Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-26
ON TIE ROAD.
PIONEERS OF THE THROTTLE.
R.eelIee,sens OF the Easis Daysof Railroads.
Rival Epslnscrs OF the Erie.

dehtn OF oiu oou ~ "'"' " VI
which I read in the Sun some days |
aron said q veteran Erie railway engi-
neer. "leaves, l believe, only one Of
the pioneer engineers Of that road alive
and still in active service. This is Josh
Martin, who must be now over seventy.
LYMAN and Martin were rivals when
tbey ran on the Erie, and it was Mar
tin who ran the first train into Dunkirk
on the Erie, in May, 1851. There is
nice story connected with that, and III
tell it.
"At the time the Erie road was laid
through to Dunkirk locomotive-build-
ing was in its infancy in this country.
Paterson was just beginning to attract
attention by the superior machines that
were turned out of her two locomotive
shops, one Of which is now known as
the Rogers Works, and the other was
until recently under the control Of the
late Commissioner Swinburne.
"Rogers and Swinburne were then
both struggling mechanics, and both
had built engines for the Erie road.
In ls49 the railroad had been COM
pleted as far as Binghamton, a few
days before the time at which oil the
company's property and franchise
would have been forfeited 10 the State
of New York. Josh Martin ran as en-
gineer between Delaware station, now
Port Jervis, and Susquehanna. Cad
Lyman had charge Of trains between
Piermont and Delaware station.
Lyman was a great friend of Loco
motive Builder Rogers, and Martin
pinned his faith to Swinburne. On the
opinion of the two engineers as to the
merits of the engines the two builders
largely depended for favor with the
company, and a consequent advance
ment Of their respective interests.
THE first locomotive that Martin
was put in charge Of was Of the Rogers
make. 1t was called the Oneida,
name which the engineer burlesqued
into 0ne-idea,' because, as he said,
the engine seemed to have but one idea,
and that was that it could not do the
work that he wanted it to do. In 1850
the railroad company contracted with
Swinburne for a new locomotive. En-
gneer Martin persistently sought the
superintendent Of the road to give him
the charge Of the engine when it was
completed. lie wanted to give it the
best possible show for itself, as it
was, in one sense, test of the
merit of Swinburne's mechanical skill,
and he feared that it might be given
into hands where it would not be
treated fairly. The engine came from
the shop and was called the No. II.
To Martins great disappointment and
chagrin, Cad Lyman was assigned to
run the new machine. Lyman soon re-
ported that he could not make his time
with it, and it was condemned and
placed on the gravel train working be-
tween Piermont and Sutiern. Pier
mont, on the Hudson river, was the
eastern terminus of the road then, the
Bergen tunnel not having been made
until ten years later. The re-
ported failure Of No. Il almost
broke John Martins heart, and was a
serious setback to Swinburne. Martin
could not be made to believe that the
engine was failure. He had watched
her during construction, and had him
self suggested appliances and arrange
ments that he felt sure must result in
a superior machine. Believing that the
engine was all that he had hoped for,
he begged the master mechanic, chol-
eric gentleman named Brandt, to be
allowed to give it trial. After months
of persistent solicitation on behalf Of
the disgraced locomotive, Brandt one
day told him to take her and 60 to the
devil with her, if he chose to.
Martin told Swinburne tOtake her
back to the shop and overhaul her.
Neither the builder nor Martin could
discover any serious defect in her mech
anism, and she was turned over to the
engineer without having a tool put upon
her. Martin ran her on his division
two weeks without losing a second Of
his time, and made the trips over the
division with greater ease than he had
ever been able to do before. At the
end Of two weeks he had the opportu-
nifty to show what stuff there was in
her, and in showing it he made the fame
and fortune of the Observation-Disclosures.
"Gad Lyman, after discarding Swim
burne's locomotive, took No. 100, ANA
chine Of the Rogers make. He had no
trouble in making his time with her.
In May, 1851, he was notified that he
was to run one of the excursion trains
that were to carry guests Of the road
to Dunkirk to participate in the open
ing OF the road from the Hudson to
Lake Erie. The train was to start
from Piermont. 1t was composed
of nine cars. That whole train
cost less than the price Of an or
binary Pullman car Of to-day,
but it had cargo Of human
freight such as no other train since
then ever carried on this continent.
President Fillmore; Daniel Webster,
his Secretary Of State John j. Crit
tenden, his Attorney-General; n. X.
Hall, his Postmaster General and W.
c. Graham, his Secretary of the Navy,
were on board. W. Ii. Seward, Ham
ilton Fish, and Stephen A. Douglas,
United States senator's, were Of the
party. Ex-Governor Marcy and Daniel
S. Dickinson were also numbered
among the excursioniSts. The Dods-
worth Band furnished the music during
the trip. The train was draped
in the national colors. and flags huttered
from every spot where one could be
fastened on the train. 1t was not only
to be the longest railroad ride on one
continuous line of railroad under one
management that had ever been taken
in America, but it was to be historical,
because it was to be the Inauguration Of
railroad communication between the
seaboard and the great lakes.
Engineer Lyman coupled No. 100
to the precious train and started with
it from Piermont. Before he got to
Sufiern he found that his engine was
| NOT shla w null tba ,nueuoi La .,J