The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-02-25
FREAKS AND FANCIES.
Some Of Those in Which the Az
erage Locomotive INDUCES.
Tribu1at,ons Of the Engineer Who Iilots
Enthusiastically Between AN En-
CINE and q Woman-Jump-
ing the Track.

TribuIat1ons of tho Engineer Who Iil0ts
\ Trz,in--Sinilarity Between an En-
CINE and a Woman-Jump-
ing the Track.
! It is not uncommon to hear some one say
that such or such a thing works with the
regularity Of machine, and one is not sur
prised when such a comparison is made,
for machines are supposed to work with
mathematical regularity, and never to vary
from the speed or action to which they are
set. But says the St. Louis }'e1"bicaM,
! there is one piece OF machinery which is a
striking and pazzling exception to this rule.
It seems decidedly opposed to a 1nonotouons
perfect performance Of its work, and to rtl
itself of the depressing effect Of sa,.> ,:iess,
it intlu gcs in the most fanciful freaks,
driving its whiiom muster into beWildaringc;
Tocder.
This strange mechanical creature is the
| locomotive and to atte,npt to tell all of its
curious ways would be quite as great an
undertaking as to attempt to tell why a
1yoIlau does thns or so In this respect
there is {. great similarity between locomo-
tives and women; SO great, i'll fact, that de-
spite their vast strength, the former are al-
ways porsoniiied in the feminine gender
aud spoken OF as sshe.'' No one ever heard
Of Al engineer speak Of his engine as he,
and no one ever will, unless tho machines
! become more submissive to reason and less
inclined to act according to their owl: Whlms
and caprices; but this has not yet happened.
nor is it likely TO. And for this reason an
engineer must know his engine before he
can manage her with any skill at all, He
can not mount a cab in which he has never
sat before and obtain good work from the
iron horse. He must become familiar with
her habits and ways, and Whenever he
changes engines he has to begiu at the be-
ginning aud almost learu his business over
again Engineers do not like to go out on
any other engines than their own, and il
they can avoid it they will not make q run
on one which they are not perfectly fanil-
lar. They never gain complete mastery
over any, but they approach it nearer when
they have been upon it for some time than
when th<: machine was new to them. This
seems strange in view of the fact that there
are but few levers to be controlled t.
| manage q locomotive. but it is 80
The only parts Of the machinery neces~
sary to be touched to move The engine for
ward, back her or bring her 10 q stop, arc
the throttle, the reverse lever which con
trolls the main valve Of the engine which,
admits the steam to the cylinder or shuts
/ of the supply. The reverse lever runs over
semi. circular bar Of iron in which are cut
several not:hcs. when this lever is thrown
forward end the throttle is opened tho en-
CINE WilA move forward, and to reverse the
engine the reverse lever is thrown back
ward, and therefore its name. By means
OF q toota which fits into the notches the
reverse lover may be set st any point in
the seIni-:ircular bar, and the nearer the
middle OF tho bar it is placed the smaller
the quantity Of steam which is permitted to
pass into the cylinders, while if tho lever IS
down at the half circle as much steam will
go lato the cylinder as CAN pass through
the pipes. When it is near the center the
engine is said to be Crooked up" but when
it is at tho end she is sin the corner" Tho
only otter ievec which is necessary il the
management of the engine is the one that
governs the air brake, Four pipes rise
through the floor Of the cab and all OF them
empty into a. brass cock, which is controlled
and the powerful! air brakes will be applied
so sharply ard with such force that tine en-
ginoer will be in luck if he docs nor fly out
through the front window.
One Of tue oldest feats that GIL engine
performs il that Of jumping. 1t Is not The
intention TO tell the Old stories Of how one
engine Jumped over another to avoid col
ision, or Of that engine i'll the wild West
which jumped across a canyon when the
bridge had fallen; but really engines do
jump q little. When they are travelling at
very nigh rate Of speed, and they run over
stone or any little obstruction on the
track, they will Jump clear Of the track ten
or twelve inches, and in almost every case
they will Light sunarcly on the rails when
they come down. This is probably because
the engine knows that it is u dangerous
thing TO jump Off the track, and, as she is
not at all vicious in playing her pranks, she
leaps up, then runs smoothly along after
giving tho engineer and fireman a good
scare When an engine is in bad hunor
iusteod Of playing some innocent trick OF,
that kind, she breaks down completely, anc
then she makes lame trip to the shops.
The most frequent accident is tho break
ing of ono OF the springs on which the body
OF the engine rests. That is liable to occur
when she runs over g rough joint in the
track. 1t would seem impossible to raise
the body back to its position if the accident
should occur at any distance from tho
Scoops, but the engineers have q very simple
way Of doing it. Blocks Of wood are placed
just behind The wheels, on the side on
which The spring broke. The ngine is run
back, and the wheels, running on the
blocks, lift that side so high above the
ground thai the body is level. A beam is
placed under tho body and the blocks are
then removed the wheels falling back to
the track That leaves the body in its orig
inal and proper position, and blocks Of wood
are substituted for the broken spring; in
this. condition she is run to the shop for re-
pairs. The strap which holds the driving
bars 20 the pins in The wheels sometimes
breaks, too, and frequently the pins are
also broken, but accidents of that kind gem
orally occur on a. slippery track. When the
rails are wet, if the engine has heavy
load, the wheels will slip around at a lively
rate, but the engine will not move forward an
inch. Then the engineer opens the sand
boz, and if he pours too much sand on the
rails the wheels will take hold too suddenly
and the trap snaps or out comes the pin.
Then tho engine is totally paralyzed on that
side, and she has to be run into the shop
with one side only.
worthy Of Her Origin. ...
o< -.