The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-16
QUEEN vIOroRIA's ENGINEER.
Precautions Taken to Safeguard Her
Railway Journeys.

Everybody knows that extra care IS ex-
ercised whenever her Majesty travels by
rail-" remarked George Lasham. Familiarity
known among railway men as the Queens
driver" to the writer one day recently,
but few people realize how. thoroughly and
complete are the precautions taken TO
g GER" against any anu e'e'' ''1
Mr.. Lasham, it may. be explained, has
driven the royal special over the Lon
don & Southwestern system for nearly for
ty years, and is therefore an authority on
the subject. Quite recently on his retire.
ment from active service he was presented
by her Majesty with a beautiful silver
salver deliberately chased and engraved
with the royal arms.
mo matter how short the distance may be,
the engine and tender attached to the
special are carefully examined by the chief
locomotive superintendent A pilot engine
precedes the train, all ordinary traffic is
suspended and the line for the whole dis
lance is watched by relays of plate layers.
To the driver are given the most explicit
instructions as TO speed, stoppages ETC., TO
disregard any one OF which would be to
court instant dismissal. Printed instruc-
lions are given to every official accompany
ing the train, who is strictly forbidden to
give any information respecting the ar
rangements.
the Queen s. special slips along faster than
any other train AS a matter Of fact, 1t is
a standing order that the speed of the
Queens train is never to exceed forty miles
an hour, and it is generally kept well
within even that moderate limit. This lat
ter regulation. however applies only to her
Majesty's special. The Prince of Wales
likes to travel as rapidly as possible, and
he generally has his desire gratitied. II
not, he invariably wants 70 know the rea-
son why.
When any special danger is approached
the ordinary precautions are redoubled.
For Instance, during the dynamite scare In
the jubilee year every piece, of coal used in
the furnace was broken into little bits In
the presence of an official before being
loaded on the tender. and the interior of
the boiler was carefully examined and
scraped. The object was, of course, the
same in both instances-to guard against
the introduction of explosives.
of our own royal family TO bestow extra
remuneration upon the drivers of their
trains. Foreign potentates, however, are
more free handed. Thus Mr.. Lasham re-
counts with a good deal of satisfaction that
he invariably received from the Shah 92O
a trip. Next to that much bejeweled auto
crat in generosity was the late Emperor
Napoleon, whom the Queens driver often
took from Chislehurst to Windsor, and who
was invariably good for a G5 note. 1t
was always delivered inclosed in a sealed
envelope by his Majestys private secre-
tary. This custom his widow, the EN-
press Eugene, kept up until the death of
charter specials"
The number of cigars presented to the
Queens driver by distinguished travellers
is legion. Most of them have long ere now
become dust and ashes, but some of them
have been preserved as souvenirs. Notable
nearly a foot long presented to Mr..
Lasham by the late Gar, and tiny one
not much bigger than cigarette given him
by the Empress of Austria.