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The Westinghouse Brake 117 all of which were of the most primitive design, un- reliable, and consequently had only received indifferent attention. His first idea was to fit brake levers to each vehicle in such a manner that when the brake on the loco- motive was applied it would cause the brakes on each successive vehicle to come into action in turn through the tendency of the latter to crowd upon the loco- motive. He even essayed to build an apparatus upon these lines, but was compelled to abandon the project. The idea was too crude, while it also suffered from the lack of novelty. Several other minds had previously conceived such a system only to discover its impracticability. Some time later the young engineer happened to be in Chicago. While there he was invited by the superintendent of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railway to inspect a new train, the “ Aurora Accom- modation ” as it was officially styled, which had just been brought into service, and of which the railway was proud. The train aroused the young visitor’s enthusiastic interest because it was fitted with a new type of brake which acted on all wheels and which was brought into action by the locomotive. This brake was a topic of considerable discussion in railway circles, and its first practical application upon such a scale was being awaited with intense expectation. The young man was extremely fortunate that day, because at the time of his visit the inventor of the new brake, Mr. Ambler, happened to be on the train completing the final tuning-up. Observing the young engineer’s interest in the invention, Mr. Ambler