Reading about CMS engines, they are reversible by switching the steam flow. To me that seems like a smart method. Are all steam engines without a slip eccentric reversible by switching inlet to outlet? Or is there something different about the linkage they use?
I road in a steam boat today and it uses a Stephenson's linkage to reverse the engine. The traction engines I drove use Woolf linkage. But I cannot think any that reverse the steam flow. Why not?
Someone mentioned that CMS doesn't use slide valves but instead use piston valves? Did they imply round round slide valves like Wilesco? (I see little wrong with round rod valves.)