Indeed Roger, a pertinent question. But, maybe it isn’t as it seems.. It could well be a wheel operated throttle/controller fitted to this fine machine, of the sort found on French locomotives and Swiss trams. The large diameter of the wheel is obviously necessary for precise regulation of the enormous power and torque produced by the prime mover - either that, or they hadn’t got around to cutting the damned thing off before the photo was taken.

Tony G

> On 19 Aug 2017, at 1:37 pm, 'Roger Greenwood'efftech@... [TramsDownUnder] TramsDownUnder@...> wrote:

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> Tony Galloway’s post of Aug 17th included the caption <Open wagons are so primitive when there’s a high-tech self propelled option> beneath a photo of a primitive open wagon.

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> But since it runs on rails I’m intrigued to know the function of the steering wheel.

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> Roger Greenwood

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