Trials of Traction- Engines at Wolverhampton. 563 
ties and difficulties. The afternoon was fine, and there had not 
been any severe rain for a few days before the Saturday. 
The engines that started were Ransomes, Sims, and Head's, 
8-Horse-power Thomson's pot boiler, with indiarubber tyres 
(" Sutherland "), No. 2149 ; Aveling and Porter's 10-Horse-Power, 
No. 7001 ; ditto, G-Horse-power, No. 7002 ; Burrell's 8-Horse- 
power locomotive. No. 3660 ; and Burrell's Thomson's pot- 
boiler, with indiarubber tyres, No. 3661. Unhappily Aveling 
and Porter's 6-Horse-power, No. 7003, with internal indiarubber 
tyres, had been taken by the Society to Stafford to assist in the 
work of the ploughing -field, and was not, therefore, at the dis- 
position of the Judges for trial at Barnhurst. 
Howard's engine, as has already been stated, was out of the 
competition, and Tuxford and Sons' engine, having only just 
completed its brake-trials in the Show-yard, did not arrive on 
the field in time for the run round. 
The engines did not draw any load after them ; the ground was 
in fair, even in good order, and it is, therefore, almost super- 
fluous to say that all the engines performed well. The journey — 
1 mile 64 chains — was made in times varying from 29 minutes to 
22 minutes in the first run, and, on the occasion of the second 
run, in times varying from 23 minutes to 15^ minutes. The 
numbers of the quickest and of the slowest engines are not given, 
as we had told the exhibitors that the run was for the mere pur- 
pose of enabling them to know the ground thoroughly well, and 
the exhibitors were not led to believe that this run would be 
regarded as a portion of the trial ; we therefore think it not fair 
to the exhibitors to state the performances of the engines. It 
may be well to call attention here to the place near the 109th 
chain, marked " shunt." Those who laid out the ground thought 
that tlie way in which the traction-engines would deal with their 
trains at this point would be by running along the line beyond 
the gate of the field ; that then each engine would leave its train, 
and would go round to take the tail of it ; but, both in the pre- 
liminary run on Saturday and in the final runs which took place 
on Monday, the drivers of the traction-engines dealt with their 
trains as they would ordinarily deal with them — that is, they 
continued their direct course through the gate, and did not 
"shunt." After this preliminary run, the exhibitors were called 
upon to inform the Judges what load they wished to draw behind 
them at the trial over the course to take place on the Monday. 
This communication was to be kept a secret until the time of 
the trial, but there is no harm in divulging it now. 
Lots were drawn for the order in which the engines were to 
run, and they came out as indicated in the following Table : — 
