These vehicles are shown together here because of their similarity of plan of construction. Cugnot's original engine (upper figure) was built in France in 1769. The vehicle shown above was made in 1770, after Cugnot's designs, for the French Government. It was intended for the transportation of artillery, and the specifications called for a carrying capacity of about 4½ tons and a speed of 2¼ miles per hour on level ground. Cugnot's original engine had attained this speed on a common road while carrying four persons; notwithstanding which fact the machine above shown was for some reason never given a trial. It is now preserved in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. It is particularly noteworthy that the successful road engine of Cugnot was constructed in 1769, the year in which James Watt took out the first patents on his steam engine. Just 60 years elapsed before Stephenson's "Rocket" convinced the world of the feasibility of transportation by steam-power. The locomotive shown in the lower figure competed in the famous tests of 1829 against the "Rocket" and the "Sans Pareil." It excited much interest, attaining a speed of almost 32 miles per hour when running light, but owing to breakdowns was unable to fulfill the required tests and was therefore withdrawn from the competition. It was afterwards used commercially.] The _Sans-pareil_ was considerably over the maximum weight and according to a strict interpretation of the stipulations, should not have been allowed to contest; but although this question of over-weight was waived by the judges, and the engine given a fair trial, it showed such a capacity for consuming fuel without any corresponding ability to perform work, that it was decided inferior to the _Novelty_ and the _Rocket_. The _Perseverance_ was clearly outclassed by all the other competing engines, as its maximum speed was only five or six miles an hour. The most consistent performer, and the final prize-winner, as everyone knows, was Stephenson's _Rocket_, the direct ancestor of all modern locomotives. The boiler of this locomotive was horizontal, as in modern locomotives, cylindrical, and had flat ends. It was six feet in length and a little over three feet in diameter. The upper half of the boiler was used as a reservoir for steam, the lower half being filled with water and having copper pipes running through it. The fire-box, two feet wide and three feet high, was placed immediately behind the boiler. Just above this, and on each side, were the cylinders, two in number, acting obliquely downward on the two front wheels of the engine, the piston-rod connecting with the driver by a bar pinned to the outside of the wheel, as in modern American locomotives.