NEW FORM OF LOCOMOTIVE.

Kumara Times, Issue 709, 7 January 1879, Page 2

NEW FORM OF LOCOMOTIVE.

It seems just possible (says the ! “Giobe”) that a modification of the I ordinary form of railway locomotive, I which has just made its appearance in j America, may be found to present one j or two features worthy of adoption on i our own lines. Those who have travel- j led on American lines, or are familiar | with trustworthy pictorial representa- j tions of American engines, know that j already they present many points of i difference from our own. The latest introduction, however, differs as much from all former locomotives in America as the latter have always differed from ours, both in plan and appearance. The engine is turned completely hind before, the “ smoke stack,” or what we commonly call the engine funnel, being in rear of the engine. A minor advantage of this arrangement is said to consist in the fact that the train is rarely enveloped in smoke and steam, as is the case frequently when the “smoko stack” is in front, in consequence of the “ cob” or shelter for the driver and fireman occasioning a partial vacuum. This has a tendency, we are fold, to draw down the steam and smoke upon the train, whereas with the funnel behind the emanations from the engine pass over the tops of the carriages. The great advantage of this apparently hindbefore arrangement, however, is the comfort and convenience it accords to the driver and his assistant, who are stationed in front of the body of the engine, and between it and the water "" ma anti cnni ,it>«ro r^-i.iv i., w:. offer nothing to obstruct the view. They have a dear sight of the way before them, and they esciipe’'the great heat ol the furnace in the.stumper, and can be completely shut in in - winter. Whether they have to - ride backwards when attending to the engines is trot stated. Froth the engineer’s point of view, 4 jrerhajra, the most important modification is that by which the whole, or nearly the whole, weight of the engine and its appendages for coal and water is thrown upon the driving wheels, which thus acquire a considerably firmer grip of the metals beneath them. The “ truck” in the from, part of the engines on American lines, and which has been, we believe, adopted in some of our own engines as a means of readily adapting their movements to sharp curves, is retained in the ne.w form. This novelty is,-said to have worked with very satisfactory results | over one American line, and is spoken j ol as the “ corning locomotive.”