The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-05-15

the carriages could return for them
about ten or eleven o'clock at night
1t rained frequently during during the
evening, and they were without she ter.
Cor. NJ I. Sun.
The Oldest Locomotive Engineer In the
United States.
The oldest railroad locomotive engi-
neer in the United States is Lawson
Lufkins, generally called Esquire"
Lufkins, of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad. He is tall and thin.
"Mine has been a very simple life"
said the Squire, land when look back
over the thirty-seven years 1 ran a
passenger engine, it makes me wonder
| that so few things stand out. It's all a
dead level now. l began engineering
when was just twenty years old, which
was pretty young, and you see needn't
be tottering on the edge of the grave to
be the oldest engineer. When l began
1 hadn't served an apprenticeship as a
fireman, but was a well-trained ma
chinist. Locomotives were my delight
to study, and when 1 got one to run
myself my ambition was realized. !
just settled down to my life work then
and there At first | was bothered by
people wondering at such boy engi-
neer, but l attended strictly to my
work. and soon knew l was all right
and safe, and the officers came to the
same opinion before long. loved nv
the track. My engine and my duty
were more to me than anything else ]
could think about. When an engineers
mind goes off on side trips his train is
apt to make a violent attempt to
follow"
Didn't YOU feel the effects of the
work and responsibility on your
nerves."
81 can't say I did. I've read OF
doctors saying that no man can stand
the physical and mental strain of run
ming an engine more than twenty-five
years. | don't believe tlis is so. Ii it
is, am a great exception. l am just
as capable to-day as ever was in my
life. and think could go on and COM
plete my second twenty-five years. Of
course. the engine shook me up, and
there was noise and exposure all the
time, but got used to these things.
They got to be as matter of fact as eat
ing. As to the sense of responsibility,
| felt it, of course, but it sustained me,
instead of breaking me down. Why,
it is the soul ofengineering, this thought
that one is taking care of the lives of
others. If L didn't have it, l wouldn't
run an engine. 1t would be like run
ming a church without any God. And
l would not work on any railroad if the
safety of the passengers was not the
very first thought in every department,
from President down."
''Did your train ever meet with an
accident?'
Nothing bad. I've had little mis-
haps. but never received censure
| from my superiors o. my own self.
One time man was hurt on my train
and heard he afterward died. He was
on platform, where he had no right
to be, when a COW ran into my engine.
She got caught in the wheels and two
coaches were derailed. The passenger
was thrown of and badly hurt. 1
think there was suit against the COM
pany and the company won it. That's
the only accident l car remember. 1t
was this freedom from trouble for so
many years that led me to resign my
position about two years ago. Thinks /,
| am getting rather old in years. I'll
have to quit anyhow before q great
while. If L quit after some misfortune
people will blame me, and the COM
pany. too, for keeping me at work. i
am just as good an engineer as ever,
and I'll end my service on my own mo-
ton. So | sent in my resignation and
the company gave me a satisfactory
place as detective between Broad and
Callowhill depot and Belmont"
Have you kept any record of your
mileage?"
ayes, a sort of record, but it would
take months to make up any figures
from it. 1t was sort of account book
that / carried in my pocket. Iwould
enter my boarding house expenses, my
mileage, and other things all together.
But l was an engineer thirty seven
years, and ran all the time between
Philadelphia and Pottsville.. This is a
distance of ninety-three miles, but the
run actually made is 100 miles. for there
is lot of side running. For five years
at the start, l had freight engine, and
all the rest of the time passenger en-
CINE. For the last fourteen years
doubled the run most of the time.
Now, you can make calculation from
these figures and facts. You say $780,
900 miles? That seems great deal,
but suppose it will do. 1 think an
average of $50 miles day for $50 days
in the yearfo thirty-six years would be
a moderate statement. That drops
whole year for safety's sake. But do
not take much pains to study ont such
sums in arithmetic. If / were a
Frenchman l suppose I'd know how
many times my travels would have car
ried me around the world and all such
things. 1 only know they carried me so
often between Philadelphia and Potts
vile, that 1 know every tie in the track
and almost when each was placed
there"
mo doubt you witnessed many
changes and improyements?'
''Yes; but they came like a bow
grows, and it wouldn't be easy to tell
when any one occurred. When 1 be-
gan there were no cabs on the engines.
and we had to dress warm for outdoor
work. Sometimes it wasn't easy to
hang on, but the time made in those
days was nothing to that now made. |
At sixty miles an hour, which is an or
binary rate. it wouldn't do to be with !
out a cab in cold weather. The wind |
would cut the ewes out / remember |
when the cab engines were first intro |
duced here. 1t was on the Pennsylva.
mia road. which then belonged to the
State. The engineers sill raised great |
row at the change. and there came neal
heinz a strike They Said the hnnseS |