The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-02-07
OLD NUMBER ONE"
Romantic Story of Jim Hills
Private Locomotive.
FIRST ENGINE IN MINNESOTA.
Carried General Hancock a Mile n Min
ute-Sent to the Bone Yard
St. Paul & Pacific.

spending the winter at Sea Haven, in this
state. where he has interests, arrived at
the Rainier hotel last night. Mr.. Trott
who is one of the veteran railroad men of
Minnesota, was born in Germany, but he
settled IN the Northwest in 1856. For fif-
teen years he held an important position
with the St Paul Il Pacific-the beginning
OF the Great Northern system-and when
Henry Willard took hold Of the Northern
Pacific for the first time Mr.. Trott trans
lerred MS allegiance to that corporation.
uuring several years past he has not been
engaged in active railroad work.
Mr.. Trott could write g volume of inter
estlng "reminiscences about railroad con-
struction and operation in the Northwest
In the course of a talk last night he told
something about the early days of the St.
Paul 81 Pacific. THAT company" he
said, chad a charter only for the state CT
Minnesota, but the name st. Paul & Pa
clfic' was given, because the plan was to
extend the line as traffic might warrant,
and ultimately build across the continent
We had the first railroad in Minnesota
that from St Paul to Minneapolis. piece
ten miles long, where the present Great
Northern track now runs. That was
in the early sixties. We went West
piece by piece until We reached
the Red river valley, and then
instead of going further west we extended
north toward Winnipeg. We were within
fifty miles of the Red river when the
Northern Pacific pushed out from st.
Paul, and then, for the time being, our
project, which had not assumed very def
mite shape, was given up.
There had been several SURVEYS across
the coRtinent--most of them undertaken
i'll part at least by the government. OF
the routes laid out we considered that
known as the Stevens the best, but the
Northern Pacific did not follow it. Yet,
when James J. Hill stretched the Great
Northern across, he practically followed
the Stevens route-up the Missouri river
''The st. Paul & Pacific had the first
locomotive in the state of Minnesota, and
it was named in honor of Colonel William
Crooks, the first chief engineer of the COM
pany. He is now out here looking after
some right-of-way matters for the Great
Northern. That locomotive is still in use,
and it has had remarkable history.
ITO look at it now you would not think
it could do much work, for it is small CON-
pared with the huge modern locomotives.
AS remember, it was built at the Baldwin
Locomotive Works, and run by rail to
Prairie du Chen on the Mississippi
Since st. Paulh no connection with the
outside world, the engine was loaded on a
big flatboat and towed up. We had to pay
$l.700 to have it taken from Prairie du
Chen and laid down on our tracks at St.
Paul. That was in 1862.
'The William Crooks, or number one
as we used to call her, was as fine loco
motive as there was at that time in the
United States. The engineers, who were
very fond of her, used to declare that she
was the best. / have seen her take trains
of three or four cars up the grade of ninety
feet to the mile out of the st. Paul
station. She was doing US excellent
service, and though she was
ditched several times, she received no seri-
GUS injury until 1869 or 1870. Then she
was undergoing repairs at our st. Paul car
shops, when a fire destroyed them. She
had been taken off her running gear, and
that was standing outside and escaped I'M
injured. But the boiler was badly warped
by the heat.
at looked as if our old pet No. had
ended her career. The fact was, how
ever, that we had in our shops very fine
set of mechanics. In a great establish
ment where locomotives are made every
workman has his piece to do and he learns
TO make that. But in our repair shops we
needed men who could work on any part
of locomotive, and such all-around men
demanded and received big wages. At
times there was nothing for them to do,
but we had TO keep them and pay them SO
that We might be prepared for emergen-
cies.
- al, g l.
partment decided that in slack times he
would put the men to rebuilding the
ruined portion of No. /. The head en-
gineer, young Hollander, drew the plans
for every part and directed operations.
Such task, which was practically the
construction of a new locomotive, had
never been undertaken in the Northwest,
and plenty of men were ready to bet that
the parts wouldn't fit and the engine
wouldn't so. But every riyet hole came
true. When No was ready all the men
in the shops turned out to see her, and our
young Hollander won all his bets.
''She went into the service again and
was very rapid. Once we sent special
train with General Winfield Scott Han
cock to meet General Sheridan who was
coming East from the Missouri river. The
ton. A hot box delayed us for a time
soon after We started, and General Han
cock was afraid We should not get to the
end of our line before General Sheridan
arrived. / talked TO the conductor and
engineer, and they decided to let her OUT
as we say. When they let her out on a
tangent of fourteen straight miles she
covered tho distance in fourteen minutes,
and that was pretty good tor those COM
paratiyely primitive days.
Finally No. was run on the sidetrack
for the bone yard, and she might have
fallen TO pieces there had not James J.
Hill seen here there one day. She was
familiar enough 10 him, for in the Old
times when he was the local agent at St.
Paul ofthe ST. Paul & Pacific he saw her
every day. lie asked if she could not be
made of some use, and ordered an exam
ination of her. The report was that she
was not as badly worn IS had been sup
posed, and that with some repairs she
would be all right again. So Mr.. Hill had
her fixed up, and now he keeps old No.
as his private engine, and he will have no
other In draw his speCial train when he