Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-07-10
AN ENGINES. LIFE.
Usually About As Long as That Of a
Horse.
So.he Of the Odd Accidents That Happen to
10. Rolling Stock.


Rolling stock" said the train man,
''is a good deal like animals. 1t gets
out OF order and has to be doctored. It
has accidents and has to be fixed up.
1t grows old and finally goes to the
potter's field. where it returns to its
elements. 1t makes no difference
whether 1t be locomotive, a passen-
ger car. freight caboose or a trolley
they all run their little careers and
then the world knows them no more
How long do different kinds of roll
ing stock last?" I asked.
1T Is much easier to ask than to an
swer that question" he replied. Luck
has great deal to do with it. Not
long ago we had a new car which he'd
not been in use more than a week. 1t
was standing on siding and a freight
train passed it on the main track. The
contents of one Of the freight cars had
been badly slowed, or something hap
pened. no one will probably ever ex-
actly know how, and long bar Of
metal protruded sideways 80 as to pro-
ject like spear from the side Of the
car. 1t struck the side of the new car
and ripped it into fragments. The en-
gineer. of course. stopped the train, but
the damage was done. The new car
was practically ruined and had to be
sent back to the repair shop, where it
was taken to pieces and a new frame
work made for it.
This style of accident is more COM
mon than you outsiders ever dream OF.
You travel on passenger trains for
which the road is kept perfectly clear
and you never know the immense
amount of work done upon sidings,
switches in ear yards. round houses
and repair shops. Then there are the
unavoidable accidents which shorten
the life of stock.
Hot boxes will sometimes start a
small fire. heavy humping will loosen
the frame work, rough roadway will
loosen the nuts, careless or thoughtless
people injure sensitive parts. and then
there are flaws in metal which science
has not yet been able to prevent.
1T may be in the Wheels of the axle.
which means injury or destruction to a
car or train. 1t may be in the con-
Meeting rod of the locomotive which
frequently involves death and disaster.
or it may be in the Orders of bridge
or viaduct
II recall one case where one Of the
best freight trains on the road was
running along on clear track upon an
embankment. 1t was in December and
the frost or the conclusion Of years
travel. or both together, had made the
rails brittle. One of them snapped at
two places. so that the fishplates were
of no benefit.
1.-The car. which was the third from
the tender, went off the track, and
after it went all the other cars. They
rolled down the embankment and when
they got done rolling they were not Of
any great utility to the company.
That danger used to be quite common.
in the manufacture of steel and the no.
pound rails of today are SO much
stronger than the 80, 40 and 50-pound
rails of the old days that most OF the
newer men in the cab have forgotten
all about the peril which used to keep
| their predecessors looking ahead quite
lively.
THE finest thing on wheels Is the
engine. He's just like a horse. He is
groomed every day with far more care
than is given to the average trotter or
runner. unless it be some race track
star. Now that l think of it. his life is
just about as long Horses break down
when they are young. and so do en-
gines A good horse will do his work
up to the time he is Is years old, and so
will a locomotive.
| "A few horses keep in harness 20
wears, and so do some locomotives.
But there the engine begins to beat the
| horse. I never heard Of horse that
| worked after he was q, and there are
| two or three old engines now in this
country that are still doing something
for their living at 80 years Of age. En-
gines have more risks than horses. and
they don't average as we'll as horses.
"Of 100 locomotives that come out of
the works suppose they'll average II
years apiece. They go to the repair
| shop every now and then because
company can't work an engine to death
as a man can work horse. Some