The locomotive as a vehicle

Abstract

Abstract To understand the problems of stability with steam locomotives, we must go back nearly 150 years before the construction of Rocket, to when Isaac Newton formulated his three ‘Laws of Motion’. Some of their implications have already been touched on earlier in this book, but it is now worth stating them formally, as follows: Law 1 Every body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless impressed forces act upon it. Law 2 The change in momentum per unit time is proportional to the impressed force, and takes place in the direction of the straight line along which the force acts.