Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1875-03-20

twenty-five miles in thirty minutes
The engineer got down from his sea
slowly, and almost solemnly, and wen
. around his engine and examined the
principal parts; he put his hand on tn,
GNles and bearings generally to see i
they were hot from the friction, added
a little oil here and there, and remoun
ted. Taking up piece OF waste hC
rubbed bis hands, and said in friend
ly way:
well. sir, what do you think Of herr
shes q scredmer,'
shes all that, sir. She can do her
lite work every day. l can take 4
D.. train like this-six cars-right along
forty miles an hour dav in and dav ont,
: and we have got some mighty grades
too She weighs twentv-eight tons.
and her cylinders are fifteen by TWEEN
ty-twO; drivers five foot diameter. steel
fire box, and iron tubes She is Just a.
good to-day as the first day she came
on the road, and"
'all right, said the fireman, and
stopping short in his eulogy, the engi-
neer opened the throttle and we were
off again.
During the remainder of the journey
/ occupied the tireman's seat as before,
and paid more attention to the topog-
raphy Of the line. l found that il was
by no means level, very far from it
From the outlook Of the cab window
Irregularities were palpable, aud, as the
engineer remarked, there were some
mighty grades. Where the ascent was
not too long, so as 10 exhaust the ca
F! pacity of the engine 10 surmount il.
; the surveyor had run the line right a
/ head and carried some inclines, which
/ would have seemed impossible tc-at,-
: inexperienced Sersou. This Of course
saved cutting, (which are very expen-
sive.s One of the grades in particular,
Z ninety feet 70 the mile for three miles,
was a tough one, and at one time !
thought the engineer had Overestima-
ted the power of his machine, for she
faltered when half way up; but he
merely moved the throttle slightly,
and was in no wise disturbed. The eA-
gine responded, and though the blasts
came slower they came stronger aad
fuller, and she clawed right along, new
er slipping once in the ascent; the fire
man watched his steam gauge, for there
was steady drain upon the boiler
then, but the hand stood right on the
we gained the summit.
Fires dirty now, and she don't
steam so easy as she did" he said to
me, but she's full of 1t yet. Never
lets 90. When l fired on the Quick
step ! had as much as ever / could do
10 make time; biler wasn't big enough
After a while we came TO the termi-
nus, and stepped down and out" as
soon as all was clear. To my surprise
felf weak and perfectly unnerved for
the moment, 50 that had TO take hold
of one of the posts in the depot for
support
LIFE on THE ENGINE.
The engineer smiled. at always
does that, sir, TO those unaccustOmed
to it if they ride any distance. It's
the reaction. You'll be all right in an
hour or two
Thanking the engineer for his atten-
tion, added that If he was at liberty 4
in the evening should be glad to call |
on him for a little information. He /
said he would give me any point I 4
wished. SO evening found Us in a cosy /
room at the hotel.
"Gour work is very exhausting, isn't
il? l asked.
'Well, it's like every ether business,
suppose" he replied; nothing when
you get used TO it. 1t is hard to you
because it is novel, and / don't deny
that it's wearing; but 1 suppose there
is no soft road in this life anyway
Some seem to have il; but how do you
know what they have to go through?--
am satisfied with my lot, and con
tentment is great gain;' that's the way
/ look at it."
''Does it require much skill to run a
locomOtive2 Couldn't start one and
keep it going after a few days prac-
ticeP'
The engineer laughed. az can write
he said, l'but / can't write one OF them
articles you get of so glib.
You can see yourself that throwing
her over as we call it, reversing the
links, as you would call it, and OPEN
ing the throttle, is a mere routine;
very little TO do with the principal
business, nothing at all in fact. You
could run the engine we came in with
home as she stands, so far as routine
goes, but l could fix her in a minute
so you could not move her an inch
Would you know what the trouble was
and how TO remedy il? A locomotive
will give out; could you foresee where
and when, and would you know where
to look for the cause of the trouble if
she did? She is worth ten to thirteen
thousand dollars. toe; would you like
to have charge of so much property in
your hands slattin' around over the
road, hot weather and cold, rain or
shine, and not to be able to give her
back as good as you got her? More
than all this, would you like to go into
powder magazine with a cigar in
your mouth? That's about what you
would do if you undertook to run an
engine because you knew where the
throttle was and which end of her was
the front? In a locomotive boiler
shell, just the barrel of her, forty-eight /
inches diameter and ten feet long, at a !
pressure of l20 yOunds to the square /
inch, there Is an accumulated force of /
ever 900 tons. 4 little neglect of /
yours might unchain this at the wrong
time, and then where would you be?-
Seems to me it would be something
like piece l learned in school once.
called CassabianCa, which says:
Then came a burst ofthunder sound
The boy, oh, where was he?"
every man TO his trade, that's what
I say"
MAKING TINE.
"If you could run an engine on this
road yeu could on any other road,
could you nOt?'
''Yes, run the engine, but ! couldn't
make time"
''Why not?'
Because / wouldn't know the road.
4 stranger can't 60 on to a road he has
never run over and make time till he
has learned the ins and outs of it
Didn't you notice how we ran when we I
came out of town, Well,. eve didn't |
run so fast after that at any time
That was. our race ground There \
are spots on all roads where you have 4
TO run like thunder to make up lost /
time at other places. When we came
up three mile grade we didn't 90 over
ten or twelve miles an hour, 50 we had /
to make it up at other places. Did you
never hear a conductor say sometimes
when his train was late that he had
new engineer who didn't know the
road thoroughly? That's all there is 70
it. In other respects one engineer Is
the same in principle rs another. But
there can't be two of them that'll work
alike; an engine has as many tricks As
4 horse. Some IS "a docile as a sheep,
and others just cuts up like thunder
all the while. Some of 'em will carry
water as steady as a clock, others will
be heavin' it up and down ike a sea-
sick man. Some fire easy and some
light; Others eat up all you fling in,
and then don't make any steam. Ill
take that engine we came in with and
run her forever, just as she is. The
next man that comes after me can't do
anything with her, until he fixes her
as he wants her, and so it goes. He'll
swear the valves are set wrong, or any
thing, so he can get a chance to tinker
at her
4 rap came to The door; the waiter