West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-03-26
sTORlsS OF TEE RAIL.
Locomotives rhst Love aud itatc and o.,
hIbM Othcr Mmnan Eha.inns

hihN tthet humau tAe>ionS.
''tGvGmbu>ci arc turny things"
said an Erie engineer. ..and I've srrn
them sometimes when believed They
we're actually human. They yet the
sllkS and have hplkv sIrcak,. and
when they re- I'm such moods you can
make time Nth thcm aht more than
you can fly. Then again they II hc "a,
chippcr and willing ~ thoroughbred
horse, and You actually have To hold
'cm in To keep from running into sta
lions ahead oi time,
81 suppose the Stuhhutnc,t loco.
motive that was ever put on u road was
Hric oi The rCwin SiSicts,' - couple uC
splendid machines built bN the Now
York Central few Years ago. They
were made exactly alike i'm every par
ticular. from the same patterns. by the
same workmcn aud with the same ma
tcrialS. There WASH man on the
rond that COULD tell which was which
until their uumbcts were paiutcd on
them. They were beauties. and tho
engineers who Were assigned tu duty
on them were the envy or nll the hu,s.
When the engines were put ON trial one
h the locomotives developed amazing
power and speed She could take "A
freight train mp grade with scarcely
an effort. and with n passenger rant
made fifty mile, au hour with case.
The other ON" wouldn 90 at ALL Even
when pulled wide open She would
simply give n few ,pitcful pufl> of black
smoke. few turns uf her driving
wheels, and ,hcn would stop, The
way she exhausted steam showed that
She was vixen. She was taken apart
and not n single thing could hc found
wrong with her mechanism. Different
parts ut the locomotive that was so
great success were exchanged for the
same parts in the stubborn one, The
willing locomotive ran ~ well as ever,
but Tia" stubborn one refused to move "A
peg They tried Il half dozen different
engineers ON her for YOU must know
that sometimes q locomotive Is par
ticular about the man that bandlcS her
throttle. and will do work for one that
she refuses 60 do for another; hut She
treated them all with equal disdain.
They put her In the round house and
kept her there for six months. thinking
that she might get over her haiky tit.
and rum all right on another trial.
'Onc day they frod her mp aud tried
her. She started on like beauty. and
ran two miles in - little over two min
utes Then Size stopped, and couldn' {
ne induced to make move i'm either
direction. She was towud back TO the
shops and taken To pieces The same
machinery was used In building anoth-
pr locomotive. and that one was ag bio
n success aS the mate of the stubborn
engine, and when | last heard of her
she was still one of the best engines on
the road.
"lt sounds queer TO say that loeomo-
tivcs have their likes and di,likcs, but
II actually does seem that they have.
and there are few engineers who don (
believe IT, There ism II railroad man
who can { tell YOU instances by the
dozen OF engines that positively would
not make time with some engineers,
but which would get there every time
under the hands of Others. YOu might
say it was the fault OF the engineers ii
the engines did not make their time.
but have known the very best enVi-
neers that ever mounted the fOOtbonrd
who have been obliged To ba transferred
from locomotives placed i'm their charge
because the locomotives would not
make the time, but which under the
band of other engineers neither ~
skilliul nor SO experienced, would never
run behind.
Take the case Of Josh Martin and
Cad Lyman, two of the old-timc Eric
engineers, and either Of them without
superior In their day. Josh was run
ming locomotive that hc was greatly
attached TO. and the sequel proved that
the attachment was mutual For some
reason or other the superintendent oi
the road wanted JOsh's locomotive for
use ON portion OF the road that Iy-
man ran ON. 50 he ordered LYMAN and
Martin to exchange engines The old
fellows who remember il say that when
JOsh's engine was run from Port .Jcr-
Vis Josh cried like baby and that tn.
engine herself was all broke up AT tho
parting, for she was an hour LONGER
than she should have been I'm Vctiino
TO her new field Uf labor Cad LYMAN
took charge Of her: bat She made uu
her mind that she wouldn't work uu
der him, and she didn't She rot
stalled with the lightc-t trains. and
never made her run ON time After "a
week + trial Lyman reported the loco.
motive No good. and She was CON
demncd to run the gravel train She
worked a. balkv and sulky as ever. and
the superintendent ordered her taken
to Paterson and broken mp. Josh Mar
tin heard of this and came down tho
road a-hying. lie begged to have his
'old gal back again. and finally tho
superintendent said hr miVht try her.
Josh mounted tho foOt-bOnrd once
more, and when he pulled the throttle
away she went like o bird She made
the run TO Port Jcvi- quicker than
any locomotive bad ever done H. up to
that day, and Josh Martin ran hor for
years over the Delaware division after
that, and Away made his run ON time
as easy a. could bc. except in cases oi
accident No. sir. tho fact Of the mat
ter was, Josh and that engine lust
loved one another. and simply would
not bc parted. and there are plenty Of
eases just like it tO-da, " D. SIM.