The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-07-16
RUNNING FAST TRAINS.
A Talk With an Engineer Who is
Famous for the Speed He Makes.

A Talk With an Engineer Who is
Famous for the Speed He Makes.
Indianapolis Journal.
Just now the interest of the travelling
public seems to centre in fast time and
in answer to its demand all of the great
railroad lines are putting on flying trains.
Within the past two weeks this has been
done by the Pennsylvania, the Lake
Shore. the Vandalia and the Big Four.
The time of the flyers on all these roads
is exceptionally fast. but the best time
is probably made by the Big Four be-
tween here and Cincinnati, the road con-
Meeting 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 Indi-
annapolis every day and is known officially
as train No. IL.
The exceptional time that No. II 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 fer over twenty years, during
which time he has made some records
that will 60 down in railroad history.
He has gained such a reputation as a
fast runner that to railroad men every
where he is known as the wild Dutch
think he was either careless or reckless,
but this Is far from being true. because
during all his service he has never had
wreck and is one Of the most conser-
vative of men. Before Maggie ran on the
Cincinnati division of the road he went
between here and Kankakee. 1t was
while making this run that ahead OF my
schedule but what I have gained here
will lose on some other part of the road
that is not so good. An instance of this
kind happens coming from Cincinnati
here. For about forty miles out the road
is rather rough and on account of the
grades-for the smallest of them will take
away from an engines speed-it is hard
to make any Roadway. but after this
there is a slight incline given to the road
ali the rest of the way and as there are
only two stops the entire distance, which
is sixty nine miles. is made In a few
minutes over an hour In making fast
runs it Is in the stops and slow-dows
where an engine loses time. You take,
for instance, a train that has to be
brought to a dead standstill; 1T will re-
quire as high as ten minutes before II
can be got well under way again. and
when you are going at sixty miles an
hour ten minutes counts great deal.
1T seems singular, but to a person
who Is associated with engines all the
time they almost seem alive. This is on
account Of the sensitive machinery about
them. You can't any more say what kind
of time an engine is going to make when
you start out with it than you can tell
how a race horse is going to run. Some
days when you take the machine out 1t
will worry along, and you can't get it to
running right during the whole trip, and
then at other times it will start off per-
fectly smooth and YOU will have no trou-
bic whatever. The weather has much to
do with the way an engine works. When
the atmosphere is damp and cold and the
oil is thick, the machinery works much
harder than in dry, warm weather, when
the oil remains thin. Then there Is the
difference in coal: some engines will burn
one kind better than another. And the
way the wind blows also has much to do
with the speed that is made.