The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-05-14
Low TT FELT.
an Old Engineer Tolls OF His Daring Rido
on au Engiuc--A Trip In Front of tho
Fastest Locomotive In tho World.


an old Engineer Tolls OF His Daring Rido
on au Engluc--A Trip in Front of tho
Fastest Locomotive In tho World.
New York, May Angus Sinclair,
editor of Locomotive Engineering has
described his unique and daring ride in
Il little iron box three feet high, in
front of the cylinder of tho engine
which hauled the Empire State express
Of the New York Central road from New
York to Albany last Tuesday Mr.. Sin
clair was seen by reporter on his re-
turn TO the city.
"How do | feel after my ride?" said
he. "Well, l feel pretty lame. Two
hours and three-quarters on ones knees
is what might be called true devotion to
the cause, and it's tiring. No; wasn't
nervous during the ride, but probably
should have been il hadn't been used
to running on every part of a locomo-
tive for years, though not at such rate.
Seventy-eight miles an hour is, l be-
licve, the fastest recorded time made on
n level by "a locomotive drawing train,
and we ran four miles at that rate.
How did / know this? Because 1
counted the revolutions of the driv-
ing wheels AT the fastest the drivers
made $40 revolutions a minute The
counting was done by ear and by feel
ing. To any but trained ear, the
sound from the smol1estack of n loco
motive travelling faster than sixty miles
an hour is like continuous blast, but
an old engineer can detect distinct pull
sations. 1t is an acquired faculty, and
comes only with long experience, There
are four puffs TO every revolution of the
drivers, and one of these is trihe lcud-
er than the others. This serves to di-
vide them into fours. A trained engin-
eer can count these puffs, and
by grouping them into twenties,
which he checks off on his fin
ers, arrives at n conclusion regard
ing the number of revolutions a minute.
Then, the circumference of the drivers
being known, it is n simple matter to
reckon the rate of speed. Besides this,
there is a sort of shock throughout the
locomotive on the down stroke of the
driving rod, which aids in the counting.
This counting has become, through
practice. mechanical act with me. and
on my ride Thursday l was counting,
looking after the machinery of gauge,
and supplying the guage with paper, on
which the diagrams were to be marked
at the same time. So, you see, had no
time to think of being nervous"
Were there no unpleasant or pecu-
liar sensations connected with such
rapid movement"
well, the trees and telegraph poles
got 10 going by pretty fast. l would
sight an object some distance up the
track, and before l could think what 1t
was it would be behind me. Then two
or three times stuck my head out too
far and the wind hit me in the back of
the neck like u club. Motion did not
trouble me much, except that 1t made
my knees sore"
Mr.. Sinclair is confident that, with
one car, the engine could run hundred
miles an hour. The locomotive $40 is
the record breaker, which lin the IA
nous run to Buffalo on September IA,
1s91-439l5 miles in 425gl minutes) made
the t43 miles to Albany in 14O minutes
With its tender 1t weighs hundred
tuns. Its drivers are 61S feet in diam
eter.