SHARP, ROBERTS AND CO.'S ENGINE 1847

     These engines made by Messrs. Sharp, Roberts & Co. and by their successors, Sharp, Brothers & Co., represent what for many years was the favorite pattern upon English Railways.

     The position of the dome, near the stack, gives the engines a hump backed appearance. This was done as at that time there was a difference of opinion as to the best place for the dome it having been found that when the steam was taken directly over the firebox, as in most of the earlier engines, a great deal of water was carried over into the cylinders.

     This result was no doubt due in great measure to the fact that the steam room and the area of water level from which the steam rose were insufficient so much that near the point where the steam was taken the water was always in a state of agitation when the engine was working.