The valve-gear was then substantially what it is to-day, the "Stephenson link" (Fig. 58). On the driving-axle were keyed two eccentrics, _E_, so set that the motion of the one was adapted to driving the valve when the engine was moving forward, and the other was arranged to move the valve when running backward. The former was connected, through its strap and the rod, _B_, to the upper end of a "strap-link," _A_, while the second was similarly connected with the lower end. By means of a handle, _L_, and the link, _n_, and its connections, including the counterweighted bell-crank, _M_, this link could be raised or depressed, thus bringing the pin on the link-block, to which the valve-stem was connected, into action with either eccentric. Or, the link being set in mid-gear, the valve would cover both steam-ports of the cylinder, and the engine could move neither way. As shown, the engine is in position to run backward. A series of notches, _Z_, into either of which a catch on _L_ could be dropped, enabled the driver to place the link where he chose. In intermediate positions, between mid-gear and full-gear, the motion of the valve is such as to produce expansion of the steam, and some gain in economy of working, although reducing the power of the engine. [Illustration: FIG. 58.--The Stephenson Valve-Gear, 1833.] The success of the railroad and the locomotive in Great Britain led to its rapid introduction in other countries. In France, as early as 1823, M. Beaunier was authorized to construct a line of rails from the coal-mines of St. Étienne to the Loire, using horses for the traction of his trains; and in 1826, MM. Seguin began a road from St. Étienne to Lyons. In 1832, engines built at Lyons were substituted for horses on these roads, but internal agitations interrupted the progress of the new system in France, and, for 10 years after the opening of the Manchester & Liverpool road, France remained without steam-transportation on land. In Belgium the introduction of the locomotive was more promptly accomplished. Under the direction of Pierre Simon, an enterprising and well-informed young engineer, who had become known principally as an advocate of the even then familiar project of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien, very complete plans of railroad communication for the kingdom were prepared, in compliance with a decree dated July 31, 1834, and were promptly authorized. The road between Brussels and Mechlin was opened May 6, 1837, and other roads were soon built; and the railway system of Belgium was the first on the Continent of Europe. The first German railroad worked with locomotive steam-engines was that between Nuremberg and Fürth, built under the direction of M. Denis. The other European countries soon followed in this rapid march of improvement.