The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-12-01
SUICIDE OF s26.
THE LoconorrvE THAT JUST
pfHED AWAY.


FOE man a. ls good 10 her ~ dont
soss her afonn' segy much, Ny b. IL.
has tssa backed ap By = Teosng hap.
penln on our rad
Jim Organ sas one 81 the oldest
snsinesn on our line o. leok great
pride Ia the machine he ran. o. kspl
hsF bright n sAinia'. OF sax 20 Il that
the hFsman Kept her -, never eofks
In a locomotive any harder than no
actual business Al head called foF. he
had besn rannin' old 1st about too
years beiore his death. ~ In ny 10.
lief che Eoi more nrmly attached 10
him than she ala la any train % care
she ever dFvw.
well. air. although ass sas one Of
the bssi pieces ~ machinery IN the
roads equipment while Jim had her.
makih' fast time With tho heaviest
trains II Puiimans. after his death
none % the men could DO hoihih' With
her, nhs ~ouldn't steam. n hsF every
eahaasi sas like the sob q a leadin'
lady Who has Loot her pet dog, Tho
steel on her boiler n her ulmmin's
took on . chastity. Erayish hue.
she wasn't worth her salt. hohow.
The nnad foreman ~ engines hnaily
seni for me n told me he'd decided
10 turn her over TO me n Murphy 10
see What ~e could DO With her. Muir.
ply n meseif bein' sort Of locomotive
trained nurses n se,tin' all tho lame.
halt n blind locomotives on the road
10 hraoe up
Murphy dldn't like u. n Just en-
pressed bis opinion 10 me.
They might Just a. veil put that
7ss on the scrap heap. hrst a. last
says Murphy. -Tsini no use ~as,in'
oil n fuel on her 10 make her DO
work. She's Just plnin' away for Jim
crcgan. n that's all there 10 10 a.
4 Mas ~ the same opinion myself.
but ! wasn't Eoin' To give Muff tho
satisfaction 81 hayin' me sidin' With
him.
We took her. but we didn't have
any success with her. II jus, seemed
A. n she Sheczed N anorted like an
old woman Al a wake
she had one of the finest noundln'
chime whistles N vas q delight 10 the
ear you ever heard. After Jim died.
the steam nd seem TO oondense o.
suthin' just A. IL was enterin' the
whistle bell n the whistle would let
out IN awful shrek. endln' up with q
sound like wringin' out q dishcloth.
Things went on this way until she
laid down on the road with me q oou
pie o. times when we had an impor-
tant train. n the engine dispatcher.
who was rather a nard.hearted man.
not goin' much on sentiment. lost all
patience. was standln' alongside Of
her seem that her journals were cool
n everything was rhipshape on her
after fnishin' a trip when the engine
dispatcher came along by the turn
table
We'll. Portiy.' he says to me. I've
given up all thought OF ever tryin' TO
reform old 32e n get her out OF her
slovenly ways After you come In with
her tomorrow she goes on the work
train
This was pretty hard lines. n you
bet II was a self-respectin' n tidy
passenger locomotive n was relegated
to a dirty. slowpoke job OF haulin
dagoes aroun' Ike that II would be the
last straw for me. Anyway, 'twan't
any OF my obsequies. I'd done the
best could to brace up 326. n 30 !
moseyed along home.
"The next mornin' ! came leisurely
down through the round house n
stopped minute by the pilot Of 326 to
pass a few words with the round house
foreman.
Yes says. it's too bad for such
fine machine as old 326 was. Copely
says that she's TO go on the work train
tomorrow
Il no mors'n got the words out OF
my mouth when the foreman n
we're startled to hear 1926 begin TO ex-
haust n back toward the rear wall OF
the round house. tried to grab the
pilot n climb on, but she got away
from me n backed through the brick
wall like one OF the big college teams
would go through the line of prep
school team in the present game of
association football.
Back Of the round house was big
ravine, n tank over cowcatcher
proud old 326 rolled to her, destruc-
ton. As she was backin' through the
rear wall a brick or suthin must a
got caught n weighted to her whistle
cord. n the most doleful screech went
up from her whistle as she rolled
down that ravine.
There wasn't enough left OF 1926 to
run a merry-go-round. Somehow or
other she slipped her throttle n
backed through that wall. but it's my
opinion that 1876 just natchely COM
mitted suicide, or mebbe her throttle
was pulled by the spirit Of Jim Cregan
when he heard of her fate.
Now, what do you think Of that?"
m. Y. Sun.