ADVANTAGES OF INDICATING LOCOMOTIVES.
The purposes for which the indicator can be advantageously applied to locomotives, are to show the condition of the valves and pistons, and to prove whether or not the steam is used properly within the cylinders. By its use the amount of power developed by the cylinders can be computed.
Were the indicator used daily on locomotives, much waste of coal now going on through steam being lost by leaky valves and pistons would be avoided. The graphic tale of the diagram would force out of practice the ordinary habit of running engines with the steam throttled, and indubitable proofs of ruinous back pressure would make contracted nozzles intolerable.
There is not room in a work of this kind to give the necessary information for those who wish to learn the operating of the indicator and the analysis of the diagram. Engineers who are ambitious to enter upon this line of study, should secure one of the standard books treating the subject.