Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-06-18
FIRST ENGINEER DIES.
Close OF n Long and Honorable Life
I'm Charleston, West Virginia.

tlnclnnati enquirer.
Ralph Swinburn, whose funeral services
were held at Charleston, w. Va. on
Monday evening. was not only the oldest
locomotive engineer in the world, but
he was the first to sit in n cab and
handle the throttle Mr. Swlnburn was
4 little past his 9lst year when he died,
| last Friday, at his Davis-Creek home,
| just a short distance from Charleston,
| having been born at Newcastle-on-the-
| Tyne in January, 1905. He was the son
Of n Newcastle miner who worked In
| the mines with George Stephenson, the
| inventor Of the railway locomotive. A
| fast friendship existed between Stephen
| son and the father. At 10 years of age
| Ralph Swinburn was apprenticed to Ste
phenson, who was then working on his
| invention. and he continued to work with
| him in the shops up to the time OF Mr..
| Stephenson's death
In 1850 Mr.. Swinburn came TO the United
| States, landing in New Orleans, and
| afterward going to Richmond, Va. where
| he got employment with Colonel Peter
| Fontaine. who was then building the old
| Virginia Central railroad which after
| ward became the main line In the Chesa-
pealte and Ohio system. Mr.. Swnburn
remained In the railway service until
| twenty-five years ago. when he bought
| Il farm on Davis creek, in Kanawha
| county, W. Va. where he settled down
i and made his home until his death. At
| the time he went to farming he entered
| the Baptist ministry and engaged in
| evangelical work. For the last two
| years he had quit preaching on account
| Of physical disability After he quit the
| railway service be said he knew ne would
| soon rust out, hut he lived longer than
Il H.. tA1 T. til
| ton that comes with old age. and did not
| suffer a pang or pain during his last
| days on earth
| Mr.. Swinburn was with George Stephen
son when the trial trip OF the first loco
| motive was made and sat in the cab with
| mis- hand on the throttle that day. 1T
| was the proudest day OF my life. for |
| felt that we were inaugurating an indus
| trial revolution" said Mr. Swinburn, when
| speaking Of that notable event. While
his memory was defective as to recent
events II was perfectly clear as 10 the
| happenings of half a century ago. He
| remembered every detail of that eventful
day when Stephenson first put his loco
| motive on exhibition. and the Lord Mayor
| Of London and the members of Parlia-
| ment came out to see the new-fangled
| thing. They hadn't much faith in the in
/
| see IL on account of the novelty of the
thing. But when Ralph Swinburn touched
the valve and the thing moved off, pulling
| z carload Of people. the English gentry
| began TO take more serious view OF Il.
| "Our engine was an uncanny object IN
| comparison with a modern locomotive"
| said Mr. Swnburn, "but IL was the big
| gest thing out in that day. From the
| time of its first public trial exhibition,
| when its success was demonstrated. all
| England was in an uproar, and Stephen
| sons name was on every lip. The OBJ
| scure Newcastle miner had suddenly risen
| 10 a plane alongside of Newton and Ark
| wright"
Mr. Swinburn described Stephenson as a
| man of modest demeanor. who manifested
| no special enthusiasm over the success
| Of his invention He had no educational
| advantages, except what he had acquired
| by pouring over books under the light
of his miners lamp, but he was a natural
| mechanic and understood the philosophy
| Of mechanism His mind, too. was of the
| practical trend. When making the first
| public exhibition Of his locomotive he said
| to the assembled British digntaries that
he believed il could be made to run twenty
| miles an hour. This seemed to be in
| credible.
Ralph Swinburn mbibed the modesty of
his master. He never boosted of the
| fact that with his own hands he had
| helped to construct the first locomotive.
| and that he had been chosen by its master
| 10 sit in the box on the day of its trial
trip. He merely spoke Of 1t as ne would
| Of any other ordinary performance OF
| duty He was known by the people OF
Kanawha county as sturdy, upright OLD
| man.