The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1898-02-26
hVNTELL, Willie, there is chance

Afternoon, If your chores are all done
and your mother has nothing special for
you to do. The bridge inspectors spe-
cial is due at noon, and we are to take
them as far as Greenfield and return.
We will leave here at one o'clock, and
get back in time for late supper, so,
If you want to go, you know what to
do"
The speaker was George Turner, an
engineer on the ST. Louis division OF
'.the Burlington" with headquarters at
Beardstown.
He was a general favorite with all,
owing not only to his continual good
nature, but he also commanded GER
tain amount of respect from the fact,
admitted by all, that he was the "best
posted" man on machinery in the long
list of engineers.
Although not the oldest man on the
list, his superior ability was always
given the preference, and whenever a
special was to be run over the division,
he was always reserved for it if possible.
The Willie he addressed was his SON
a bright little fellow IA years OF age,
whose greatest ambition was to become
an engineer like his father, and whose
greatest happiness was to be allowed to
ride upon the seat box, with permits
sion to ring the bell or blow the whistle,
as his father directed.
Although still but schoolboy, he was
well yersed in railroad terms and rules,
and could answer nearly every. ques-
ton in the long list of instructions with
which every fireman must be perfectly
familiar before he has any chance OF ad-
vancement. He knew all the signals,
could name all the registering points
on the division, and could tell the diff
ference between straight" and slime
orders, with the ease of an old and ex-
perienced engineer.
1t is therefore almost unnecessary to
state that very soon after his father
finished speaking, Willie's unfinished
chores were all completed and his moth
er's consent obtained, and when, after
dinner, his father picked up his lunch
bucket and started for the roundhouse,
he was accompanied by the happiest
boy in Beardstown.
On arriving at the roundhouse, Willie
was as much interested as his father
when the roundhouse foreman in
formed them that it would be impos-
sible to take out his regular engine, ow-
ing to the fact that No. 4s, the noon
passenger, had come in with cripple"
and his engine had been sent out in her
place, and he would have to take 372.
The 372 was a new engine, but a short
time out of the shop, and was not yet
well broken in.
She was. built on the modern mogul,
or Class H, style, with three drivers on
each side, and was intended for heavy
work. The difference between this
style of an engine and the Class A and B,
our common engines. is simply in their
size and general dimensions-th cir
conference of their boilers, the amount
of heating surface and the number of
pounds of steam they carry.
Owing to the fact that they cannot be
made much wider, on account of all
tracks having standard width, the
difference is made in the length of the
boiler, it extending back entirely
through the cab, with the boiler head
close up to the tender, and leaving only
small passageway on each side.
In one of these-the right one-seat-
ed on very small swing seat, literally
'cooped up" the engineer must ride
and handle the engine; and though the
left one is intended for the fireman, he
seldom has an opportunity to use it,
for these engines, pulling heavy trains,
use so much coal and water that he is
kept busy breaking and shoveling coal,
working the injector, or doing some one
of the countless things always neces-
sary to make her steam we'll"
Thus, you see, it is almost impossible
for the engineer and fireman to see one
another, let alone talk to one another,
for the engineer would be compelled to
turn around to do so, and thus take his
eye off the track before him.
But fast time" is the only watch.
word known to railroad companies, es-
pecially in their passenger service, and
everything else must be sacrificed to
make it, and no engineer enjoys any
thing SO much as new engine to run
and chance to break some other mans
record. So the delight was not all Will
lies, as he and his father, after signing
the register in the Office, climbed up into
the cab of 372, to make the necessary
preparations for the run.
They found Sam Ruskin, the fireman,
there before them, and in another mo-
ment the ''hostler" appeared, and they
were soon out upon the side track, wait
ing for the special to arrive.
Turner smiled eoInplacently to him.
self as he watched Willie moving around
with an air of settled proprietorship.
He examined the valve Uear f;ua<1 N.