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much is to be said in its favor as compared with the us2 of a single engine of larger horsepower. Trial trips of the BENWoop for instance demonstrated that with the rudders in the hard over position and with one engine operating one wheel in one direction and the other engine operating its wheel in the reverse direction it was possible to move the boat out from the wharf at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the vessel. Again by rotating the wheels in opposite directions and with the rudder set in its center position it was possible to pivot the boat on a point represented by the vertical axis of the stern wheel. These unusu- al maneuvering characteristics are particularly important in shallow draft work where it may be neces- sary to navigate unusually crooked streams. Two Engines Located Forward The two 240-horsepower diesel en- gines are set slightly at an angle with the longitudinal axis of the tow- boat and are connected through air- oil operated clutches to 4%-inch drive shafts which are supported by ring oiling bearings. The sections of the shaft are connected together with DeLaval flexible couplings and _ the drive to the stern wheel is through a special unit type of reduction gear which has been developed and patented by The Dravo Contracting Co. This gear drive is quite interesting as it shows the great improvements which have been made in applying diesel en- gines in river boat service. The various solutions of the driv- ing problem, of which this is a fine is one of the reasons why example, the diesel engine is being so rapidly adopted for river boat work. In this case the stern wheel drive con- sists of a bevel pinion which meshes with a bevel gear and on the bevel gear shaft is a spur pinion which drives a large spur gear which is keyed to the shaft of the stern wheel. The total reduction is 1 to 12.4 which, From Mine to Market When there is an economic de- mand for improved types. of equipment the resourcefulness of American engineers is recognized. The greater use of our great in- land river waterways in_ the profitable carriage of cargoes is definitely opening up. Modern river craft with economical diesel engine propulsion are being con- structed by river shipyards in in- creasing numbers. This article describes and illustrates in detail one of the most recent of these vessels. Three in all of similar design have been or are being built. The low operating costs for boats of this type will ma- terially help to stimulate river traffic. with a rated engine speed of 257 revolutions per minute, gives a speed at the stern wheel of 20 revolutions per minute. The pinions are of forged, high carbon steel and are heat treated while the bevel gears of the two drives are carbon steel which has _ been forged and oil tempered. The large spur gears are of high carbon cast steel with cut teeth. All of the bear- ings in the stern wheel drive are Timken roller bearings arranged to take the radial and end thrust. The bearings supporting the stern wheel shaft are standard sleeve bearings, which are lubricated with an Alemite high pressure system so that it is unnecessary to climb over the stern wheel to screw up grease cups. The center grease gun which lubricates all these bearings is located at the stern of the boat. ee Another interesting detail in con- nection with the stern wheel con- struction is a pipe which connects with the circulating water system on the engine so that it is _ possible to discharge hot circulating water over the stern wheel in order to remove ice during winter operation. Has Centralized Control Panel Returning again to the engine room it will be noted from the illustrations that a centralized control panel is located just above the operating aisle between the two engines. This panel is equipped with two Brown electric tachometers which show the speed of the engine. There is also a pyrom- eter with its control switch mounted on the board. This control switch has eight points so that it is pos- sible to read the operating tempera- tures of any of the cylinders of the two engines by this one indicator. A gage for the starting air pressure is also provided as well as a clock and the two engineroom telegraphs are also mounted on this board. The two 240-horsepower diesel en- gines are equipped with built-in air compressors although these particu- lar compressors are not standard compressors ordinarily furnished as a part of these engines. In this case the compressors are the _ two-stage intercooled type with a capacity of fale, | : a 12. 240 HP FAIRBANKS MORSE ®|\| Eos AWEGEN. $e 7 DIESEL ENGINES ' H = PANEL 80ARO & COTTE IN LEYS TTT ITT me ik: ale @ Wf fe eT a siege a le LAYOUT OF THE H 9500 GALLON ' FUEL OM supper fed aoe H oy ng ee (iia G ene el ‘ot ApanKe *} = Welter eo eee Se ee eee fee MARINE REVIEW—June, 1927 DIESEL STERNWHEEL TOWBOAT BENWOOD. LENGTH 149 FEET 7 INCHES, BEAM 27 FEET, DEPTH 5 FEET 6 INCHES 17