''Experiment'' was a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

designed and built by Richard Roberts in 1833 for the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

(L&MR). The locomotive had vertical cylinders driving via

bell crank A bellcrank is a type of crank that changes motion through an angle. The angle can be any angle from 0 to 360 degrees, but 90 degrees and 180 degrees are most common. The name comes from its first use, changing the vertical pull on a rope to a h ...

History

L&MR No.32 ''Experiment'' was built in 1833 with vertical cylinders mounted just behind the chimney, driving the

wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

via a bell crank. The locomotive also had

piston valve A "piston valve" is a device used to control the motion of a fluid along a tube or pipe by means of the linear motion of a piston within a chamber or cylinder. Examples of piston valves are: * The valves used in many brass instruments * The va ...

s. These valves were probably the reason that the design was not a success, rather than the bell crank transmission, which was used successfully in other locomotives. Another reason that the locomotive was not successful was steam leakage from the cylinders. Experiment was withdrawn after a few months. Three similar locomotives were built for the

Dublin and Kingstown Railway The Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR), which opened in 1834, was Ireland’s first passenger railway. It linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour (Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin. The D&KR was also notable for a number of other ...

. Locomotives to this design were built for the

Dundee and Newtyle Railway The Dundee and Newtyle Railway opened in 1831 and was the first railway in the north of Scotland. It was built to carry goods between Dundee and the fertile area known as Strathmore; this involved crossing the Sidlaw Hills, and was accomplish ...

, but they were soon altered.

References

Sources

*{{Baxter-BritishLocoCat2A, page=13 2-2-0 locomotives Early steam locomotives Liverpool and Manchester Railway locomotives Individual locomotives of Great Britain Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1833