The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-04-04
E0lNG liz MILES NN H0UR|
Stories o5 Thrilling Runs, Gathered from
the LIPS Of Heroes u The Throttle
It Feels to Bore Holes into The Night
Trastlns TO Providence and Your Nerve.
Nm engine

r>,. 4, tbe story OF how 1t feels to drive
.,r. n, its utmost speed, gathered
q, the Inns Of the drivers. Various per-
.ovs from time to time related their
..,.tions while on board railway tram
.vsiing at the rate OF mile minute
!, much more interesting are the facts
n the sensations of the men In the cab
"a engine. who face death and danger.
,hom peril is an every day companion,
A Who turn their backs on fear.
n Is one thing TO sit in parlor car ana
=. nj the landscape flying by as II it
r.rs A panorama instead OF nature itself
!. 4. altogether a different matter to look
u, ,he window Of an engine cab far ahead
lawn the cleaning rails not knowing al
vhst minute something of tremendous i'm
o,,,nce may happen. knowing that a
,,osen rail may turn the great, living
Are.thing machine into total wreck with
IN thirty seconds.
FIR this reason, 1t is OF more than pass
hur interest TO know what the engineer
thjnss how he feels, and whether he real
|iv h. made different from other men by
iife that combines danger and monotony,
HE that makes 1t necessary that nerves
should he forgotten, while at the same time
rarvo is n prereduislte. The sooty face
RAJ looks out at you from the engine cab
4, YOU watch the train slowly slide into
he station and alongside the platform on
which you stand. may give no sign OF the
fact that not more than ten minutes pc
fore death, sudden and awful. has looked
,nto II. 1t is very apt 10 he the case, how
byer. but the engineer becomes in time as
massive as the great boiler seems. Danger
IA expects, and death and danger SO ham
IN hand.
Think Of travelling at the rate OF liz an
hour. Only once III the entire history OF
railroads has the feat ever been accom-
blished. The bearers Of this record are
Engine No. 500. that most famous OF Ameri-
IAN locomotives. and its driver. John
Hogan. 1t all happened on the tracks of
lhe New York Central, between Syracuse
Il Ind Buffalo. This is what Engineer Hogan
* bays:
TO travel along the rails at the rate of
IL miles an hour is as near like flying as
nything can think Of. When We got
* outside Of Syracuse and began TO crowd on
IN team, we shook Just as II %e had been
|< It sea. / tell you felt excited. as we
ia ladually put ON steam and | knew we
'5f$34 we're getting closer and closer to a point
H3}b u speed that had never been passed by
KY my engine. Faster and faster we went,
Nh ny heart beating like trip hammer. The
" rountry and the towns on each side OF the
Il rack didn't seem like anything but strcaks
y II seemed 10 me MS II everything had gone
( put Of my head but Just the power 10 watch
that steam guage and TO keep track of that
bpeed When we reached the hundred mile
an hour pace knew all records had been
broken. Old 800 and John Hogan had gone
faster than any engine and engineer had
ever Travelled. felt sense of eNhiiiration
ana pride such as | never experienced be-
lore or since. Then came the desire 10 see
whatwe really could do. II seemed 70 uo
ns II would almost burst 81 saw that
every condition was favorable to n won
derful run, and | had n good excuse for it,
For We were little behind time.
"a little NOR pressure and the engine
Jumped forward MS il ii were alive. The
rush Of wind outside the cab was so like
gale that felt We must be in storm.
lie hundred and Ave, six. seven, eight.
hen nine and ten miles, began TO Won
ler what on earth we were going 20 do,
whether We would ever find a limit, and
YES so intoxicated with the success that We
nad achieved that ! made UP my mind to
10 all that was possible.
Az last there came n moment when
knew We We're doing all that we could.
md can't tell you how sorry 1t made me
eel to flnd that limit, We were running
Al the rate OF lie miles an hour and my
heart sank when after FIVE miles we had
70 Slow down to the hundred rate. But.
va as 1t may seem. really did not realize
"na' had been done until we came to Il
cead stop in Buffalo. and then 1t all came
over me. Say. was as weak as a cat.
ilat Ia how ii feels to ride at the rate OF
~ miles an hour"
ihe night run of the Empire State OK
KIess from New York to Albany is one of
y. w pest known and most trying runs out
:, Mew York City. This is the star train
ue New York Central. Nothing must
:. peiinit'ed To interfere with Its progress.
s ~ must be on time. All these things the
,h ,n..er mas TO face when he pulls the
r,n V' w. al Forty second street, and the
lna. coward the Harlem river begins. He
sx,, ne must make from fifty three to
A.; i've miles an hour, and that acct
er.,,, IN 10 be avoided under any and all
th, mi. Instances. William Marley makes
snn,, run three times one week and four
tau "WWyeY said he. when he talked of The
hs,, nat ne accomplished so often. "Why,
forc. u, got any at all. II you mean the
hAvs sna' makes you tremble. l guess l
b. ,,, sot some other kind. or ! wouldn't
In sn.a this engine. don't mind tell
no fos. 'hat a man In this business wants
perva.h an about the fact that he's got
hs 49,. They would only interfere with
ali .A' On the run like the one have,
ana % uan can do is to watch his engine
In ma ahead on time. When man is
only or cap OF his engine. he has eyes for
a. yns thing. and that is possible dan
lockou, Know that I am always on the
Sheth". tor II, and ! always would be,
cypress = was running the Empire State |
sTha,or local only three miles out.
b iocors sense OF responsibility felt |
hsts nnN' engineers unlike that which |
The fay p'n man In any other business |
lhe liyes .na, one man Is responsible for |
hin caro, y, hundreds, is enough to make |
the eny,ei. ON fast train like ! run |
ting ssa always has that sense of get
you bou newhere quickly, and / can't tell |
Nays bs. satisfactory 1t Is. Then he al |
Il ju,t IS me feeling of power. Somehow |
/ -" IA