The sun., 1896-08-03
81 YEARS ATTHE THROTTLE
THE "FLYING DUTCHMANn OF THE
ERIE RAILROAD.

~ rend IN THE Sun tho other day" said an
Erie Railroad engineer, IAN item about Jim
Wood, the New York Central engineer who has
been running on that road forty-six years, a
record OF service rs an engineer which the news
papers arc claiming for him as unpreced ented.
Thnt is because they don't know about Bon
Hafner OF Port Jervis. the Flying Dutchmnn
OF the Eric Railroad. Jim Wood Is nll right but
he isn't much moro than IL baby alongside OF
Ben IIafncr. Jim began handling the throttle
in 1851, and Ben had been running an engine
then twelve years. Another thing the newspa-
pers are making railroad history wrong In Is
stating that whom Jim Wood began as an engi-
neer tho strap rail was still In use. There hadn't
been yard Of strap rail laid in this country for
ten years In 1881.
when Ben Hnfner started In as An engineer
In 1888 there were not more than three score
locomotives In use in tho whole world Only
nine years had passed since tho first locomotive
that ever turned driving wheel on the Amcri-
can continent had been brought here from Eng
land. Ben began his career on the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad. In 1s4s he camo into
the service OF the New York and Eric
Railroad. The road was then in opor-
alton only between Piermont and Port
Jervis, scventy-four miles. Tho rolling stock
fifteen passenger cars and 200 freight, milk,
and baggage cars. There were les, than 600
jority Of them were freight handlers a. Pier.
.uo.'' " nc .s 'no ."' "e,e uu'o"ueu ""u 'no',
eontents transferred 10 the eteamo ooats ana
Sas uo, 'no o, Sasn 'nu'n 10 no" 0rr ono'
NV ~ ''t oo'" pu. on ~ .oeonot'''', in' Nv .o"-
catcher was yet unknown. Two long,
sharp iron spikes, fastened In heavy
r,,od., h,oo- honoo,h ~. ha.,I,,h, -,
49, -. -.
any stray COW or horse that might get on tho
track. and hold the unfortunate animal there
the train. BY the way. the first locomotive cab
that was ever attached to m an engine on tn, Eric
road was In 1s4e. Joe MaGinnls. known as the
dandy engineer was the man that got
on. 700 was ono OF tno oriEihni
engineers on the road when It was
c,, opens" 10 uosnen o. ln ,,l, ,ssi; no mao inc
,. .. Neep'nk ,'.hSeI' sp',N Hhu sp"a
from I. at tho end OF his run dressed as IL no
was going to a party One time In ls49 he went
ne ne saw va iTcon,"''Te p On wnAs was 'hsn eaea
1t was the first one OF the kind ever
turned out OF locomotive works. Joe came
slsna AND Who msas @a the s master S
@ sins Brandt iS put s Nm on viii promise: H il.
went TO HezeEiAE c. Seymour, who was the
snfla sey%onT ssd he Ivan, cab on my
ss;s hs asd aas srs51sa
his engine into the Piermont shops and bad a
cab attached to T. Tha, was the first loeomo.
ben ,Hatner ran an engine on the Eric until
appointed General Superintendent OF the road.
|. was tne1 In operation M all the way 10 bnnkirk.
code siS Of for ha
ever adopted by, railroad company.
Ono OF these rlles got the company
into trouble with its engineers before
McCallum had been in charge a month. and
the first engineers strike in the history of
railroads resulted. This rule laid no responsi.
bility on switchmen. II q switch was turned
wrong by the switchman ana a train was de-
rallied thereby the engineer alone was held re-
to see that a switch was ght. and II he ran off
one the penalty was dismissal. One day early
In June, 1854. switchman left q
switch turned wrong at Sufern. Ben
Hapner's train came along. running fast and
thtrty-foot embank ment Into swamp. with
Hafner buried under 1t: They dug him out, and
alive but un!ntured. Although tho switchmAn
was entirely 10 blame FOR the accident Mccall
un Mss s Ss dd
suit OF this was that the engineers, went
out on strike In . body. They demanded the
reinstatement of Hafner and the abrogation Of
the ridiculous rule placing all the responsibility
for the condition OF the switches on the enCi-
neer,5 They gained their po'p: within ten days:
went out West to get q place on some
railroad there. He found that McCallum
had had him blackllsted as a discharged
Erie employee, and he had a hard time
to get a fob. He got one, though. on tho
Illinois Central. In 1858 no returned TO the
Erie road and ran fast trains on the Eastern
Division until March. 1892. when he made up
his mind that hfty-two years was long enough
for one man TO run engine and he resigned,
at the age OF 72. He remains In the service OF
the company. though. as head of the informa-
tion bureau at Port Jervis.
When Ben Hafner began running on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad the strap rail was
still in use there. This rail. being spiked TO q
wooden sill, was constantly working lose from
It's fasteninks by the motion OF trains over II.
Tho ends Of he rails. or bars thus released stuck
up sometimes two or three inches above tho
sill. like snake with Its head raised. From this
resem blance these projecting ends OF rails were
called snake heads. The engineers had to be-
always on the watch for them. for to run into
one meant certain disaster. Once Ben Hafner
ran into one. and his engine was thrown down q
high embankment and into the PatApsco River.
where he lay for hours buried In the wreck but
hoo hn1h hta hAah hny tn