136 Book of Locomotives 



but it is not the fault of our engine, for 

 whenever she could " get her head "' she 

 ran freely and well, at a speed nearing fifty 

 miles an hour. But we were dead on time 

 in the huge glass-roofed station, despite 

 those wearisome station delays. One thing 

 we should have noticed even had our driver 

 failed to draw our attention to it that was 

 the marvellous manner our fine engine 

 picked up speed from a stop. ' That is 

 where six-coupled wheels count, " said the 

 driver. The poor old ' single-driver ' with 

 damp rails under her, like they were this 

 morning, would need to have travelled at 

 sixty miles an hour between stations to 

 make up the time lost getting into her 

 stride from a stop. Her wheels would have 

 gone whizzing round without getting any 

 sort of a grip on the metals." 



" But she would have used her sand 

 surely," we queried, keen on the defence 

 of a favourite locomotive type. ' Sand, or 

 no sand, she would have lost time," said 

 our driver with decision. He took the prac- 

 tical view, leaving to us all the sentiment. 



