The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-03
NERVES OF AN ENGINEER.
Fast Trains Wear Them Out an
Make Him Useless.

Make Him Useless.
I PHILADELPHIA, Aug 3-Threc OF
/ four powerful new locomotives were re-
Gently put in service between Philadel-
/ phia and Atlantic City by the Pennsylvd-
mia Railroad. They are Of the class r z
/ type high and deep Chested. but of .he
! long, 1.-THE build Of the grey hound. grace
/ full and as speedy as the wind. Their
driving wheels. Of great height, yet APP
parently light. suggest the limbs Of the
fcotcst Of the canine breed. Specially CON
structed for the sixty-minute flyers %
/ they have been proving their quality on
those stretches Of the road where they
encounter the Reading flyers.
There is a certain excitement due TO
swift passage which makes ride on one
Of these Atlantic City flyers" on both
| roads the fastest trains in the world
pleasurable 20 those in the cars. The more
the wayside scenery becomes a blair the
greater the eXhilaration. 1t is not quite
the same with the man i'm the cab. who Is
responsible for the safe conduct Of the
train The passengers think little in the
comfort and enjoyment Of the dash to the
seaside Of the severe strain put upon the
. engineer by the trains swift flight a
strain that tells in the end more seriously
than would the hardest manual labor.
Slight is the muscular work demanded by
the moving Of the throttle and the ap-
plying OF tho brakes But after that leap
Of less than sixty minutes from the Della
ware to the Atlantic the engineer de
seconds from his cab with the heavy step
Of exhaustion, the elasticity and agility
Of the start all gone.
II Is upon the nervous system that the
work OF the engineer of the flyer bears
I heavily, and 1t is the nerves which first
make sign when the burden becomes too
onerous. The engineer becomes timorous:
he can no longer hold his engine TO her
work. keep her up 10 her schedule speed.
His train persistently falls behind; at
first. perhaps, not a minute in an hour.
but surely the time stretches until il
/ becomes apparent to the engineer that his
days at the throttle Of the flyer are
near an end. a Reading official gives an
instance Of this curious manifestation of
/ loss Of nerve. After service OF twenty
I five years. certain engineer WAS OBJ
served regularly to bring his train in be-
hind time. And the time lost on his runs
stretched until he had TO be given a slow
/ or train There, too, he feu constantly
behind, and finally he had to be taken of
the road and was given a place in the
shops
As a rule. however. engineers realize
when they are losing their nerve, and
then they ask for a slower train. This
loss Of nerve is suffered ultimately by
the stoutest heart But the time gre. tI,-
varies Superintendent Beach, Of the
! Philadelphia division Of the Reading. who
/ is now, owing 20 the illness Of Superin-
Z tendent McCausland, acting superintend-
eut OF the Atlantic City division Saws
that some engineers last on flyers TWEEN
I y years and more, some not that many
! months An engineer IS selected for 4
/ ''nEer'' not because OF experience on an
Z engine, although some experience is o!
/ course. necessary. But sometimes men
I commenu themselves before they are long
/ IN the service by a certain spirit and by
I the manner IN which they handle an en-
Slue. such men are advanced 10 the ca b
Z OF the flyer sooner than men Of much
4 longer experience who. lack the -quaiihca-
ton Of nerve.
1 1t is a fact. said Superintendent Beach
I that the very fast trains are less liable
Z 10 accident than the slower trains The
latter are more prone 10 leave the rails
7 than the former Science, ne added ex-
( plains this by pointing out that greater
/ friction was engendered by faster hight.
! Ihenr TOO, the last train IL not more ex-
posed 10 collision than the slow one But
this has no weight with the engineer The
/ strain imposed by the flyer is greater
/ than by the slower train and is more
I wearing. What though he knows. II is the
feeling which counts. and he feels that
MS place Is less secure on the siXty-ruin
/ ute train than on the twO-hour train.
| Every time H. mounts To the cab his sys-
: TEN Il exposed 90 strain. and In the long
run that strain makes him timid and
forces him 20 give way
What are the sensations experienced
I In the cab OF a flyer? - Mr. Beach said.
/ repeating a question. The veteran eugf-
neer has no unusual sensations. he be-
comes hardened. II il very much like
looking upon the moving picture OF a
landscape which a train is approach
To the green hand the country ahead
seems rushing Upon him and the track TO
be swallowed up. But when he finds the
rushing landscape fall IN order as il aD-
prOaches. and a few rides teach him that
| the danger IS nothing like as great as
appears at first. he begins not 10 mind
and 70 take things as matters OF course ..