THE LATEST AMERICAN FLYER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 347, 24 March 1910, Page 2

THE LATEST AMERICAN FLYER.

The inhabitants of the United States have always tried to go one better than any other nation, and on quite a number of occasions their enterprise lias brought its reward. In the case of railway locomotives they have indeed managed to eclipse the previous 'best, and their latest type of engine is a 'thing of beauty and a joy for ever. In weight, in size,, and in all probability in power, too, it has no rival in the world. It was built for the Southern Pacific railway, not for passenger work, but for hauling the immense freight trains which travel, frequently with only an occasional stoppage, for many hundreds of miles. The compound Mallet locomotive, as it is elegantly styled, weighs no less than 266 tons, an incredible weight to go hurtling through the air at a rate of anything over fifty miles an hour. Its total length is 83ft Gin, and of this the boiler accounts for more than half. The engine itself is equipped with twenty wheels—ten either side —and the terider with a modest eight, making twenty-eight wheels in all. It is propelled by two sets of cylinders, a good steam pressure being maintained syy means of oil fuel. Oil fuel has been tried on several British express locomotives, but the experiment has not been attended with great success. On the Mallet engine, however, it lias proved to be more efficient in evcrv way than coal, the fireman being able to regulate the fire? to a nicety. This is an important point when a lengthy ■freight train has to be dragged up a stiff gradient often many miles in length.