Evening journal., 1897-12-14

In the business centre Of Wilmington
there is a hive Of mechanical industry
which not one in ten of the citizens Of
the city ever sees, gives particular heed
to. or has any adequate conception OF
the vast work which is being perform
ed therein. This reference is to the ma
chine shops Of the Philadelphia, Will
mington and Baltimore Railroad Com
pany, along the main tracks opposite
the French street station shed. They |
extend from French street up as far as
the shops Of the Pusey and Jones Com
pany, and out as far as the Christiana |
river, and they and their equipment |
are worth hundreds of thousands Of |
dollars.
Within this enclosure work $50 men, |
whose business it is to keep in perfect |
running order the many locomotives re-
quired to do the passenger, freight and
shifting business, not only upon the
main stems of the p, w. & B. and Del
aware divisions, but also upon all of
their branches. Many of these men
possess marked mechanical ability. Not
a few have distinguished themselves in
the field of invention, and their num-
bers include some of the best machin-
lists found in the East. There was a
time when they made locomotives, but
that time has gone by, the company
finding it more advantageous to do the
work of building in the mammoth
shops at Altoona and to convert into
a great repair ship the works in this
city. In this work of repair every
thing needed is made here, with the eX-
ception of heavy castings, which are
obtained outside the shops.
The work of repair is of great magni-
tude for the roads making demands
upon the labor and skill of the $50 men
embrace the p, w. & b. road from
Philadelphia to Washington, which in
cludes the Baltimore and Potomac
road the Baltimore Central and the
Alexandria and Fredericksburg road;
then comes the Delaware railroad, with
| its branches-the Newark and Della
ware City, the Kent and Queen Anne,
the Delaware and Chesapeake, the
Junction and Breakwater and its
Franklin City branch, together with
| the Seaford and Cambridge road, not to
mention the little branch running from
| Clayton to Smyrna. There was a time
1 when the n. Y, p. & N. repair work
was done here, but now the shops at
Salisbury, Nd, and Cape Charles, Va,
do it all.
The number of locomotives of all
kinds in use is about $50. They will
average in value about $4,000 each, OF
an aggregate of S2250 900. The aver
age life of a locomotive is twenty years
Some are in service longer than that
but the twenty-year average will stand
the test. With the kind of locomotives
they are using now it will certainly not
| exceed that. After a locomotive has
served its time it is taken to what thg
men down there call the farm" anc
there it stays until the order is giver
to reduce it to scrap iron for sale tC
| some dealer. Sometimes the wheels
are saved if they are standard ones and
not too badly worn, and perhaps tn,
boiler NAV escape if it is worth the saw
ing, but usually, if a locomotive goes t
the farm" that means that all of
will sooner or later be converted int
scrap. There are engines which go I,
the scrap-pile which many anothe
road would be only too glad to have
but which have outHved their useful
ness to such a wide-awake and progress
sive road as the p, w. & b. At tn
present time there are seven or eigh
locomotives on the farm" waiting L
! be broken up and thrown on the scrap
! pile. They are old Baldwin engines.
The work of cutting one up was be
gun on Friday. Many a road woul
have been glad to have it. 1t is NJ
III, an old Baldwin engine, which di
long service on the Baltimore and Pc
tomac road. Its old number was 81.
and it is especially well remembers
down there as the only locomotive [
s have its boiler burst by the water
| pressure test which is applied at tn
shops prior to letting an engine go oil
= on the road.
u The average cost for the best passef
u ger locomotive turned out by the Balt
wins is $4,000 Other classes come Z
{ low as $1,000 and $4,000. The shiftel
! which are in service around the st,
y tion here were built in the local shol
>, years ago.
Locomotives are distinguished |
classes. There are four kinds of Cla,
N P-62-inch, 6S-inch, 7S-inch and S0-inc
l. These figures denote the diameter
is the wheels. Freight engines are usua
d ly 62-inch and the others are devote
p to passenger work. To obtain an ad
s quate conception of the differe'
ii classes Of locomotives in use, it may
n well to divide them among the classe
3; There are twelve or fifteen Glass A a
4. thracite; three of Glass B, which is b
coming obsolete; Glass G engines a
mostly used on the Baltimore Centr
road, and there are twelve or fifteen
G. them. There are but one or two
n Glass ID in service, as they and Glass
N are becoming obsolete but there a
al still ten or twelve of the latter class
le service. These often run freight trair
s. and are to be distinguished by I
three small wheels in the side; but tn
are not quick enough for the mode
demands for through work, and tn
90 are gradually being transferred to [
h. list of shifters. Glasses f, G and II a
10 not used by the p, W. & B., but the
q are six or eight of Glass / at wol
r They are used for shifters, but were 1
signed to haul freight trains. Ii
those Of Class e, they are not qui
enough to rush the freight throul
and are devoted to the more plebi
"A work of doing shifting and maxi
or short runs. Nowadays freight tral