Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-06-19
IRON HORSE DISTEMPER,
AN ENGINEER ON THE WHIMS
OF LOCOMOTIVES.
n an Engine Gets had Name It's Fate
f. seaied-Engin eers are Brave,
But Superstitious Glass
OF Men, Generally.

maniacal, like human beings, said an
old and highly skilled engineer, to a
New York World reporter, not long
ago. II assure YOU" he continued.
that locomotives require regular rest,
constant attention, even nursing when
they don't feel right. An engine will
take spells when nothing you can do
will make it act properly. Then the
shop is the only place for it, and there
my machine has got to go. or quit
the service Of the road"
They certainly do grow unmanage-
able sometimes. Generally this is
from over-work. Engines are like a
thoroughbred horse in that particular
respect. They will get of their feed
by which mean that they will not
pump up right, the furnace will clog
and the efficiency OF the fuel will not
be obtained. They suffer from lack
of energy. You are liable to stall on
an upgrade. They will act badly on
the curves, manifesting decided in
clination to mount the rails or to take
sudden starts that endangcr the coup
lings.
But recurring TO the temper OF To-
comotives, they are affected by the
weather, which is readily understood,
but a dull. heavy sky or u dense ut
mosphere has like effect. This /
cannot explain in any other way what
ever. Why, Mart Smith, who was a
strict churchman. couldn't do anything
with one of lis engines during Lent.
After Easter day the Discrimination to
make time disappeared. She would
hustle whenever called upon. Sounds
very absurd. doesn't it9 But it's true.
The grip is the only distemper to
which can liken locomotive such as
Mart's was When machine gets SO,
i tell YOU she must have treatment
the best scientific overhauling. She
needs a masseur-needs galvanism.
when once n locomotive has lost
force of character or self-respect does
she ever again regain it?" was asked.
Generally not" said Bowcher
meditatively. but l know recent
case in which an engine recovered from
stroke of this paralysis and became,
as she is to-day, the best on the road.
When No. Il. on the l.. n. and {.
road came out of the shop brand new,
she was successfully put in the hands
Of half dozen of the best engineers
on the road. After fair trial every
man, without exception, pronounced
her an utterly worthless piece of ma
chinery. The general superintendent
heard of the engine and ordered her
condemned, but the master mechanic
blurted out to him;
4" She doesn't like the run. 1t is n
blanked mean run and she knows II as
well as you do
You see the master mechanic want
ed the locomotive TO have another
chance. Well. she got it, and l tell
you it was 10 have been her last one.
She'd have been sold for scrap-iron or
run off the track into a forest and con-
verted into the motive power for
saw-mill. She was sent up 10 Indian
apolis and put on the run to Monon.
l went TO the round-house and looked
her over, for I'd heard of her and am
curious. | was asked what / thought
was the matter. l spent an hour over
her and everything appeared to be
right took an off day and ran down
fifty miles on her. She made great
time. To-day she is the fastest on the
road and the most reliable. She can
pull vestibule train of five cars u
mile a minute. Now she's the pet, the
banner engine of the road.
you speak of the need of rest,
Mr. Bowcher. Must it be regular? |
mean at regular times?"
Most assuredly," was the prompt
reply. "A locomotive must be allow
ed to recover her residence. That's
the word, you have it spelled correctly
only one !. Remember, IA locomo-
tive that pulls out of its berth in the
round-house (where it has been in a
state of quiet and rest), backs up to a
big train. and at the sound of the con-
ductors bell rushes of on hundred
mile run at fifty or sixty miles an hour
Is under a heavy nervous strain.
Don't smile, / mean exactly what |
say. Every atom in the molecular
structure of the steel and iron compos-
ing IL is at the highest tension. The
engine, literally is out 70 do or die!
To fail in making the run on schedule
time once or twice arouses suspicion.
The moment an engine is ranked rs
Enthusiastically her decadence has be-
gun. Unless she has friend at court,
as No. II had, her doom is fixed,
wv is her fate?' j asked with
feelings OF real sympathy.
"She is put at the most mental SER
vice. such as drawing construction and
gravel trains. Sometimes she il put
on local run, stopping at every cross
road. She is treated just as il she
were known TO be lazy and as if stop
ping were her strong point.
This brings me to another point.
Some engineers have a way of punish
ing engines that are refractory. Yes,
indeed. They can abuse locomotive
worse than the most brutal driver can
maltreat his horse. How? Twenty