locomotive by saying: "I do not propose to say anything of the 

 labor, care, and anxiety that invention caused me. It is too un- 

 ending a net to get into."^'^-' 



EPILOGUE : THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF THE CENTER-RAIL SYSTEM 



If the center-rail system had begun and ended in Sellers' ordeal, 

 there would be little justification, beyond its antiquarian interest, 

 for the foregoing lengthy discussion. A brief outline of the later 

 development and adoption of this idea, however, will illustrate its 

 utility when applied to special purposes such as mountain railways. 



John B. Fell took out a nuinber of patents on a center-rail loco- 

 motive in England between 1863 and 1869. His locomotive used 

 four adhesion wheels, which were pressed against the center rail 

 by springs. Sellers' arrangement of toggle levers was a far more 

 refined plan for pressing the adhesion wheels against the center 

 rail, and the Fell arrangement was repeatedly criticized in the 

 technical press, especially in Engineering^^''''^ as anything but an 

 improvement on the Sellers plan. Nevertheless, a line on the Fell 

 plan was opened in 1868 through the rugged Mont Cenis pass 

 between France and Italy. It was built as a temporary measure 

 while the Mont Cenis tunnel was under construction. The road 

 functioned well enough mechanically, but closed in 1871 when the 

 tunnel was opened. Several other Fell lines were opened in other 

 parts of the world, notably New Zealand; they did good service 

 for many years. One line, the Snaefell Railway, on the Isle of 

 Man, was still in operation in 1964. 



While the Fell line over Mont Cenis was being built, Zerah 

 Colburn, Coleman Sellers, and J. C. Trautwine were quick to 

 point out George Sellers' previous invention. '^c Still, the ultimate 

 success of the third-rail system apparently proved of little satisfaction 

 to Sellers, who did not choose to comment further or in any way 

 challenge his imitator. 



^^"^ American Machinist (August 29, 1895), vol. 18, p. 684. 



^^^ Numerous references to the Fell system are found in this journal from 1867 

 to 1869. 



136 Their comments appeared in the Journal of the Franklin Institute and Engineering 

 in 1867. 



89 



