![]() ![]() For this reason, the tanks often stopped short of the hotter and uninsulated smokebox. However, if the water becomes too hot, injectors lose efficiency and can fail. Water in the tank is slightly pre-heated by the boiler, which reduces the loss of pressure found when cold feedwater is injected into the boiler. A few American locomotives used saddle tanks that only covered the boiler barrel, forward of the firebox. The squared-off shape of the Belpaire firebox does not fit easily beneath a saddle tank, and so most saddle tanks retained the older round-topped boiler instead. The driver's vision may also be restricted, again restricting the safe speed. Furthermore, the locomotive has a higher centre of gravity and hence must operate at lower speeds. It gave a greater water supply, but limited the size of the boiler and restricted access to it for cleaning. Saddle tanks were a popular arrangement especially for smaller locomotives in industrial use. ![]() Walter Nielson patented the saddle tank arrangement in 1849. Usually, the tank is curved in cross-section, although in some cases there were straight sides surmounted by a curve (like an inverted 'U'), or even an ogee shape (a concave arc flowing into a convex arc). The water tank sits on top of the boiler like a saddle sits atop a horse. A few designs did reach to the front of the smokebox and these were termed 'flatirons'. Side tanks almost all stopped at, or before, the end of the boiler barrel, with the smokebox protruding ahead. Longer side tanks were sometimes tapered downwards at the front to improve forward visibility. Tanks that ran the full length of the boiler provided greater water capacity and, in this case, cut-outs in the rectangular tank gave access to the valve gear. The length of side tanks was often limited in order to give access to the valve gear (inside motion). This was a common configuration in the UK. The tank sides extend down to the running platform, if such is present, for at least part of their length. Side tanks are cuboid-shaped tanks which are situated on both sides of the boiler, extending all or part of the boiler's length. ![]() These include the side tank, the saddle tank, the pannier tank, the well tank and others. There are a number of types of tank locomotive, based on the location and style of the water tanks. By the mid-1850s tank locomotives were to be found performing a variety of main line and industrial roles, particularly those involving shorter journeys or frequent changes in direction. Wilson and Company, William Fairbairn & Sons, George England, Kitson Thompson and Hewitson and William Bridges Adams. In spite of the early belief that such locomotives were inherently unsafe, the idea quickly caught on, particularly for industrial use and five manufacturers exhibited designs at The Great Exhibition in 1851. of New Cross to the contractors building the Seaford branch line for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1848. However, the more common form of Side tank date from the 1840s one of the first of these was supplied by George England and Co. The first tank locomotive was the Novelty that ran at the Rainhill Trials in 1829. Drawing of the Novelty showing the large well tank between the wheels and below the frame
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