It was rather unsteady,
and when the machine was running at its greatest velocity, a sudden
gust lifted not only the front end, but also the heavy front wheels
completely off the track, and the machine falling on soft ground was
soon blown over by the wind.’
Consequently, a safety track was provided, consisting of squared pine
logs, three inches by nine inches, placed about two feet above the
steel way and having a thirty-foot gauge. Four extra wheels were fitted
to the machine on outriggers and so adjusted that, if the machine
should lift one inch clear of the steel rails, the wheels at the ends
of the outriggers would engage the under side of the pine trackway.
The first fully loaded run was made in a dead calm with 150 lbs. steam
pressure to the square inch, and there was no sign of the wheels
leaving the steel track. On a second run, with 230 lbs. steam pressure
the machine seemed to alternate between adherence to the lower and
upper tracks, as many as three of the outrigger wheels engaging at the
same time, and the weight on the steel rails being reduced practically
to nothing. In preparation for a third run, in which it was intended
to use full power, a dynamometer was attached to the machine and
the engines were started at 200 lbs. pressure, which was gradually
increased to 310 lbs per square inch. The incline of the track, added
to the reading of the dynamometer, showed a total screw thrust of 2,164
lbs. After the dynamometer test had been completed, and everything had
been made ready for trial in motion, careful observers were stationed
on each side of the track, and the order was given to release the
machine. What follows is best told in Maxim’s own words:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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