The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-09-28
THE MAN AT THE THROTTLE
Life Of the Engineer IFull Of Anxiety
and Responsibility.
Chicago Tribune.

If you have ever gone to the rail!
road station at night to take limit
ed train perhaps you have noticed the
great, throbbing locomotive that stands
putting al the front as if impatiently
waiting the pull of the lever that
opens the throttle. If you approached
it you would find its great wheels tow.
cred above you foot or more, twelve
inches if you were six feet high. You
would see the great steel arms that
run to the steam cylinders; you would
see the long glistening boiler: back Of
that, if you stretched your neck up
ward little you would see the cngi-
neers cab and still further to the rear
a sudden burst Of light might indicate
that the door of the fircbox had just
been opened to add fuel to the roaring
blaze that was converting the water
into steam.
Ahead Of you, the railroad yards,
with their shining tracks would
stretch out in the glare of the electric
headlight. You might attempt to
speak, too, but you would have to use
the full force Of your lungs to make
yourself heard, for the then inanimatc
thing is not one Of silence.
Then you might discover the sngi-
neer. In all probability he would be
moving quietly around the great mon
ster, his long oil can in one hand and
wrench in the other, making his last
careful examination of his stced be-
fore he started out on the journey
on which he held the destinies Of hun
dreds. If you could see under his
cap, it is likely that you would find
his hair was gray or turning to that
color. Talk with him, and you will
find him calm, cool headed and capa-
BILE of great self-rcstraint. His sober
face would tell you that he realized
his responsibility; his eye, that he
was ready to meet any emergency Of
it. The arm in that faded blue jacket
is always near the throttle and air
brake; that eye ever on the rail.
Chicago is the radiating as well as
objective point of scores OF fast limit
ed3express trains. To the North, to
the South, to the East and to the
West, the great engines, pulling the
long, heavy trains, speed at o rate
that frequently reaches sixty miles an
hour, one mile in sixty seconds.
Every railroad Of Importance hiss it's
limited trains; the rule Of oil is:
"Make the run as quickly and with
as few stop as is possible!" Realiz-
ing that in the present day time is
money, the railroads do not hesitate
to spend money to saIA time. The
most powerful and most expensive To-
comotives are purchased. They are
indeed expensive necessities, their
original cost is excessive, running up
to $40, 900 for one engine; the cost of
maintenance and repairs is heavy;
their consumption Of coal absolutely
large. their average life on the limit
ed NOT moro than two years, when they
must be relegated to use in pulling
slower trains, and finally to the scrap
iron pile.
The locomotives generally used on
the limited trains are compounds,
known as the Atlantic type. They diff
fer mostly from the ordinary locomo.
tive in their great size and the fact
that they are compound engines, that
is, having the high and low pressure
cylinders, which permit q greater
speed to be attained.
The approximate weight of such q
type Of locomotive is $1,000 pounds,
or 100 tons, exclusive of the tender.
The tender, when laden with coal,
weighs $50, 900, bringing the total Of
the locomotive and tender up to $780,
600 pounds, or IT'S tons. The boilers
carry normally 22O pounds of steam.