Over the next three years Kennedy was heavily involved with boiler design, building and testing.
Clearly the market for small steam traction engines could make use of a novel boiler design that avoided these problems.
Today's students also use computers to make schematics of their boiler design, as well as how to price out a job.
The "long boiler" design dated back to a Stephenson design of 1842.
The long boiler design with coupled wheels continued for slower heavier work.
The units were of supercritical boiler design, which was then a new technology.
Their larger locomotives used a range of boiler designs, but all with water-tubes.
The company's locomotives had a strong Stephenson influence, many during the following decade being of the "long boiler" design.
The large fireboxes of these locomotives were made obsolete by better boiler design.
A further modification to the boiler design has been the use of hollow stays.