Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-02-07
Plucky c. & N. w. superintend-
ent Shows His Trainmen
What Can Be Done
PRArlcAL DEMONSTRATION
In the Face of Many Difficulties, Super
ntendent Beck Takes Engineers
Place on 15o-MiIe Run and by Max
ing Up SIS Minutes Arrived at Desti-
nation on Schedule Time.
special to Times-Republican

Special to Times Republican.
Webster City, Feb. 7.-One of the
most interesting railroad incidents
that has come to the notice of the press
for some time occurred yesterday on
the Northern Iowa division of the Chi
cago & Northwestern when Superin-
tendent Beck showed the boys the
kind of stuff he is made of and at the
same time gave practical demonstra-
ton of modern railroading by pulling
Chicago passenger train No. 3 from
Eagle Grove to Hawarden, distance
of $50 miles.
Mr.. Beck has been at the head of
this division only a year and While
young man to hold so responsible a po-
sition he. Isl thoroughly equipped in
every element that goes to make up a
wide awake and hustling railroad man.
| Under his supervision many improve
ments have been made and new equip
ments brought to his division so that
| the service has steadily advanced to
meet the demands of the public. New
til the service is first class with one
single exception; the trains are nearly
always late III cold and stormy weather
and it seemed Impossible to remedy
the discrepancy During the past few
weeks north bound passenger train
has rarely pulled in on time and the
company and its management We're be-
ing severely criticised by the public.
1t seems that Superintendent Beck
has exerted every imaginable effort to
remedy the evil and that he has been
greatly chagrined by the persistent
failure which met every plan adopted
He became impatient whens Informed
by the engineers that the time was lost
by making connections With belated
trains on the main line and that 1t was
impossible to make 1t up. With all the
superntendent's Impotence matters
continued to grow worse instead OF
better.
At the most inopportune time imag-
Unable to make the practical test of his
own skill as well as the mechanical
possibilities of the engines, he selected .
yesterday with the mercury 10 degrees
below zero and the track badly drifted |
in with snow, to show his trainmen
thing or two.
When the Chicago passenger train, I
run as No. over his division. reached /
Eagle Grove at about 1870 p m, 90
minutes late, who should appear at the
station platform but Superintendent I
Beck, clad in the blue overalls and
jacket of an engineer and mounted on
the engine that was to pull No. to
Hawarden, $50 miles west. The. reg
ular engineer was invited to take
seat in the passenger coach and IN t
formed that Superintendent Beck was
going to try his hand at the throttle
and see Ii the train could make up any
time against the cold and snow The
track on this division is not the best,
1t being merely a spur OF the main
line. AS the conductor gave the SUI
perintendent orders to pull out the
train was exactly SIS minutes behind
schedule time. Ordering his fireman
to give him plenty of steam Beck en-
tered upon the mad race to Vindicate
his often urged proposition that 1t was
possible to run trains over his division
on time. Before the train had left the
yards he had the throttle wide open
and was rushing thru the crisp winter
air at a speed of fifty miles an houc.
1t took lots of coal but his faithflll
fireman was equal to the emergency
and when the train pulled out of Hum
boldt. the second station west. it was
just AZ minutes late. Then began a
mad race across long strip Of western
snow clad prairie. The fireman de-
clares the engine touched only the
high places.
When the train whistled and slowed
down for Hawarden, the end of the
division, it was evident to all that the
race had been won as the train came !
to dead stop at exactly its scheduled
time. The steam from the engine was
pulsating as regularly as the breath
Of human being and every part was +
In working order. The superintendent ]
had won and as he stepped from the {
cab he was warmly congratulated by
trainmen and passengers alike. The
engineer who had been riding in
coach all this time, came forward and
vowed that never again would he pull
No. into Hawarden behind time.
Superintendent Beck returned to his ,
duties in Eagle Grove on night train,
none the worse for his trip, but with
4 firm determination that from this
time on trains should run more regu- !.
arly on his division.