|
1
Driving Wheel, 50" Dia., 7" wide at tire.
2 - 13" single acting cylinders.
Speed, 2 ¼ miles per hour, carrying 4 persons.
Actual horse power, 5.
Weight in working order, 12 tons.
|
|
One of the earliest attempts in the way of
steam locomotion was the engine of Nicholas Joseph Cugnot of
France; designed to run on common roads. His first carriage was
put in motion by the impulsion of two single acting cylinders, the
pistons of which acted alternately on the single front wheels. It
traveleed about 3 or 4 miles an hour and carried 4 persons; but,
from the smallness of the boiler, it would not continue to work
more than 12 to 15 minutes without stopping to get up steam.
Cugnot's Loco. presented a simple and ingenous form of a high
pressure engine, and though of rude construction, was a creditable
piece of work considering the time. He made a second engine with
which several successful trials were made in the streets of Paris,
which excited much interest. An accident, however, put an end to
the experiments. Turning the corner of the street, one day, near
the "Madeline" when the machine was running about 3
miles an hour, it upset with a crash, and being considered
dangerous, was locked up in the Arsenal.
Cugnot's Loco. is still to be seen in the Museum of the
Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, at Paris. |
Table of
Contents
