The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-22 00:00:00

GREAT NORTHERN.

The new locomotive engines specially constructed
for working the local traffic of this company's rail-
way have now been running between Hatfield and
the Farringdon Station of the Metropolitan Rail-
way for about two months. The great object in
the construction of those engines which Mr. Stur-

rock, the locomotive engineer of the Great Northern
Company, had in view was to dispense with a sepa-
rate tender and to obtain as much tractive power as

possible, together with the facility of running safely
on the steep curves and steep-gradients of the
Metropolitan and the London, Chatham, and Dover
(Metropolitan) lines. It was also considered ne-
cessary that the engine should run equally well
backward as forward, carrying its fuel and water,
so that the weight on the driving-wheels should
also remain about the same, whether the tank por-

tion be full or nearly empty ; and it appears tha
all these requirementshave been successfully accom
plished. The new engine is well proportioned and
compact, having;six wheels, two under the tank and
fuel portion, and four under the engine and boiler
portion, being placed between the firebox and the
smokebox. The latter are the driving-wheels, the
axles of which are about 7ft. 6in. from centre to
centre, and are coupled together by side rods in the
usual way. The axle of the other pair of wheels
for carrying the tender portion of the enginebehind
the fire-box is placed at a distance of about 12ft.
from the nearest axle of the driving wheels, making
a total wheel bearing of 19ft. 6in. The four driving
wheels act together ; but the two end wheels under
the tank portion of the engine are worked on the
radial system patented by Mr. W. Bridges Adams,
having a lateral self-acting motion, which instantly
adapts the position of the wheels to the curves,
passing smoothly round them, keeping the engine
steadily on the track, and allowing the driving
wheels to exert freely their full power in propelling
the engine and train forward. The lateral play of
a few inches from side to side of the radial axle boxes
attached to the separate pair of wheels being on
a transverse curve, has the effect of moving the axle
in a line with a radius of any curve of the rails along
which the engine is at that moment passing, and of
course always keeping those pair of wheels parallel
to the line of rails, and consequently safe from get-
ting off the line. The wheels of the engine there-
fore run with great freedom from flange friction,
avoid the usual obstructions in that respect, and
prevent a deal of wear and tear as compared with
other engines. The arrangement of these radial
axles is very ingenious, simple, and effective. The
cylinders of the eligine are 16iin. in diameter, the
tank holds 1,000 gallons of water, equivalent to a
supply for a run of 30 miles. The engines run freely
round the sharpest curves, for which they are de-
signed, and the weight upon each pair of wheels is
13 tons. The chief difficulty with tank engines
hitherto has been the lessening of the adhesion of or
weight on the driving wheels, by the gradual con-
sumption of the water from the tank, but in the ar-
rangement of those engines the difference of weight
on the driving wheels is estimated at only about a
quarter of a ton out of 26 tons. These engines run
every working day to and from Farringdon Station
and places on the Great Northern line. Mr. Stur-
rock reports that the patent radial axles of Mr.
Adams answers admirably, both at high and low
speed, the engine running perfectly steady at above
50 miles an hour, and that the new engine therefore
has given entire satisfaction.