The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-08-06

OF the great railroad lines are putting
on flying trains. Within the past two
weeks this has been done by the Penn
sylvania, the Lake Shore, the Fandalia
and Big Four. The time of the flyers
on all Of these roads is exceptionally
fast, but the best time is probably
made by the Big Four between here
and Cincinnati, the road connecting
these two points, as engineers agree,
being one of the finest stretches Of
track in the country. The train that
makes this fast time comes into In
dianapolis every day and is known Off
cially as train No. II.
The exceptional time that No. IL
makes is largely due to the efforts and
skill of William Nagle, the engineer,
who is one Of the Oldest and most
trusted employees Of the road. He
has had charge Of an engine for over
q years, during which time he has
made some records that will go down
in railroad history. He has gained
such reputation as fest runner
that to railroad men everywhere he is
known as the wild Dutchman,"
which name might lead people to think
that he is either careless or reckless,
but this is far from being true, be-
cause during ell his service he has
never had wreck and IS one Of the
most conservative Of men. Before
Nagle ran on the Cincinnati division
Of the road he went between here and
Kankakee. It was while making this
run that he made one of the fastest
trips, going the entire distance, which
is 172 miles, in two hours and thirty
five minutes, including ten stops and
number of slowdowns that took up
the entire IS minutes. This made
him 60 at the rate Of sc miles an hour
over the whole way. Another record
he made that railroad men always talk
about when fast time is referred to
was two years ago, when he went from
uCIC " AL lOui du0 Of
minutes, with an ordinary train. This
was on special occasion, however,
and there were no stops. The fastest
single mile he ever went was in AZ
seconds, which is at the rate of 80
miles an hour.
Mr.. Nagle was asked If there was
any certain trick in the running Of
fast trains, and replied
''There is no difference in the run
ming Of the fast train and the slow
one. There is one thing that man
should remember, though, and that is
not to get nervous, no matter what
turns up before him. The engineers
who run the flyers must also be men
Of quick decision, because little wav-
ering on their part might cause bad
wreck. If it is the engineers opinion
that the train should be stopped he
should do 80 at once; but if he thinks
he can get through, then all right
throw her open and 60 through, but
don't hesitate. The success in run
ming fast trains lies in the one fact of
keeping your mind on what you are
doing and not getting excited when
something turns up unexpectedly be-
fore you. An engineer must always
be ON his guard, for going over the
ground at sixty or seventy miles an
hour he must act quickly when the
time comes, as there is no chance to
consider what is best to do.
'The engine run makes from ten
to twelve miles faster time than is or
dinarily run. To do this I have got
to know every foot Of the road be-
tween here and Cincinnati. For in
knowing the track can tell just
where the long stretches Of level road
are before l get to them, and in this
way l can calculate just where 1 can
make up any little time that I might
have lost at the beginning Of the trip
In some places in making run l will
go way ahead of my schedule, but
what have gained here | will lose on
some other par. Of the road that is not
80 good. An instance Of this kind
happens coming from Cincinn i here.
For about forty miles out the road is
rather rough, and on account Of the
grade-for the smallest of them will
take away from an engines speed-it
is hard to make any headway, but af-
ter this there is slight incline given
to the road all the rest Of the way,
and as there are only two stops, the
entire distance, which is sixty nine
miles, is made in few minutes over
an hour. In making fast runs it is
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