The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-12-27
ENGINE WITH ANKLES
LATEST INVENTION
Believed to Solve Long Puzzling Prob
lem of Effective Road Railway.


One of the most extraordinary inven-
tons Of modern times is that embodied
in the "Pedrail" traction engine. which
is shortly TO be placed upon the market
One of the prime defects of this class
of engine in the past has been it's lack
of efficiency, compared with its size and
cost OF running. owing chiefly TO its hav-
ing been almost impossible to carry a
paying load above twenty-five tons. The
pedrail engine. on the other hand. will
draw anywhere from 100 TO $50 tons. The
appearance OF the machine is peculiar.
On the periphery of the wheels spokes
tut out, at the ends OF which are feet"
composed of iron and india rubber in
appearance resembling nothing so much
as an elephants foot If IL were severed
some six inches from the base.
Practically. the engine places feet on
the ground. each foot supporting a roll
er on edge. and a short rail. support
ing the load. is levered 5dong by the
spokes over the rollers. In an ordinary
railway a rail is laid down and wheels
are run over it; in the pedrail, wheels
or rollers are laid down. and the rail
Is run over them. The principle is the
same, only the railway is inverted. BY
turning the railway upside down the
parts coming in contact with the road
are broken up into a number of com
paratively small feet, which can twist
In varying directions as required. Pre-
vious attempts at endless railways have
failed. owing to the attempt TO place
the rail next the ground. The rail, pre-
senting a long, cumbersome surface to
the road. did not lend or adapt itself
to the varying inequalities of the road
surface, and hence caused endless
oreakages and repairs.
A representative Of the Daily News
was yesterday afforded private cine
matograph view OF the engine at work.
and its action is startling. There is a
species Of ankle joint TO each Of the
mechanical feet. and to this is provided
a spring, so that when the foot treads
upon stone it can draw back or turn
sideways upon SIS ankle joint. or do
both things at the same time
A wheel Will sur.mount an object M
10 twelve inches in height without cant
ing the engine to any appreciable dc.
gree. neither does IT IMPEDE the en-.
gine's progress; IL goes steadily. resist.
lessly forward in dehance Of all OBJ
stacles which may be in its path one
could scarcely believe, whilst watching
the film, that the whole structure OF
the engine was not permanently dis
torted and strained, whereas IL was evi.
IDENTIFY within the limits OF play per
mitted by the mechanism. From what
we could gather at the display the in
ventor has certainly solved the problem
of self-propelled vehicles. which are in
dependent of any made road.
Mr.. Diplock. who IS the inventor, be-
lieves he has now brought within reach
the development Of true road rail
way, which can traverse common roads
or no roads at all. lgC up hill and dowr
dale, across obstacles, or go round any
curve of four yards radius. By means
Of the invention IL is hoped to assist
IN no small degree the agricultural IN
dustry of the country. Mr.. Diplock
would divide Great Britain up into ter
or twelve districts, with a central body
4 rganizing the whole. and by means OF
these road trains link up country farms
TO town markets.--London Daily News.