 Eskbank played a role in the extensive trials which were undertaken during the 1880s and 1890s to ascertain the most suitable types of locomotives to be used for the haulage of freight and passengers on the Blue Mountains line.One of the most significant of these trials was the comparative assessment of the British built 373 class locomotive against the American 304 class which took place in 1887.These trials established the dominance of the American design features, which were to influence locomotive acquisitions in NSW for several decades.