The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-04

The ESQ., had been in trouble almost
from the first day she ever turned
wheel and her troubles ran the gamut
of the possibilities in the locomotive dis
aster line. from the simple derailment
of her pony truck at the yard limit
switch when the passenger was due, to
the oft-repeated yet never successful
experiment of two trains running full
speed IN opposite directions trying to
pass each other on the same pair of
rails. The innumerable failures Of this
experiment did not deter the 80" and
whenever a head-end collision occurred
on the South Park the usual interroga-
\ toin was, "Who was on the so and how
badly was she damaged?" For though
1T always takes two engines to make
a head-end collision, the record of the
800 was such that without inquiries
as to whether or not, she was conceded
beforehand as one of the two. Through
out the mountain roads of Colorado
she was known as the South Park
HoodOo" and the sobriquet was we'll
earned If an engine struck a landslide
it was the $50; anything standing on
the track and chashed into by the pas
senger was sure to be the 90, unless,
as occasionally happened, the so WIS
pulling the passenger and herself did
the crashing. She had great reputa-
invariably followed the discovery with
a plunge into a bed Of the mountain
ravine along which the road ran. But
out of all these scrapeS she would
emerge from the back shop with all
traces Of her recent disaster removed.
but still holding her reputation, while
her luckless crew would yet be in the
hospital or had been consigned to the
scrap heap for all time.
Was a Sewing Machine"
She was one of the many Mason en-
gines purchased by the South Park and
was of the type designated in the YER
nacular of the road as sewing machines
from having their eccentric gear out
side the main and side rods. All odd
looking locomotive to eyes not acclls-
toned to them, but certainly popular,
as a class. among enginenen, because
OF thesr easy riding qualities, This pop
ularity extended to the "50'' until such
time as she acquired unto herself the
reputation Of a man killer.
1t is to be regretted that a complete
record of her sins has not been kept,
but such as are at hand will Demon
strate that it was no idle superstition
that caused a Qualm of trepidity to the
men when called to make trip on her,
and as the engines were run in the
chain-g gang system every crew on the
road had a turn with the 80" They
knew that, whatever the cause. she had
been wrecked more times than all the
other engines on the road, and her
proverbial ill-luck was such as to bring
to the most intrepid runners a feeling
as if they were going to their own fu-
neral when Tcalled for her.
Her IGrst Misadventure.
On her frsW trip she left the rail
through some pretext or other. with d
heavy train OF. ore and on a down graC>
and after some days the wrecke-S
found her IN the bottom Of the canyon
the underdog, in pile Of debris that
had once constituted a train OF cars
with its laGling. They also found San
Willard, the engineer, with his left leg
cooked TO the knee, where it had beer
pressed against the boiler head by the
coal pile sam was alive. and recov'
cred, but Bin Redding, his fireman, haC
been killed right away. as one of th'
wreckers expressed it. Sam haC
his leg amputated and about
year later again appeared for work. j
is a strange coincidence that Sam los
his left leg on the "50's" maiden trip
and lost his right leg on the same en-
CINE on the lasC trip she ever made OF
the South Park. Sans last 1nishap wa
in a collision where he was about t
jump before they struck, but he wa