Evening star., 1897-01-16

ley. and In some cases driven by their we'll
| to-do owners. formed a highly picturesque
feature of the expedition. They were to
| furnish the motive power. Fine speci-
limbed, well-fed and in the very pink of
condition for draught work. They would
| need all their strength before the day was
over, Tor there were some troublesome hills
| along the route over which the ponderous
! iron horses were to be pulled. Upon arrival
at Mart1nsburg. Mr.. Longust, q swarthy,
| wiry little man. looked about him until his
eye fell upon big locomotive standing on
I a side track near the roundhouse
That's the fellow we've got to begin on.
Go in. boys!' he shouted
And then the skilled men and laborers be-
gan to work, using all expedition possible,
TOT no one could say how soon they might
| be interrupted by the enemy. First, the
tender was uncoupled then the engine was
| raised by means of jackscrews and strip
ped OF all the parts that could be removed
| such as side and piston rods. valves, levers.
| lamps. bell, whistle and sandbox All the
| Wneels were taken off except the fiange
ariyers t at the rear. The stripping was done
| TO tighten weight. secure greater ease in
handling, and for the better preserya tion of
| the running gear.
| When this work had been completed,
what had a few minutes before been a
| splendid iron Pegasus was a HELPLESS. inert
| mass; mere shell, deformed and crippled.
| ana ready to submit to any indignity, even
| 70 tnat OF being hauled over country road
| II mad SO long usurped. The next step was
| 10 swing the prize around until 1t hung
| poised In the air at right angles with the
tracks, and to replace the missing forward
wheels with a heavy truck, made esnecial-
| ~ Tor the purpose, furnished with iron-shod
wooden wheels and fastened to the engines =
bumper by an iron bolt serving as a lincn
pln When the jacks were removed the
engine rested on the fiange drivers and the
wheels of the truck. A powerful chain
iormed the connecting link between the
fJvuiounue nha;1 1--WE. ana the team of horses. This
cnaln was fastened to the single double
ana lou bic trees, by means of which the
norSes pulled. The arrangement was very
ingenious and insured steady and united
eHort. Inc horses went four abreast and
the forty, when strung along i'm pnlIing
posltlon. covered the entire width of the
road and over 100 feet of its length. Prob
ably no similar team had ever hefor. besn
seen on an American road
The Difficulties of the journey.
when all was in readiness a teamster
mounted an end horse of each line of four,
Longust gave the signal the crack of ten
WHIPS rang out, and the locomotives novel
trip was begun. The offstart was merry
ana inspiring enough to such Of the towns
people as happened to be In sympathy will,
the movement, and to the small bov. who
was, as usual, present in force 1t was an
event keenly enjoyed and long to be re-
membered. an experience to be treasured
along with that of donning his initial pair
OF long trousers; but to the sturdy band of
workers who had the prize in Charge the
trIp was anything but holiday ;aunT
The time made varied according TO The
state OF the weather and the -oads the
condltlon OF the teams and various other
Gauses. sometimes the whole distance to
winchester, eighteen miles. was made in a
single day, while at others only three or
Tour miles would be covered I'm the same
Tune. The average time of the entire trip
was three days to Strasburg. thirty-eieht
miles south of Martinsburg Often the
macadam covering Of the road would break
through under the unwonted weight and let
IN the IRON monster down into the t.oft earth
ihen there was hustling The indispensabl
JackScrewS came into use and timbers
were placed under the wheels. until. after
perhaps an hours work, fresh start could
De maze. On levels. where there was good.
solid road, and all went well tho 1sap,S
proceeded at a fast walk; up the hills tbev
generally went faster, because it was only
Dy good running start that they could
get 10 the top at all. AS it was the b;g
horses had to strain every muscle in as
cending the grades.
Before the first trip was mad. a prospe #
ing party went over the route and exam
ined the bridges on the line of the nike In
most instances these We're not equal to sum-
porting heavy locomotive and II was
necessary to go into the woods. cut tim
per and strengthen them for the unusual
burden.
One of the hardest problems to solve was
that of regulating the speed in descending
iiIiS. cuSt Wldt the cycllSt does for his
wheel with his little spoon-shaped brake
the men In charge of the locomotive did
for that unwieldy mass of iron, for had it
once got beyond control on a sharp down
grade, nothing could have saved the horses
or anything else that happened to be in
the way. After considerable experiment
and thought. the all-useful jackscrew was
again called into requisition and used as a
brake. being fastened to the engine frame
and placed sidewise against the drive wheel
ana tlghtened or looseEed as the necessity
arose by man who rode on the engine
1t is hardly needful to add that this mans
position was no sinecure.
The tenders were transported in the same
manner as the engines, eight horses being
employed to the team. Cars were not so
much in demand as engines, but a number
OF these were taken in the same manner
They were not only used afterward for
transporting war supplies on the Southern
carrying the detached portions Of the loco
motives.
Disposition Made of the CaptureL
Property.
When the engines reached Strasburg thew
were placed on the tracks Of the Manassas
Gap road. which had the same gauge as
the Baltimore and Ohio-five feet eight
and half inches-by the process employed
In taking them from the rails at Martins
burg, and the tenders having been at
tached they were hauled. by means of
other steam power, over the road mention
ed and the Orange and Alexandria and
Virginia Central roads to Richmond. the
detached parts remaining in the cars. At
Richmond they were assembled and kent
until all had been brought from the line of
the Baltimore and Ohio Nearly a year was
occupied In conveying the seized Iocomo-
tives, nineteen in all, from the Baltimore
and Ohio to Richmond, most of them com
ing from Martfnsburg. though few were
taken from Harpers Ferry and DuffieId's
The reason SO long period was covered in
the collection of the seized stock was that
the Baltimore and Ohio road was not con-
tinuously In the possession of the confed-
crates Sometimes, by the fortunes of war
they were driven south of the Potomac, and
when, perhaps, after months of skirmish-
ing. they regained the lost ground, the in
corrupted work of conveying the rolling
stock was patiently and systematically re-
sumed. Two or three of the locomotives
which were started out of Martinsburg
on the pike never got to Winchester the
Union forces having suddenly appeared
upon the scene and driven OF the party
engaged in hauling them. The attempt to
convey them to Strasburg was never re-
newed and they stood by the pike between
Martinsburig and Winchester until recoy-
cred by the Baltimore and Ohio people at
the close OF the war, somewhat the worse
for their exposure to the elements but stilI
capable, after repairs, of doing good ser
vice.