Onward (locomotive)

The company's founder, C. E. Swinerton, had specified that both driving wheels should actually be polygons with 118 sides, each flat segment being about 2 inches (51 millimetres) long.

However this was actually not the case, as even steel deforms under enough pressure, so there is in fact a contact area even with a circular wheel.

This wheel arrangement had largely been abandoned elsewhere because of its poor adhesion, but was probably chosen to emphasize the effectiveness of the invention.

The Onward was tried on several north-eastern lines, but did not prove to be beneficial, and thus failed to convince practical railway men.

[3] It was sold to the Portland & Rochester Railroad (P&R) after the polygonal driving wheels had been replaced with conventional round ones.