An Eight-wheeled Steam Wagon
Page 48
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AN extremely interesting type of vehicle is about to be put into production by The Sentinel Waggon Works, Ltd., Shrewsbury. It consists of a rigid eight-wheeler having four steerable wheels at the front and four wheels at the rear, the bogie being of
• the well-known Sentinel pattern.
For some considerable time we have seen examples of this new product in experimental service, and many of our readers will doubtless have observed these models carrying very bulky loads on the London-Coventry road.
Naturally, this latest innovation will
embody many of the well-known components which have been employed in the E.G6 rigid six-wheeled Sentinel. In the case of the new machine, the addition of another axle means that still larger pay-loads can be carried without infringing legal axle-weight restrictions. The front bogie is of the compensating type and all four wheels are movable for steering purposes. We are told that, despite the extra pair of wheels, the physical effort required of the driver ia controlling the direction of the vehicle is not appreciably greater than that which has to be used in the case of the
DG6—a machine well known for its light steering despite its 15-tan payloads.
We hope to publish in an early issue, further details of this interesting machine. This is, we believe, the first steam-engined rigid eight-wheeler to be manufactured in this country.
There are many interesting mechanical problems connected with the design of a double-bogie vehicle. The Sentinel machine has been thoroughly tried out in service for well over a year and is reported to have' given every satisfaction to its users.