138 Book of Locomotives 



We filled up our tender tanks again and 

 then my good friends got their baskets and 

 said 'good-bye," their eight hours were 

 done and a new crew had turned up to 

 relieve them. As much of the work still to 

 be done by " No. 600 " was just a repetition 

 of that already described, we leave too, 

 with a hand-wave to a splendid horse which 

 seemed almost as much alive as the shunting 

 animal which blinked at us as we passed 

 from the one of iron. 



To come back for a moment to the " link ", 

 the link is composed of at least one more 

 engine than is necessary to be in steam. 

 This is in order that " No. 600 " can have 

 her weekly rest day, without which she 

 would surely refuse her work. She must 

 have her weekly boiler wash-out. Like the 

 inside of a kettle the boiler and tubes collect 

 a deposit from the continuous boiling of 

 water. Just as the ' fur >: in the kettle 

 hampers it in boiling, so does the deposit 

 on the boiler's inside. Thus, the job is 

 done properly once weekly and any 

 other little repairs which are needed but 



