112 ROUGU-AND-TUMB1 ! ING 



attention, and lie knew it. The way this particular 

 engine was arranged the natural position was to take 

 hold of the reverse lever with his left hand and the 

 throttle with his right. This move would have enabled 

 him to open the throttle just a fraction of a second after 

 he had reversed and his engine would have moved back 

 under perfect control, provided he handled his throttle 

 as he should. You of course want to know how he 

 should have handled it. Well, as he only wished to 

 back a few feet, he should have opened the throttle 

 wide, and before the engine had made a complete 

 turn shut it off entirely. The expansive force of the 

 steam in the cylinder steam chest and supply pipe 

 would have carried him back a couple of feet, and an- 

 other movement of the same kind would have given 

 his engine a few more turns. Besides this position 

 enables you to reverse <your engine instantly, if neces- 

 sary. You will see I advocate making the steering wheel 

 a secondary matter or consideration. If you have 

 perfect control over your reverse and throttle the steer- 

 ing wheel will never get you into trouble. You can cer- 

 tainly see the point in this. 



But suppose your engine is cramped and you only 

 have a limited distance to go ahead or back, and you 

 wish to straighten up your engine. First see that 

 your engine is in the position to go ahead or back as 

 you desire. Take hold of the steering wheel, and with 



