... 2 18 o
Ten-Month Cooling S y s t e m
Electro-mechanical system ... 2 1 3 o
Steam ejector system ... ... 2 19 0
Direct mechanical system .._ 3 o o
Ice activated system .,, ......3 8 o
It should be pointed out that this data does not include
the cost of steam heating, which already exists in that
country. In other countries, therefore, it may be found
necessary to adjust the comparison to include the cost of
steam heating details if the comparison is to be equitable.
I t will, however, be noted that for a cooling season
up to three months’ duration, ice-activated systems appear
to be economical. Beyond this period the electro-mechanical
and steam ejector systems become more attractive pro-
positions, whilst the direct mechanical compression systems
would appear at a disadvantage.
I t is the Author’s view that whereas a t first sight the
apparent simplicity of the direct mechanical systems is
attractive. in practice the complications necessary to provide
compressor control, refrigerant storage, heating and the
separate electrical equipment required for car lighting more
than offset the saving made by the elimination of the
generator and compressor motor.
It ivould also seem that in tropical countries where a
limited degree of heating only is required and where trains
a r e not steam-piped, the electro-mechanical system is an
excellent proposition.
I n countries of more rigorous climate, where trains a r e
steam-piped, the steam ejector and electro-mechanical
systems both possess merits which need to be very carefully
analysed.
Finally, where services are electrified, the presence of
unlimited electrical energy in convenient form should favour
the electro-mechanical system.
DISCUSSION.
The President, in thanking the Author for the very
complete Paper which he had presented, said that air con-
ditioning gave extraordinary comfort, particularly in hot

552 J O U R S A L O F THE INST. O F LOCO. E S G I N E E R S .
climates. W h e n he was last in America the weather was

very hot and there was very g r e a t humidity in New York,.
and ivhen he g o t into an air conditioned coach on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad a t New Jersey it was like
heaven, and the comfort, quiet and freedom from dirt and
dust lvei-e remarkable ; but he came to the same conclusion
when he heard what it cost, a s many of those present that
evening must have reached, on looking a t the Author’s
slides. In this world one obtained mighty little for nothing,
and not much more for sixpence. H e believed that a t that
time to air condition a co;ic:h i n this Country cost about the
same its the actual cost of the coach itself.
The Author had not referred t o the load on the loco-
motive, but that was a most vital matter in this Country.
The steam hcating load was bad enough in the winter with
heavy trains, and if it became necessary t o run all the
gadgets required for air conditioning h e was afraid that
trains would have to he very much reduced in weight and
it would he necessary to increase the number of trains.
The Author himself had remarked, in showing onc of the
slides, that it looked like a box of tricks.
‘The ice activated system appeared very attractive, hut
the Author did not give any idea of the tonnage of ice
which was used, say, on the Pennsylvania Railroad from
Philadelphia to Chicago. Personally he believed that it ran
into many tons, and one could imagine what a business it
was to put tons of ice in the ice box during the journey.
Air conditioning was making headway in hotels and
other public buildings, and in that connection he recalled
an experience which he had in Bombay. I t was very hot
and sticky weather, but w h e n they went into the dining
roo’m of the hotel in the evening they stopped there only five
minutes and did not wait for dinner, because it was like
a morgue; thc chilliness of thrt atmosphere was such that
for their personal comfort they felt it desirable to go. T h a t
was brought about, however, by a difference of only roOF.
in the temperature. I t was one of thc dangers of air con-
ditioning that a suddcn change of temperature-which was
comparative, of course-could have so great an effect a s to
give rise to discomfort. H e agreed that people could g e t
used to it, but even then it could be a source of danger.
It would be of interest if the Author would give some
idea of the horsc-power requircd to run full air conditioning
o n coaches, and would say something about the amount of
ice used with ice activation.

Mr. B. P . Ellis referred to t h e Author's recommenda-
tion of Freon a s a refrigerant, and said it would be interest-
ing to know to what extent that refrigerant was available
in countries overseas, and particularly in the east ; he under-
stood that it was manufactured in America. H e knew that
" Freon " was a short word for a chemical combination
with a long name, but, a s the other refrigerants were men-

tioned under their chemical names, it might be of interest
for record purposes to have the chemical name of Freon.
The '' effective temperature " referred to on page j27
of the Paper was bascd on the reactions of people in the
United States of America, because, presumably, there was
greater experience of air conditioned vehicles in the United
States than anywhere else; but, a s was well known, the
United States of America had a dry climate, the humidity
being low for the most part, and the inhabitants were
accustomed to live in very highly heated houses. It was
quite possible, therefore, that the " effective temperature,"
measured by the reactions of the inhabitants of this Country,
might be rather different.
I t might be instructive if the iluthor could give any
idea of the difference i n the number of mechanical break-
downs of the various systems which were described in the
Paper, and it would also be interesting t o know whether
the oil filter produced any smell in the air which had gone
through it. It might be objectionable t o people with sensi-
tive noses if it did.
T h e Author had referred to a blind which reflected the
sun's rays and which, worked by a push button, came down
between the inside and outside glass of a double window.
It might be rather tiresome if the mechanism failed and
the blind remained permanently down, because apparently
it would be necessary to take the window out in order to
repair it.
Mr. A. T. Houldcroft associated himself with the
President in thanking the Author for his splendid Paper and
for the amount of carefully detailed investigation which had
been placed so freely before the meeting.
H e himself had brought drawings of a saloon, which
had been running in all the different climatic conditions
found throughout India, in which since 1933 its air con-
ditioning had been used without the least complaint, for it
had been consistently effective.
The first time that the coach ~ v a sput into service in
the extreme heat of central India, there was some slight
trouble experienced which was largely due to the effects of

554 J O U R N A L OF THE I N w . OF LOCO. ENGINEERS.
vibration upon one o r two. of the connections, but this only

took a day or two to rectify, and since then there has been
no trouble whatsoever.
T h e possible difficulty of obtaining supplies of Freon in
India had originally caused the consideration of an ammonia
compressor and h e found in one case in Calcutta a leak in
the system which was quite sufficient to negative its use.
’This then decided upon the use of methyl chbride, and from
the Author’s Fig. No. 10,it n-ould be seen that the curve
for methyl chloride coincides we11 with the-curve for Freon.
In the beginning they could not obtain supplies for
replenishment and naturally had to manage without.
I t certainly speaks well for the workmanship and fit-
tings, etc., when I state that the coach was able to remain
in thorough efficient working conditions for te’o months
without any reserve supply, and afterwards, of co.urse, a
regular source for rep!enishment was found.
The contractors’ estimate for the amount of cooling
required was higher than actual experience proved to be
necessary, for even in the worst days with the thermometer
a t 106’F. they only needed a maximum of 36,000 R.‘I’.U.’s
per hour.
This was due mainly to the use of sprayed asbestos
which was in addition tc! the slab cork insulation allowed for
in their original calculations.
The core of the system adopted was the circulation of
cooled water, the temperature of which was maintained by
electric thermostatic operation for t h e whole c.ir with
further individual unit control for each separate compart-
ment.
T h e cooled or warmed water, as external conditions
demand, is circulated through pipe lines situated in the roof
of the coach to gilled finned coolers, which were placed at
selected positions, and by this means the regulation was
simple and effective.
7 h e fact that the coach has been in regular service for
so l o n g without specially skilled attention speaks volumes
for the system, and it would be well t o hear the Author’s
observations on t h t fact that 36,000 R.T. U. ’s represent
the peak load.
The plant had worked well and so. far proved its
efficiency that the coupling of this installation to an addi-
tional coach was under consideration, and it is indeed now
quite a simple matter to pro,vide air conditioning, cooling
and heating from one coach o n a whole train of coaches t o
be supplied trom one central power unit.

iIH C O N D I T I O X I N ( : O F l t ~ i I I , J ~ ' . k lI'ASSESGER
' STOCK. 555
The interconnection of this system is efTected by means
of a simple set o f flexible couplers, which connect the double
pipe lines between each coach, giving throughout the ther-
mostatic electric or individual control as desired.
Mr. S. J. Jones pointed out that the Author had not
mentioned the possibility of over-heating o r over-cooling
individual compartments in the average type of coach used
in this Country. It would be realised that, with one duct
supplying air to a series of compartments, it was possible
that due to the congregation of a number of people in one
compartment where the thermostats Xvere situated, the other
compartments might become too cold, or, if the thermostat
was situated in the recirculating duct, the compartment
which had a large number of people in it might become
overheated, due t o excess bo'dy heat. His own firm had
overcome that disadvantage by the introduction of what
they called a thermo-regulated system. In that system
both a hot and a cold duct were laid to each compartment,
and by a special adjustable louvre it was possible to vary.
the temperature of the incoming air from hot to cold or
a mixture of both to any degree. Although it was neces-
sarily somewhat more expensive than the single supply
system, for the reasons given it was obviously of g r e a t
advantage, since the passengers themselves could vary the
heating or cooling to suit their own particular requirements.
About 160 coaches had been fitted in this Country, and
especially sleeping- cars, while the " Coronation Scot " was
also fitted throughout. The Author would probably agree
that it was extremely difficult to satisfy every person, since
one condition might be too warm for one person and too cold
for another, and, therefore, the system to which he referred
had the advantage of meeting psychological requirements.
Mr. K. Cantlie said that, in passing, h e thought that
the objection raised by the President with regard to the
load on the locomotive could be overcome, so' far a s the
steam ejector system was concerned, by the adoption of a
system used in Switzerland and in China. In China, when
the traffic department began putting 18 coaches, including
nine sleeping cars, on one train, naturally the engines began
to have a little difficulty, and so the drivers got into the
habit, when running short of steam, of tiirning off the steam
heat ; and anyone who believed that it could not be cold in
China would have changed his mind if h e had had that
experience. There were, therefore, a good many com-
plaints. To save double beading or enlarging engines o r
boilers, therefore, a vertical boiler was installed in the brake

jj6 J O U R K A L O F THE IKST. O F LOCO. ESGIK;El<RS.
vans nThich supplied the steam heat for heavy trains. T h a t

worlced well for heating a n d would b-e cqually good for the
steam ejector type o l air conditioning without draining the
engine.
In the unrevised proof of the Paper the statement was
made that the cooling efect of Pans became less marked a s
the relative humidity fell. T h a t might be the case theoretic-
ally, but so far as the human body was concerned he thought
i t n,ould be found that in a dry heat a fan had a bigger
effect than in damp heat. A4fter all, the whole point of a
fan was that the air current impinged on the skin, and dry
air impinging on the skin evaporated the perspiration more
quickly than damp air. The Author had been in India. and
\vould know the effect o.f the ortlinary roof punkha. In a
dry climate it xvas possib1.e to feel comioriable, but in places
such a s Bombaj7 and Calcutta when one put on the fan one
did not feel so comfortable :IS one xvould in much hotter
places, such ac on the Frontier. I t seemed to him, there-
fore, that the humidity of the air was a very important
factor, and it could almost be said that a system which
loolrcd after the humidity alone uiould be better than a
system which looked after the temperature alone. Hot dry
air was far more cornfortablc than hot moist air, and cold
damp air could bc very nearly a s uncomLortable as hot clamp
air. T h e Author, Iio~vevcr, appeared to have withdrawn
that remark in presenting the Paper.
Mr. A. H . Chilton said that having noticed the remark,
he withdrew it.
Mr. K . CantIie pointed out that the Author used the
short ton, and inquired whether that was the custom in
connection with air conditioning, a n d whether everyone
when dealing Tvi th air conditioning used the American short
ton of 2,ooolb. Methods and systems were growing u.p so
quiclily in various branches of the profession that, if the
short ton was now standard for air co.nditioning throughout
the world, the point had better be noted.
I n referring to pressure ventilation, the Author did not
mention a development oi that, the thcrmo-tank using jets
of air. The 1'. and 0. and other liners used a n air jet
directed on the passenger in place of a fan aIld it seemc:d to
him that in hot countries, especially in the case of dining
C;WS 01- of third-class stock, where it was quite impossible
t o have a large number of fans, a number of such jets, either
revolving or directed o n to a group of passengers, would be
more cconomical than a 1arg.c number of fans, a11d 11,ould

fill an intermediate place between full air conditioning and
either €an$ or the present pressure ventilation system.
Air conditioning mas excellent, but its present cost was
prohibitive on all but the most profitable raiiways. It costs,
if his memorj served him, something in the neighbourhood
of it;x,joo to ,&,ooo to air condition a steel coach which
already had a considerable amount of insulation in its non-
air conditioned state. H e did not refer to t h e conversion of
a car, which was more costly still, but merely the fitting of
air conditioning to a new order of cars. Could the Author
reveal more details of the cost components, in order to give
clues a s t o why such a n enormous total was reached for a
fairly straightforward apparatus, and ~ o u l dquantity pro-
duction cause a large drop in price?
In his opinion, costs must be sharply decreased if the
railways in poorer districts mere exer t o afford air coiidition-
ing. I f , of course, passengers were willing to pay extra
fares for the additional comfort, the equipmeuts would p ~ y
for themselves, and their use could be extended by com-
paratively poor railways.
Mr. G . E. H . Williams referred t o the question asked
by the President a s to the consumption and cost of ice with
the ice activated sjstem, and said that the B.B. & C.I. Rly.
in India had been running straight ice coaches on their
Frontier mail betnecn Bombay and Delhi for the past 18
months.
He said they had seven such coaches running. They
also had one coach fitted with the mechanical gear with the
straight ice system for speeds under 30 m.p.h. and when
standing. That coach was in the experimental stage and
no figures for comparison were a\ ailable.
Before the consumption and cost figures were given, he
thought he should give a brief description of the coaches.
The coaches were converted from existing stock, and two
4-berth 1st class and one 2-berth coup15 1st class in each
coach had been air conditioned. The gear and layout were
designed by Mr. J . J. C. Paterson? late C.M.E., B.G., B.B.
& C.I. Rly., and is shomn in Fig. 28.
Under the coach was an ice bunker " D " holding 13
tons of ice The meltage and cold u a t e r from that ice fell
into sump " F " from where it was drawn by pump " H "
through filter " G " and then pumped through the cooling
coils " P." After passing through " P " the water was
again filtered by filtering sleeve " N " and then passed
through the diverter valve " M " into spray " E " in the

5,j8 J O U R Y 4 1 , O F THE INST. O F LOCO. E N G I S E K R S .
bunker where it sprays over the ice and the process is

rcpeated.
To reduce the ice consumption a diverter valve “ M ”
byorking in conjunction with a Nicolson Thermostat “ L ”
has been fitted. This comes into operation when the com-
partment temperature reaches the setting of the thermostat
and the return water is then passed into sump “ F,” and
not over the ice by spray “ E , ” until the compartment tem-
perature has risen sufficiently to reset the diverter valve.
FIG.28.
SIiETCII OF LhPoc~rDESCRIBED IN A I R . (i. E. H. WILLIAMS’
REMARKS.
Cooling in the compartment is effected by circulating

thc compartment air over cooling coils “ P ” by silent fan
“ J ”
(see cooling circuit “ K ”) and the temperature i y
raised or lowered by incrcnsing or decreasing the air speed.
The compartment temperature is controlled by the passenger
who has a five position switch for this purpose.
Fresh air enters by a separate circuit. It is drawn
through viscous filter “ R ” by Pan “ R ” into roof duct
“ 0.” From this duct it passes into the compartment at
“ C.” This air is a fixed quantity and based on a full com-
partment and cannot be regulated by the passenger.
T h e spillway is under the lavatory door and down the
commode chute.

AIH. C O N D I l I O S I S G O F RAILLVAY PASSENGER S T O C K . 559
These coaches have the cold water circulating pumps
and the fresh air fans in duplicate, and were driven o f f
the coach batteries. The standard compartment fans were
left in, so. t h a t in the event of a failure the passengers would
not have to vacate or the coach be detached.
Those coaches, but for slight teething trouble in their
experimental stages, had given no trouble and were in daily
service.
Before leaving Bombay Central I$ tons of ice was
loaded into the bunker. That, during the hottest weather,
lasted up t o Kotah (572 miles from Bombay) where the
bunker was again charged during the 2 0 minutes'. halt.
That additional charge look the coach to Delhi, giving a
consumption of 2 t o 2 4 tons for a mileage of about 880 miles.
The cost of ice a t Bombay was Rs. 13/- and at Delhi Rs.
I S / - per ton.
Mr. Williams also asked if with the mechanical method,
where the fresh air supply was through the cooling unit,
lvhether any trouble was experienced with high humidity
inside the coach during- the monsoon or when travelling
through areas where the humidity was high.
Mr. J . N . Gresham asked whether the steam consump-
tion figure given by the .Author was 2001b. per ejector per
hour or whether that w a s the figure for the two ejectors
fitted to the coach.
The Author replied to Mr. Gresham that the figure
w a s 180 to 20,clb. per ejector. There was only one steain
ejector; the purge ejector was a water purge and not a
steam ejector. It was the old-fashioned evaporative con-
denser pipe.
Mr. J. S. Tritton aslied what degree of sensitivity was
obtained with the thermostats employed. The whole con-
trol and functioning of the system depended very largely,
he said, on the automatic devices, and it seemed to him that
the sensitivity was all-important. W a s it possible, for
example, to obtain ;I sensitivity t o within I O F . , or were
there overlapping ranges to obtain the sensitivity required.
How was it possible to combine the sensitivity of the dry-
and wet-bulb thermometers ?
A U T H O R ' S REPLY
Mr. A. N. Chilton, i n reply, said that the President
had referred to the locomotive load. The electro-mech-
anical system required about 1.4 h.p. per ton of refrigeration
at the compressor drive, which meant that for a 7-ton plant
about 10 h.p. was required at the compressor. To that

560 J O U R N A L OF THE IYST. OF LOCO. I~GINEERS.
must be added another I h.p. for auxiliary fans, and there

must be added also the power required to put back into
batteries during the running time the amount taken o u t
during- previous halts. Those facto.rs meant that the gener-
ator had to provide from 1 2 to' 17 kw. output. W h e n the
train started, the load might be as high as 17 o r even 20
kw. for a short period, but a s the battery voltage picked up
the charge tapered ofY, until after running for a short period
tlie load would be reduced to 1 2 to I j kw. with full refrigera-
tion on, and naturally the load would fall off a t all times
when maximum refrigeration was not needed. In addition
it was necessary to add the power required to. haul the
equipment. F o r a train running a t j o m.p.h., allowing for
drawbar pul! and an average deg-ree of refrigeration and
battery charg-ing, the average load on the locomotive: might
be about 2 2 h.p. for a 7-ton equipment. In the case of the
direct mechanical system it was more or less comparable,
;ind mas somewhere in the neighbourhoo'd of 2 0 h.p. I t
must be remembered that the direct mechanical system does
not provide battery storage when pcrforming air condition-
i n g duty, and, therefore, it would not take as much from
the axle o r the locomotive, with the sacrifice, however, of
pouer s t o r a g e ; i n t h e case of ice equipment, the power
required for pumps and blower fans was in the neighbour-
hood of 3 k w . , and, allowing for the weight of the equip-
ment, the resultant horse-power drawn from the locomotive
\vould bc in the neighbourhood of four or five. In the case
of the steam ejector system, the draw-off' from the loco-
motive i n mechanical horse-power, i . e . , through the loco-
motive cylinders, was in the neighbourhood of 9 o r 10, but
to that must be added 18016. of steam per hour from the
boiler. S o that the total steam draw-off from the boiler for
the electro-mechanical and for the steam ejector systems was
more or less comparable, being between 40'0 and p d b . of
stcam per hour per coach a t average train spccds.
T h e President's second question related to the con-
sumption of ice. Since air conditioning equipments were
rated in cquivalent tons of ice melted, it followed that,
whether tlie system was electro-mechanical or ice, the
amount of ice corisurned could be roughly estimated by
merely applying a suitable load factor, which might repre-
sent the time when refrigeration was requircd during a run
in relation to the time when it was not, and multiplying
that factor by the ratcd capacity of the equipment. This
capacity could be ascertained by calculating the heat gain
or heat load on the c a r ; so that for a given service, if one

A I R C O S I 1 I T I C ) S I N G O F R4IT,TV'4Y P \ S S E U G I < R S T O C K . 561
arrived at a 5-ton electro-mechanical plant which was work-
ing 50 per cent. o l its time producing refrigeration in 24
hours, then an ice equipment operating €or the same time
mould consume 24 tons of ice, which is illustratcd by the
figures Mr. R'illinms yuotcd for the coach on the B.B. 8L
C.I. Rly.
The President also referred to the chilly sensation some-
times experienced n h e n going into a n air conditioned room.
Personally, he thought that many of the benefits accruing
from air conditioning had been negatived by the improper
use of the equipment. A picture was only as good as the
painter could paint it, no matter how good the colours used
might be. LVith air conditioning there was often a tendency
to set the temperature too low, but the engineer who pro-
vided the equipment could not in many cases be blamed for
its improper USC.
MT. Ellis asked where Freon came from and what was
its availability. It had to be imported from America, where
he believed that it was made by the Kinetic Chcmicals Com-
pany, division of I . E . Dupont de Nemours Inc. In peace-
time there had been no difficulty in obtaining supplies in any
of the dominions where he had been engaged in air con-
ditioning. Moreover, an equipment designed to work with
Freon could easily be adjusted to use methyl chloride, should
the supply of Freon fail.
Mr. Ellis also referred to the effective temperature being
measured by the reaction of the inhabitants of the United
States of America. It was true that the comfort condition
would vary from man to man, but the variation was not
really very wide, and, a s was pointed out in the Paper, the
air conditioning rquipnicnt ga;e ample scope for adjustment.
The equipment was not designed simply t o function at 71'F.
or 75'F. ; the temperature could be adjusted to the desired
condition of comfort.
Mechanical breakdown was another matter to which
Mr. Ellis referred. Personally, hc was limited t o the
number of equipments in service of which he had experience.
The first two coaches which were built straight from the
drawing board and put into service in Australia worked
through a two-year shopping with n o failure, and when they
went through the shops the only precautionary mechanical
replacement effected was a roller bearing. H e had therefore
been very satisfied with the freedom from trouble in service.
Oil filters were not noxious ; the viscous oil used was of a
type which did not produce smell. T h a t statcment should
be qualified, however, by the remark that anything which

was allowed to get into a dirty and disused condition would
be objectionable in any circumstances.
Finally Mr. Ellis asked what would happen if a rnotor-
operated blind fitted inside a double window failed. There
were thousands of refrigerators working in this Country i n
which the rotor and compressor were seal-d in welded
chambers and worked throughout the whole li!e of the equip-
ment without failure and without being accessible.
X r . Houldcroft referred to the fact that only $~.ooo
U.Thu.U., or three tons of refrigeration, were required with
;L broad-gauge coach in India. T h e number of passengers
had an important bearing on the matter; 400 B.Th.lJ. per
hour were generated by each passenger, and therefore the
number of passengers was very important. That was o n e
of the reasons for the big discrepancy between the tonnage
of refrigeration required for a private saloon as compared
with a passenger coach carrying 30 or 40 people. Gener-
ally speaking there was, on the principle of playing for
safety, a tendency to overestimate when making calcula-
tions, and he thought that sometimes there was a tendency
to install equipments which were on the large side.
Air. Jones asked what would happen with over-heating
or over-cooling, and commented upon individual control.
I t should be pointed out that the Paper dealt with air con-
ditioning and not with pressure ventilation, and therefore he
would not take up time by dealing with that point, but he
would be very pleased to communicate with Mr. Jones should
Mr. Jones wish to go into the matter more thoroughly.
M r . Canflic had drawn attention t o a mis-statement
regarding t h e value of f a n s in the advance copy. ‘This was
obviously an error i n drafting.
H e n a s glad t o hear from Afr. W12lianc~that the equip-
nients running on the B.B. & C.I. Rly. were doing- well.
H e thought the amounts of ice consumed were in accordance
~ i t hwhat was predicted a t the time that the equipments
were designed by t h e railway company. One equipment had
been fitted a s an experiment with a directly operateti mech-
anical compressor with a view to the conservation of ice.
It should be pointed out, however, that those equipments
were operating with refrigeration loads which called for
hetween two and three tons of refrigeration, whpreas the
electro-mechanical equipment on the G. I.P. Rly. was
designed for a compartment car with corridor, having a
much greater heat load. Had the G.I.P.’s problenl been
comparable in respect of heat load with that of the I3.B. 8r
C.I. Rly., the G . I . P . Rly. would obviously have installed

41R C O K D I T I O S I N G OF R A I L W A Y PASSENGER STOC'B 563
smaller sets of equipment. It was very interesting and

gratifying to note that there had been so little trouble with
the equipmcnts on the R.R. Pr C.I. Rly.
Mr. Williams asked what were the effects of humidity
when the compressor was cut out. T h a t was one of the
biggest problems at prcsent receiving the attention of air
conditioning and refrigeration engineers. It \\as admitted
that in countries where the quantity of latent heat to be
removed is high in relation to the sensible heat, unless the
compressor was working the whole time the position was
that, each time it stopped, the humidity tended to rise rapidly
within the car. That could be met by re-heat, but mainly
at the expense of power. It could be met by reducing the
compressor speeds a s the refrigeration load fell off, but
there was a limit t o the practical reduction of compressor
speeds which could be effected from the electrical stand-
point.
M r . J . W . Gresham aslied what sort of noise the
ejcctor made. Personally, he had very Little experience of
the steam ejector system, because up to date it had been
applied only in the United States of America, but he had
travelled from Chicago on the Ssnte FP. Railroad on a steam-
ejector-equipped train, and he did not notice any noise from
the ejectors Mr. Marsh, an American engineer, was pre-
w i t , and might be able to give some information on that
subject.
Vr. A . B . Mnrsh said that with the steam jet t j p e o f
refrigeration, before the condenser pressure became low
cnough for the steam jet to maintain a pressure differential
between thc evaporator and the condenser, there was a very
decided loud hissing noise T h a t was one ot the ways in
which it was possiblc to tell whether the system was work-
ing correctly. The minute that the cor,denser pressure
became sufficiently low for the steam jet t o maintain the
pressure difference between the evaporator and the con-
denser, the steam jet became completely silent and thc only
noise which then existed was a slight crackling due to the
flashing of the water vapour returning above its boiling point
to the evaporator, and evaporating immediately into water
vapour and being drawn into the path of the stcam jet.
M r . Tritton asked what was the sensitivity of the
thermostats. The thermostat of which h e had most experi-
ence was of the mercury column type. He had used in
the early stages various other types, bi-metal thermostats,
etc., but he found that the accuracy of operation or narrow-
ness of the differential of the thermostat w a s extremely

564 J O U R S A L O F THE I N S T . O F LOCO. ENGINEERS.
important, and the mercury thermostats of which he had

experience operated within o. j"F. of differential. T h a t had
the effeci of keeping the compressor in for short iniervals
and i n normal hot climates kept the compressor in for suffi-
ciently sharp and numerous intervals.
Mr. Tritton also referred to the wet-bulb thermostat.
In the cars of which he had experience wet-bulb thermostats
were not employed, and all the control was done on the dry-
bulb thermostat. The relative humidity inside the car was
a function of the sensible heat factor, the apparatus dewpoint
and the amount of air in circulation, which was a point of
design for which he had n o special automatic control, other
than the resultant relative humidity obtained from those
factors.

MEETING IN GLASGOW, 31st MARCH, 1939.
The .lntiual General Meeting of the Scottish Centre

was held at the Society's Room, The Roynl Technical
College, o n Friday, the 3 r s t of March, 1939, at 7.30 p m . ,
the chair being taken by Mr. John Robertson.
The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 19th of
January, 1939, were read, approved, and signed a s correct.
The Chairman then introduced Mr. Chilton, who read
his Paper, entitled " Air Conditioning of Railway Passenger
Stock. " This w a s followed by a discussion.
A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G OF R A I L W A P
YA S S E N G E R
STOCK.
(See p i g c 524.)
Pirper. icpeated tiefore t h e I n s t i t u t i o n by A . I f . ( ' H I L T O N ,

Nola-Member, on 31st X a r c h , 1939, in Glusgoir.
____-____
DISCUSSION.
The Chairman (Mr. J . Robertson) thanked the Author
on behalf of the members for his interesting and very instruc-
tive Paper. After extending a welcome to Mr. N. C.
Bridge (chairman of the Scottish Branch of the Inst. of
Mech. Engrs.) , he declared the meeting open for discussion.
Mr. N. C. Bridge (\*isitor) thanked the Chairman for
the welcome given him, and said, on behalf of the Institu-
tion of Mechanical Engineers, he w a s very glad to be there,
and thought those other members were also very pleased
to have the opportunity of attending a joint meeting with
the Institution of Locomotive Engineers. H e said he was
alwa\s in favour of those joint meetings, both €or the dis-
cussion on the Papers, and afterwards. He had been very
much impressed by the Aluthor's Papcr and thought he was
to be congratulated on his delivery, and, in particular, in
finishing up with the economic results Lvhich so many
people deliberately, he thought, forgot or omitted. It was
interesting to see in one of the earlier slides, that the .4uthor

j66 JOUltSTAL O F THE INST. OI" L O C O . ENGINEERS.
had compared the heat supplied average balance and the

economic balance of the steam jet system. I t seemed t o
him t o be good, no heat loss in the middle position. 'That
matter of air-conditioning was rather a new one t o him, and
he thought that to adequately discuss what the Author had
told them, o.ne would have had to travel a good deal further
than up and down the main lines of that Country. 'They
had made considerable advance since the first attempts of
air conditioning in this Country. Speaking a s a n ordinary
passenger they had not such elaborate systems on British
railways, and he did not think they really needed
t h e m ; the conditions not being s o drastic. Dirt and grits
from the locomotive didn't worry them so much, and,
generally speaking, there was not a g r e a t deal to complain
of in this Country. Referring t o the question of noise, he
said that was very important, and if, as suggested, one
can shut up a car completely, you can certainly eliminate one
of the most disagreeable factors. H e was rather inclined
to think that the noise did not altogether come from the
sides of the car but through thc floor of the car. When,
for instance, you pull o u t the plug of a wash-basin in a
sleeper, you appreciate the etiornious amount of noise that
conies up. As regards general comfort, he thought per-
haps attention should be given, in particular, to a means of
keeping the feet warm on long-distance journeys. They did
not hear anything abo.ut the treatment of the floors. It
seemed to him a most important feature of the system.
From the mechanical point of view what impressed him
most was the compactness of the various arrangements.
Dr. P . Caldwell (\'isitor) said he was afraid the Chair-
man had selected one who was supposcd to keep quiet, a s
Mon. Secretaries did not take part in discussions. Hc
thanked the Author very much for putting so clearly the
many facts and figures on ventilation ; the use of the diH'ercnt
refrigerating units, and, a t the same time, a very consider-
able amount of electrical cngineering required in that \vork
of air conditioning. H e thought that cost was the prime
factor in this Country. The Author mentioned polarised
glass for the windows ; the light passing- through the glass
on the outside is polarised on the inside by specially pre-
pared polaroid material turning through an angle of' 90°.
Polaroid material is very expensive and costs something like
10s. per sq. inch. H e did not know whether that WEIS the
cost of the glass that they used in American cars a n d en-
quired if the Author could tell thein whcre they could get
good cheap polaroid material, because it was one o f the

mi C O X D I T I O K ~ N GOF P,AILWAY P A NGEK STOCK. 567
things they required in their mechanical tests. They could

make use of it very much in stress measurements, but the
expense of it was prohibitive and its use for general purposes
a t the college limited. l h e y tried to get polaroids 3in.
diameter, which was to cost A4 per piece, that was two
years ago, and they had not had them yet. The manufac-
turers ofi'ered to supply them with the material but they
had to do the cutting and kraming themselves. The Author
lvould therefore readily realise why he wished to know
something about polarised glass that was used for the
windows. In the last table of figures he was interested in
the one where stearn xvas used; those figures, he thought,
xvere based on the number of cars used and the curoes came
very close together as the number of cars increased. They
were open at the top and there were big wide spaces between
them, but when they had a large number of cars the curves
nearly fell on the top of each other. H e wondered whether
the ejectors that they had seen used on the various systems
would not go wrong easily? Then as regards speed of
the car, did that vary much, and did it take away from
the efficiency of the different systems? If they had a train
going a t 70 m.p.h. and another going at 30 m.p.h., was
there a n y difl'erence in the efficiency of the heating or cooling
units ?
Mr. Webster (Visitor) raised the question of the increase
in dynamo size necessar?' over the standard, also, the
increase in batteries required and 10 to 24 h.p. increase for
the mechanical refrigeration. l o get 400 amp. hours, he
supposed, was a great increase in actual weight. As
regards the cost, if there were 10 Pullmans, and the extra
cost was somewhere in. the region of LI,OOO each that would
cost about #$ooo, and taking the British conditions com-
pared with the American conditioas, he thought they had
n o actual need for refrigeration except in summer.
A s regards cooling, he thought the ordinary water type
cooling was all they would require in Scotland. Refrigera-
tion ; he doubted if they would need any here.
Mr. H . Fowler (communicated): Air conditioning whilst
in the nature of a novelty to many of us at the present time
as far as ordinary rolling stock is concerned, appears to
be establishing itself in this Country and the Paper is there-
fore not only appro'priate but valuable.
There were one or two points on which, as a layman,
he would like some further information. Speaking of filters
the Author stated that the viscous oil type was the most
common. Did the use of oil as a filtering agent tend to

568 , J o U K N A I , O F THE I N S T . O F LOCO. ESG1SEEI:S
impart an oiliness to the air, and, if so, had it any effect

on upholstery or paint w o r k ? W h a t type of 011 was ust:d?
W i t h regard to pre-cooling, it was stated that where
only an A.C. supply was available it was essential to have
an additional A.C. motor as well a s the normal D.C. one.
Could not that difficulty be overcome by the installation at
washing sheds or starting platforms o f a rectifier, thus
reducing the weight and cost oi the equipment on each
coach ? A4similar arrangenient was employed satisfactorily
a t certain docks for supplying current t o ships and avoided
running the generating sets whilst in port.
The Author: M r . Uridyt: referred to the necessity fol-
air conditioning in England. H e did not claim lor one
moment that to-morrow every coach in England must be air
conditioned, but he did think there was a tendency in ihis
Country to say “ wc have a pretty good climate,” and just
let it go a t that. ‘Ihc Author held that for the larger portion
of the year we needed to heat our coaches, and claimed that
heating was as much a part ol air conditioning as cooling.
T h a t was a point he wished them t o bear in mind.
He referred to the table on page 529, sho\+.ing that
the passenger heat and solar heat together formed nearly
j o per cent. of the total heat load. Assuming the outside
temperature on a sunny day was 70°F., the conditions of dis-
comfort inside the car at a relative humidity of 70 per cent.
would be considerable, particularly in a dining car c m t a i n -
ing 40 passengers. Four hundred U.T.U.’s were given oif
per person and that amounted to a total of 16,000 B.‘I.U.’s,
For the dining car in question, therefore, 14 tons of
refrigeration would be required j u s t to counter the heat
given off by passengers. If the solar heat gain was also
taken into account, a couple of tons of refrigeration at least
would be required on a hat summer day t o make the con-
ditions inside equal to those outside. H e did claim, there-
fore, that there was, even in this Country, a justification,
perhaps not for immediate \<.holesale air conditioning o f all
stock, but certainly for air conditioning dining cars.
Taking the long view, he thought perhaps in j o years’
time there would be many hundreds of air-conditioned cars
in this Country.
The steam cjector system had a special application in
a country like England where trains were steam-piped.
I .
l h e r e was a very strong justification for it. Before you

can put in a steam ejector equipment, piping must be
installed. In this Co.untry where piping is already installed
the system seemed equal to any.

AIR CONDITIONING OF RAILWAY PASSENGER STOCK. 569
Floor noise: H e did not touch on floor insulation

because floors were insulated on more or less similar lines
to the sides and roofs. They could be insulated against
sound in just the same way.
The question of cold feet on long distance journeys.
By air conditioning he referred to the system in which a
proportion of air drawn from the car was returned for circu-
lation after being conditioned. In that system, owing to
the large quantity of air in movement, the difference in tem-
perature between the incoming and outgoing air should not
exceed 26’.
H e mentioned that floor heat was employed a s well as
air heat. The floor heat usually took care of the heat lost
from the car by transmission through the body of the car.
Replying to D r . G a l d w e l l , he said that the costs factor
varied with the number of coaches used. T h e table which
he showed gave costs per 1,000 miles for a total of ~ j o , o o o
train miles and took into account the number of coaches
used. Maintenance charges, stores, labour costs and over-
heads must, he said, fall in proportion to the number of
coaches operating.
H e touched on poiarised windows only because he
wanted to show how important it was to install windows
which would reduce the entry of heat due to solar radiation.
H e was unable to say what the price of polarised glass
would be. In the particular application he quoted, the car
happened to be an observation car fitted with two circular
discs of polarold per window. When the two sheets of
Polaroid were in corresponding positions the non-polarised
light could still penetrate, but the glare from water or the
sky was reduced. All those rays of light which were polar-
ised were shut off and their elimination did give a certain
amount of rest to the passengers.
The steam ejector system he considered was reliable.
H e thought there were about 2,000 coaches fitted with the
steam ejector system and that more or less spoke for itself.
The speed of the train would not materially affect the
efficiency of the system during cooling, but the faster the
train was going the greater was the heat load: similarly
during heating, the faster the train, the greater was the
heat lost from the coach.
Referring to M r . TYebsfer’s questions re dynamo
capacity and power. They had to discriminate with regard
to the type of refrigeration equipment.
A 7-to11 electro-mechanical plant would require about 10
or 11 k.w. from the generator in addition to which allow-

570 J O U R S A L O F THE INST. O F LOCO. E N G I N E E R S .
ance had t o be made for the power required for baitery

charging, and that depended upon the state of the batiery.
In terms of drawbar pull from the locomotive, they required
about z z h.p. which included the extra horse-power neces-
sary for hauling the dead weight of the equipment.
For a steam ejector system of the same refrigeration
capacity, about 9 h.p. was required a t the carriage axle
plus 180 to zoolbs. of steam per hour per coach, and pui.ting
that in terms of steam from the locomotive a t say 2 5 to
35lbs. per hour per drawbar horse-power, they had a total
of 400-50dbs. of steam per hour.
As regards the coSt, he could only say that the cost of
equipment in America, where it was mass-produced, was
considerablj more than LI,OOO.H e was not in a position
to disclose the various manufacturers’ costs in this Country.
The figures which they had seen took into consideration t h e
costs, with allowance for interest and depreciation, and all
operating charges.
There were some questions from J I r . Fowler. The
usual filter oil -as a pure white oil-the trade name was
viscous oil. H e was quite sure that none of it got into the
air, provided, of course, that the filters are properly drained
before installation-daily if they were in constant use. H e
had never had any complaints of oil-laden air damaging the
upholstery.
I n connection with pre-cooling, M r . Fowler asks ‘‘ lvhy
not use A.C. rectifiers? ” Most definitely ye<! H e thought
preferably in the form of static rectifiers.
In practice, houevcr, except in the United States xvhere
the railways had a number of air-conditioned coaches in ser-
vice a t the same time, it had not been found economical to
install a n equipment for only one washing line or embarka-
tion platform. W h e r e interchange of stork was concerned,
it was advisable to provide rcctification equipment at
terminus stations.

Chilton 1939

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chilton 1939

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

524 J O U R N A L OF THE INST. OF LOCO. ENGINEERS.

Pape? rend h e f o r e the Itzstitutiim by A . H . CHILTON

PAPER No. 405.

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

in certain forms of transport, although the surrounding

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

and the control 01 temperature and humidity is efiected

Analysis of the Car Heat Load or the Cooling and Heating

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Generally- speaking, the desirable effective temperatures

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

the transverse lines from right to left show the effective

The heat load gain in a car may be divided broadly

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

push button control. Since the venetian blinds are finished

Air Supply, Treatment and Distribution.

DIAGRAMOF SIMPLEAIR CIRCUIT

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

saturation ;It a d r y b u l b tcmpcr;iturc approximately 20' t o

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

a n d in the hotly o f the coach, L I S L I ; ~a~t ~ tloor

LIS~. I hese filters, which m a y be packed \vith fcrrules or

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

by the installation of separate air ronditionirig units allo-

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

LZs a refinement to manually selected controls, develop-

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

tainetl by automatic selection oi' the appropriate r e t u r n air

condition for the former m a j he too great a c o n t r a s t Jor the

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

From Fig. 10 the characteristics of other common

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Electro-Mechanical and Direct Mechanical Systems.

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Fig., 1 4 sho\vs ;I photograph of a typical pull-through

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Fig. 17 shows sectional drawings of two types of

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

4 4xle Gear Drive to Generator

Grilles for re-circulating Air

only are available, it is necessary that the compressor be

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Power Equipment for Direct Mechanical Drive.

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

obtained. ’The pou er loss is appreciable, so that the

Furthermore, the problem of relrigeration storage is

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Ice Activated System.

,A typical example of an ice activated equipment is to

Steam Ejector System.

I h e cornpressor is replaced by the steam jet, thus

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

A typical steam ejector overhead air conditioning unit

STEAM EJECTOR NOZZLE.

OLD WArER GAUGE

"COLD WATER PUMP

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

Downloaded from jil.sagepub.com at CAMBRIDGE UNIV LIBRARY on June 6, 2016

general, it may be said that the steam consumption from