The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-06-28

nave ever been erected, an engineer has
to travel over the roads some times for
weeks. with old, experienced engineers,
who know the track, before they will be
trusted with a train. It isn't a question
of engineering ability: merely one Of ex-
perience.
1T is enough to take fellows nerve
to sweep around some of those mountain
curves and passes for the first time.
Some good men never take more than
their first ride. I have seen engineers
come from the east. men Of gilt-edgc
character and ability, who lost Their
nerve with the first trip and took the
first train for f1atter country. Dizzy
reverse curves, trestles that seem To
totter in the wind, precipices that seem
to yawn for a fellows life and grades
that are a revelation of horror to thu
newcomer, crowd in bewildering cori
fusion on the view, and unless fellow
is stold as an OK. or nervy as the dewitt
he is apt to lose his head.
You would be surprised at the numt
Der of young engineers who are on the
mountain roads. For one thing. a man
does not last there as he does on less
picturesque, more prosaic run. 1t takes
youth and strength and courage of a
rare order to stand it at all. The COM
panies are the most appreciative in the
world. for they realize Now hard it is to
get good man, and they treat good
man right royalty. But even this does
not attract surplus of the right sort.
The principal dangers are in the
heavy grades and in the sharp curves.
though landslides are far from unknown.
One must know his train and his road
the <o ,x-;+l y, ~;
on the Marshall Pass, for instance,
where you seem TO plunge headlong
down the mighty hill. A rock on the
track, a broken wheel, runaway car.
or failure Of the brakes to work wouli
end in smash-up that would startle
the whole country. The hill might be 4
glare Of ice or FROST it might be wet Or
snowy, and if you set the air-brake too
hard SO as to start the wheels to sliding
down the hill you go like a gigantic to-
boggan, with death and destruction at
the end Of the ride. The management Of
the air brake and knowing where the
curves and dangerous places are. is the
greatest part Of an engineers education
in the mountains.
For my own part, knowing the dan
gers as l do, feel nervous after riding
of the roads, even as a passenger. 1
rode through the Royal Gorge on the
engine a few weeks ago, and was gla
when the ride was over. 1t makes q
fellow feel trembly-like to think what
might be, though the worst rarely hap
pens. Such is the care taken in equip
ment and in getting the best men, that
the mountain roads have as small pro-
portion of losses as the dead-level roads
of the plains. But it takes man of
nerve to pilot a train through some Of
the wilder regions.
"A freight train is the worst. in that
1t IS much heavier than a passenger, and
IS expected to make almost the same
time All the heavy stock trains going
east, twenty-five to thirty cars. make
passenger schedule. A freight is so
loosely coupled as to be very unmana Sc
able at critical points. The stock trains
are the terror of the engine drivers and
all the train men.
"A fellow isn't necessarily a coward
when he throws up his job as engineer
over the mountain roads, after seeing
what the dangers are Not one paSSen-
ger in ten thousand would assume the
same danger. The position calls for alb
solutely steady nerve, and one who feels
that he is likely to get ratified is dan
gerous to himself, to the company and
to all who ride behind him. A man must
think and act like lightning in the face
of so many dangers that he must be sure
of his ability to stand the strain. No
| one stays any great number of years.
| 1t is beyond ones power to do so, and lie
safe. A man may be brave and willing
and all that, but these are not enough
| He must be sure, and proof against
stampede. Such man is worth every
thing to the companies and they traat
| him like a prince