The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-09-02

the ran. Wilt gums az ~PNO'
The oldest locomotive engineer IN the
country. perhaps in the world, said that
TO me the other day in the course OF a
conversation.
It was Rufus H. Horton. Almost every
old Ralpichite knows him, and many OF
the new ones, too. He actually ran trains
on the old wooden rails and still lives
TO tell about it. His run was on the old
Raleigh and Castor, now part OF u
Seaboard Air Line system.
They gave up the wooden rails, MI.
Horton says, in 1851, so you see ne Is
talking of way back, in the very baby
hood of railroading.
Lots Of folks now don't know what
those wooden rails were. They consist
cd of h, avy wooden timbers lald paral-
lcl to form the track. On these tllnbers
we're spiked the fiat iron rails, called
strap iron.
Naturally, as the track wore, the ten
dcncy was for the spikes TO become zoos
cncd and the ends of the rails would
warp up, and be caught by the WheelS Oh
the locomotive. Then they would either
break off. be knocked to one side, or run
straight over the Wheel into the engine
and cars.
i've been bruised up by them many
Il tlIIlt, iid -hi'
thcrt 30 catch up a wheel and so clean
throi.h q coach; but no passenger was
over Killed by one GA Il train | was run
ring.
"Whan first commenced running, the
old track had seen in use several years,
and il was somewhat worn. That was in
-. TIL track Nas relaid with U-iron
rails in .. and they remained for TWEEN
~ years, when they put down the Trails.
There was a big dispute in those days as
TO which was best, the U-rails or the
Trails. The U-rails had a grove down
the middle. That's why they call it the
U-rail.
"Ah. I tell you, railroading in those
DAYS was not like what it is now con-
tinued the old gentleman, in a ruminat-
ing way.
1--WE had no headlights. no cabs to
protect the engineer, no seat for him to
sit on. TO steam guage, no blower, no
strainer to the feed pipe. [ ran ten
years like that.
when we filled the boiler we had to
keep running all the time. so
as to get pumping force. We couldn't
take water standing still like We dc now.
"The road was under the control Of
the State then and it was governed by
politics. The president was changed with
the administration.
"You've seen that model of the old
Volcano at the cOmpany's shops in Ports
mouth. haven't you?"
l said that I had, and told the truth.
well, 1 used to run hat old engine,
and I've turned broadside with her more
than once, too
what aver became of the original Of
that model. I asked.
30, she got broken all to pieces years
ana years ago. There's nothing Of her
left now. We only had five like that.
The other four were the Whirlwind. the
Tornado. the Tempest and the Spitfire.
That model in Portsmouth was sent to
The Atlanta Exposition. Albert Johnson
built it. He used to be my master me-
chanic.'
The veteran engineer was rather 10th
TO talk about himself. but l asked him
lots Of question, and he was too polite
to refuse to answer me.
He went INTO the service Of the road
known as the Raleigh and CASTOR and
pow the seaboard Air Line III 1916. He
vas then only eighteen years old.
In November, 1917, he was given
an engine, and from that time he
ran as engineer continuously until the
- "a 'a
' ~ ~
et ~
i ca" anu " i"'
thirty-tiVe years he pulled passenger
trains between here and Portsmouth.
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