The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-01-21
LOCOMOTIVES ARE CONTRARY.
Some of Them, at Least, Seem Full of
Whims and Perversities.

That locomotives are freaky creatures
and deserve classification as "she"-for
no one ever heard of an engineer calling
his machine anything else-is attested
by William H. Crawford, chief of the
constructing engineer corps of the Bald
win works, who is now on his way to
Japan to superintend the erection of a
consignment of locomotives intended for
road operated by the government.
alt is not an uncommon expression"
said Chief Crawford to a reporter OF the
Philadelphia Inquirer, "to hear that such
and such thing works with the regu-
larity of a 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. The locomotive, though,
is striking exception to this rule. 1t
seems decidedly opposed at times to
mcnotonously perfect performance of its
work, and to rid itself of the depressing
effect of sameness it INDUCES in the most
fanciful and inexplicable freaks, driving
its master into bewildering wonder. 10
attempt to tell you all it's curious ways
would be as great an undertaking as to
tell why a woman does thus and so. In
this respect there is a great similarity
between locomotives and women. No
one ever heard of an engineer speaking
of his machine as 'he,' and no one ever
will, unless it becomes more submissive
to reason or less inclined to act according
to it's own whims and caprices. For this
reason an engineer must know his en-
CINE before he can manage 1T with any
skill at all. He cannot mount cab in
which he has never sat before and OBJ
tain good work. He must become
familiar with its habits and ways, and
whenever he changes engines be has
to begin all over again Engineers do
not like to go out on any other en-
CINE. They never gain complete mastery
over any, but approach it nearer when
they have been on one for some time.
"This seems strange, in view of the
fact that there are SO few levers to be
controlled to manage locomotive. The
only parts of the machine necessary to
be touched to move the engine, forwards
back it or bring it to a stop are the
throttle, the reverse lever, and the air
brake. The throttle Is the controller of
the main valve, which admits or shuts
off steam to the cylinder. The reverse
lever runs over seml-circular bar OF
lTOu, LII NAiCu UaCIC dlC oCfCldl dOtShOS.
When the lever is thrown open. the en-
CINE will move forward. 10 reverse it
the reverse lever is thrown backward
The only other lever necessary to be
used governs the air brakes. Like hors-
es, engines seem to know who holds the
reins. An engineer on an engine not his
own is at an utter loss what to do if it
begins playing tricks, one of the most
common of which is running away. The
engineer will get out of the cab, leaving
the machine standing quietly and sub
missively as can be, when of a sudden it
starts along the track at top speed. and
generally keeps on running until steam
is exhausted, unless it runs into another
train and is brought to sudden stop.
just why engines do this is mystery.
How the throttle opens itself, or how it
can run with the throttle closed, is be-
yond the knowledge of engineers, but
ey do, and sometimes play havoc too.
Another trick is foaming. Without
warning the water in the boiler will be-
gin to foam, and instead of generating
steam will bubble like teakett1e. This
can be remedied, though, by taking in
a new supply of water. 1t is an old
trick for discharged employees and dur
ing strikes to have piece of soap
dropped into the boiler to produce this
effect. Often too it will 90 lame This
happens when the eccentric is slipped or
it does not cough properly. The eccen-
tries work on the axle. AS they work
the steam chest the supply is cut off
when one of them slips and the engine
comes to standstill. Coughing is not
the result of a cold. but is the discharge
of the steam from the cylinder after it
has been used. There ought to be four
coughs to every revolution of the driv-
ing wheels. but when the valves choke
it will cough only once or twice, and
the relief isssa large dose of oil.
"One of the oldest freaks of an engine
is jumping. | do not mean to tell the
wonderful tales of engines leaping across
canons when bridges are gone, but fire.
quently, when running at a high rate of
speed, if some small obstruction is met
on the track the engine will jump 10
or ~ inches and drop squarely on the
rails again. These are few of the all
menus locomotive is subject to, and
they begin as soon as it leaves the shop
and continue until it is consigned to the
Junk pile.n