The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1884-10-28
well-Trained Engines.
Detroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press.
eyes. I've been running over what
thew call the Butter branch OF the
Wabash, down through Southern
Michigan and Northern l diaDa and
Ohio" said the engineer TO the rail- !
road editor, s'and / must say. though
I've been an engineer for over twenty
wears. it was for time the most IN
teresting aud exciting experience L
ever had" /
"How was that?" said the railroad
editor. =,
well, YOU see, though that Butler
branch is in good condition now IL
wasn't a couple Of years ago, and we
used to have more fun than you could
shake a stick at. never knew how
an engine could be trained before.
The road wasn't ballasted when they
first put trains on, and I've known the
cars to lop over so that the wheels
would only touch one side OF the track
for q mile at a time. We ran a
sleeper ON the passenger tram Tor q
few days when the road was hrst
opened, but passengers would TALL Out
Of their berths when the cars canted
over and then there'd be the dickens
to nav. One night an old maid fell
ont and the cars were tilted over so at
the time that she shot right across the
aisle into the same berth with
Chicago drummer. You ought to
have heard her squeal. OF course
That wouldn't do; it made too many
scandals on the train, and so they
finally took the sleepers off altogether.
1.-The most fun. though, was with
the locomotives" continued the en-
uipeer. 1--WE used to train 'em IN
the round-house at Detroit for work
on the Butler branch; teach em to
lump things and dodge around, you
know. II. c. Townsend was passen-
ger agent of the road then, and he
took such an interest in the thing
that he used to co lie over from St.
Louis Just to see the engines exercised:
He had great hopes that we could
teach some of the more intelligent
locomotives to swim a creek, but we
never got that far. Some Of 'em got
to be mighty knowing, though. !
ran one myself that didn't mind it al
all when the track ON the Butler
road was washed away, or anything o.
that sort. She used to turn out and
90 around through field and dodge
the stumps on the darkest night. She
never got lost but once, and that was
about ten miles from Adrian. The
track was mostly under water and
out of sight, as usual, and she mis-
took a country school-house for the
station. They had the school-housf
lit up for a prayer meeting. and II
took us about nalf mile off the main
line. You ought to have seen EN-
lump when she let off her whistle al
the school-house door. Well, tht
deacons directed US back to the track,
hut we missed it somehow, and wher
morning came we were over thirty
miles from the line We didn't ge
back till noon. But it wasn't Otter
that engine got left. She got so USED
to going across fields that when We
were pretty nearly on time or switch
ed off at a station I've chased dee
with her, just for fun. | tell you i
was big thing for the Wabash, the
trainin. them locomotives to 60 on th'
Butler branch. France Chandler i
passenger agent of the Wabash nov
and be won't go over the road unles
the train is drawn by locomotive
that was exercised on the Butler
branch says he wOuldn,t trust an.
other to know what to doin case OF Al
accident and he's right, too. Yo'
can just tie to one of them engines
and know you're all right. lis aimos
a shame they've made tpat branch IL
what railroad men wUuid call gOo'
condition. It's good thing in
business way, no doubt, but they'v
cot 20 such place left for maxim
engines way up"
C+a,,boys nv, WAhstar