The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-16
ONLY COLLEGIATE LOCOMOTIVE.
Purdue University Down In Indiana Teaches Railroad En-
/, cheering From Practical Standpoint

cylinders. and may thus be made SIM
| pie or compound.
| With all it's attractions the new one
due as was the old. The first locomo-
| tive was really the original one to be-
come the study Of the students in the
university. The youngest freshman
and the Oldest senior loved 1t as they
did their alma mater. It's departure,
for 1t has become an ordinary freight
engine now, was an event of sorrow
such as Purdue rarely witnesses. There
are some pretty big boys at Purdue,
but there was hardly a dry eye in the
assemblage that bade goodbye to the
faithful locomotive whose operations
some of them had watched for four
years. They regard the new arrival in
a measure as an interloper, for moth
ing to them can ever take the place
Of the engine that has gone.
Every cylinder and every rcank pin
of No. i was familiar to them and they
knew the motion of the machine as
we'll as they did their A B C's. A To-
connective Is like a human being, en-
gineers say. 1t has its good days and
it's bad days. Sometimes 1t Is docile,
and again it is as irritating ais pos
sible. Once in a while it proves itself
to be absolutely untrustworthy Whens
you least expect it, and perhaps that
is why the students have considered
it. something human. In anysseyents
the boys had genuine affection for the
machine and the clang of its bell as
it rolled away, was to them in the
nature Of the funeral knell Of a beloved
friend.
Even the college professors appeared
to keenly feel the sorrow prevalent at
the departure of Schenectady No. 1.
They remembered that six years ago,
when the locomotive made its advent
at Purdue, it was considered fine
piece of mechanism. They also re-
membered that the progress of the last
two years had made it desirable that
an engine having somewhat different
aracteristics be secured, but in their
hearts they knew that Schenectady
No. 2 could never hope to gain in
their esteem the place Schenectady No.
1 had occupied.
Z AS the departing engine steamed
along under the trees and between the
university buildings at dignified pace,
as befftted a machine of her varied
experience, she had the heartieSt fare
we'll and yet the most SOrrOWful from
the crowd of students which ran along
by her side. Just before reaching the
exit of the grounds she stopped. Presi-.
dent Smart mounted the nearest flight
of steps and in the course of brief
address said that 1t was with regret
he saw the departure of a piece Of me-
chanism which had done such service
for Purdue. Her departure, however,
meant a step in advance, for it's place
was to be supplied with something
better
Prof. Goss, who presides over the de-
partment of experimental engineering,
continued the speech making. He
said that during the six years of Sche-
nectady No. is scientific life The en-
CINE had been under seventy efficiency
tests, each test involving a run Of
about one hundred miles, and 250
| indicator cards had been taken, 10000
miles had been run, $4,000 observations
had been made, and 1900 different re-
| suits had been derived from calcula-
| ton. so with the cards, observations
and results altogether there are ON file
at Purdue about $4,000 facts concernin
| the performance of the late lamented
Schenectady No L.
l. After this had been said, Col Prout
| of New York, called attention to the
vital quality of work that has con-
sistently checked and mea sured by the
|
and daily human life. Then the stu
dents cheered as only students can.
Then they wept, a rather rare thing
for students to do. Old Schenectady
seemed to know their sorrow, for her
whistle sounded mournfully and the
| clang of her bell was as doleful as
| could be. When she steamed off
/, through the meadows for the main line
of track with which the spur she was
| on was connected. it almost seemed
from her movements that she was
shedding tears. In any event the stu
dents were.
The locomotive testing plant upon
which the new engine stands has
wheels in the place usually occupied
by rails. On these supporting wheels
rest the drivers of Schenectady No. 2.
They are mounted upon shafts run in
fixed bearings and turn when the loco
motive is driven through the action of
its machinery. Of course there is no
load to pull, but it's place is taken by
friction brakes and the pull at the
drawbar is registered. by an accurate
dynamoneter, which tells the exact
amount of weight the engine is sup
posed to draw
Everything is worked down to sci
entific basis. There are scales for
weighing the water that is fed to the
boiler. There are pressure gauges, in
dicators, and therm oTneters almost
without number. The whole arrange
ment is such as to permit the engine
to be fired; that is, to be fed coal in
the same fashion as if upon the road
and pulling regulation trains. 1t can
be run continuously for any desired
period of time, at any speed, and under
any load. While thus run, it is to be
so tested that the performance of
every part thereof. even to the small
est, may be made known.
The locomotive is for the instruction
of those students of Purdue who are
| there to learn steam engineering 1t
used to be the fashion to believe that
first-class locomotive engineer must
| of necessity have served at least q
year on the road as a fireman. The
idea of a college bred man running an
engine without what was termed prac-
| teal experience, was held to be ridicu-
| lous. When six years ago the plan of
| 1nstructing the wouldbe engineers in