THE LOCOM01 I\ K ggfl 



oral)le; however, if it is able to draw with great 

 >l" '(! a long train of cars, all heavily loaded, this 

 is due, above all, to the preparation of the road on 

 which it runs. Strong bars of iron, called rails, are 

 fixrd solidly on the road, all along its length, in two 

 parallel lines, on which all the wheels of the train 

 roll without ever running off. A light flange with 

 which the wheels are furnished keeps the train from 

 slipping off the rails. 



"The iron road not having the inconveniences of 

 other roads, that is to say the ruts, pebbles, and in- 

 equalities that impede the progress of carriages and 

 cause the waste of much energy, the whole traction 

 of the locomotive is utilized, and the results obtained 

 are wonderful. A passenger engine draws at a rate 

 of twelve leagues an hour a train weighing as much 

 as 150,000 kilograms. A freight engine pulls at 

 ahout seven leagues an hour a total weight of 650,- 

 ( "H> kilograms. More than 1300 horses would 

 be necessary to replace the first locomotive, and 

 more than 2000 to replace the second, if they wi -n- 

 employed to transport similar loads with the same 

 velocity and to the same distances by the aid of cars 

 running on rails. What an army of horses it would 

 reijuiiv with wagons running on ordinary roads hav- 

 ing all tin- in< 'jualities that cause such a great loss 

 of energy ! 



"And now, my little friends, think of the thou- 

 sands of locomotives ninn'mir daily in all parts of 

 the world, annihilating distances, as it were, and 

 1 Tinging the most distant nation- together; think 

 what a vast number of machines of all kinds, m< 



