Editing Automatic lubricator (section)

===Ramsbottom type===
The displacement lubricator was introduced in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1860 by [[John Ramsbottom (engineer)|John Ramsbottom]]. It operates by allowing steam to enter a closed vessel containing oil. After condensing, the water sinks to the bottom of the vessel, causing the oil to rise and overflow into delivery pipes. The oil from the delivery pipes is introduced into the steam pipe, where it is atomised and carried to the valves and cylinders.

In early applications in [[steam locomotive]]s, either two displacement lubricators (one for each [[Cylinder (locomotive)|cylinder]]) would be positioned at the front of the boiler near the valves, often on either side of the [[smokebox]] or one lubricator would be placed behind the smokebox. The behind-smokebox configuration has the advantage that a good connection can be made to the steam pipe and it was used by the [[Great Western Railway]]. It has the disadvantage that the lubricator's accessibility is reduced and additional drain pipes are required to be connected to the waste to avoid it dripping onto the boiler.<ref name=Ahrons>Lubrication of Locomotives, B.L. Ahrons 1922, The Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd. {{OCLC|12656163}}</ref>

[[Elijah McCoy]], a Canadian who moved to Michigan and became a U.S. citizen, received a patent for his automatic lubricator in 1872. Piping delivered oil by gravity from a central reservoir to where it was required. Later types of lubricator (from around 1887<ref name=Ahrons />), referred to as the "sight-feed" type, allowed a [[sight glass]] to be positioned in the cab where the rate of oil feed could be observed. 
In 1898 McCoy's further patent added a glass tube mounted below the reservoir so that the rate of delivery could be monitored, with a bypass pipe available in case the main feed was seen to be blocked.<ref>US patents 129,843; 614,307</ref>

The displacement lubricator was a useful stop-gap but had the disadvantage that it was difficult to accurately control over the rate of oil feed and lubrication was only supplied when the engine was doing work (when a locomotive is coasting with the regulator closed, no steam is present to operate the lubricator).