Practical Rules for the Management of a Locomotive Engine / in the Station, on the Road, and in cases of Accident

Transcribed from the 1841 edition by David Price, ccx074@pglaf.org
by CHARLES HUTTON GREGORY, civil engineer.
The substance of the following pages was written several months since, and subsequently sent to the Institution of Civil Engineers, where it was read in abstract on the 16th of February in the present session.
While our Engineering Literature contains several valuable Treatises on the Theory and Construction of the Locomotive Engine, it has, as yet, produced no work illustrating its Use. This circumstance, added to the recommendation of several competent authorities, has induced the writer to apply to the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers for permission to lay before the public these Practical
Rules for the Management of a Locomotive Engine, drawn up from individual experience, in the hope that they may be acceptable, at a period when any subject connected with the efficiency and safety of Railway travelling is deservedly engaging attention.
At the end of the Paper will be found some Regulations for the first appointment of Engine-men, adopted by the Directors of the London and Croydon Railway, and framed by the writer in his official capacity as their Resident Engineer. Also, a Table of Railway Velocities, indicated by the time occupied in passing over given distances, which he has frequently found to save him the trouble of calculation, and which he hopes may be similarly useful to others.
Charles Hutton Gregory.
London, March, 1841.
The careful examination of a Locomotive Engine when in the Station, and its judicious management while running, are essential to the full performance of its duty, and to ensure the safety of the passengers by the train.
While an Engine is stopping at the Station before a trip, the fire should be properly kept up,—the tubes clear at both ends,—and the fire-bars picked free from clinkers: the regulator should be closed and locked,—the tender-break screwed down tight,—the reversing-lever fixed in the middle position, so that the slides may be out of gear,—the