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 valuThable Treatises on the Theory and Construction of the Locomotive Engine, it has, as yet, produced no work illustrating Thits 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 ffperiod 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 fraffmed 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.
