@colorado hirailer I think what you're missing is the concept that both engines are pulling. One might pull more than the other but my understanding is that they're both pulling. I imagine it's the same way that every guy on the rope in the tug-o-war doesn't bench press the same weight but they're all pulling.
I also (this is kind of unrelated) think that much of the issue IS the concept of power instead of speed. I'm going to mark it down as part of older machinery compared to my car, truck, and dirtbike. I ran a Keystone Skimmer Shovel at the county fair. Controlling boom up/down and left/right and bucket in/out was all clutch. It was an odd experience when you're used to a forklift at work where the levers automatically go to "neutral" and each lever movement causes something to happen. Operating this shovel was like having all the power, all the time; then gauging how much power I applied via the clutch. Jamming the lever to engage the clutch gave me instant response. Gently engaging the clutch gave me more controllable and smoother response. I was using a clutch to decide how fast to apply power.
I don't think that's how a steam engine is operated. I'm just trying to illustrate that a steam engine, like that shovel, uses different principles to operate than I'm accustomed to. Once I realized that, the responses in this thread were easier to contemplate. When I first read them, I thought "what? no. That just doesn't make sense."
