. Revised and enlarged ed. of the science of railways . acked or very deep, theengine pilot or cowcatcher is covered with sheetiron and used as a snowplow. Headlights.—Headlights were placed on loco-motives as early as 1830, being at first crudeaffairs in the shape of a fire basket hung onthe front of the engine. They werenot, however, designed to afford theengineer a view of the track. In-deed, the general absence of gradecrossings on English roads haverendered the use of headlights andcowcatchers less necessary than inAmerica. In England to-day thesmall lights carried on the front ofthe loco
. Revised and enlarged ed. of the science of railways . acked or very deep, theengine pilot or cowcatcher is covered with sheetiron and used as a snowplow. Headlights.—Headlights were placed on loco-motives as early as 1830, being at first crudeaffairs in the shape of a fire basket hung onthe front of the engine. They werenot, however, designed to afford theengineer a view of the track. In-deed, the general absence of gradecrossings on English roads haverendered the use of headlights andcowcatchers less necessary than inAmerica. In England to-day thesmall lights carried on the front ofthe locomotive are merely for the sre^ bLketf at-purpose of designating the different Ifflhe Ifnuslclasses of trains. In the early his- of American railways night trips wereavoided as much as possible. When the carryingof the mails necessitated night service, it wasconsidered a great hardship. Among the firstprovisions for a headlight in this country was afire of pine knots surrounded by sand, built onan open platform car which moved in front of. 58 RAILWAY EQUIPMENT. the locomotive. When it was found that thetransportation of freight by night was a greatgain in time and diminished the chances of col-lisions, the Boston and Worcester railroad com-pany prepared, in 1840, a bright headlight withreflectors for the locomotive which ran duringthe night. From this developed the silver-platedcopper reflectors fitted with lamps and carried infront of the smokestack. Double headlights, soplaced that the rays from the two lamps crosseach other, are found advantageous for affordinga view of the track in passing around will doubtless in time take the placeof other devices for lighting the track; butexcessive cost, here as elsewhere, in connectionwith the use of electrical appliances by railways,is an obstacle which must first be overcome. Bell. — An improvement on the ordinarymethod of ringing the locomotive bell by handwith a rope, is the automatic bell ringer o
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