New-York tribune., 1905-08-06
PART IV.
EIGHT PAGES.


a.. sis,ence Of more than mile minute is
e.,-,,q enough for most travellers when they
: aeol, installed on velvet cushions within
.Ao s,ss, frames Of heavy Pullman cars. They
-, ,brius on the straght-away prairie stretches
- a., the curves 70 give them something to
- shout for weeks afterward Although these
.,,s, trains have been running for six weeks
-or sna have fully demonstrated their ability
= ,,osr IN 70 their high pressure schedules, the
,,.,-es, Of the passengers has I'm no way grown
-. end they still hold their watches on the
,,pss for most Of The waking hours.
=, there IS excitement and thrill back in the
,orr,roans. what must the sensation he in the
osb ~ the locomotive? If you have been fortu-
,ate enough 10 see the spectacle of one OF the
eighteen hour trains speeding past at mile
srs q haif a minute or some such speed. you
must have noticed that, while the heavy cars
seemed 10 ride steadily enough. the engine at
,ha head of the train was tossing and rolling
and jumping about like a small boat in a tide
rin.
What. then, is the portion Of the engineer and
fireman in the racing machine OF blue black
steel?
Through the courtesy Of the traffic manage
u1ent Of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern
Railroad. Tribune reporter secured the neces-
ssry signatures TO a scrap of paper which sig
The speediest division on the run of the Twen-
tieth Century Lmited-that between Cleveland
and Buffalo, a distance Of 1S7 miles-was Sc
lected for the experience.
At $50 o'clock that night The Tribune corre-
spondent was in the smoky. high arched train
shed Of the Cleveland station, searching for the
engine which was hook on 10 No. &c at $50
o'clock replacing engine which had drawn
the flyer from Toledo, and rush away 10 Buffalo.
He found the engine undergoing final groom
ing on a short switch at the edge Of the shed.
where IS the engineer" the reporter asked
the fireman who hung out Of the narrow plat
form between cab and tender.
The fireman pointed along the track where the
legs OF man clad IN blue denim projected from
a tangle OF machinery.
Hes olin her vitals." said the fireman
Hell crawl out soon and then you can talk to
him"
Presently the engineer did crawl out and into
his cab He was John Sohlinger Of CoIlinwood
Ohio. veteran Of thirty-five years on the Lake
Shore, a rolypoly man, abounding IN gruf good
nature and decorated with a short cropped mus
tsche and pair OF eyes sharp as pin points
lie has a record for fast running that is not ex-
oeHed by any engineer on the New-Yorls Central
lines.
He had the fireman read the permit with the
sid OF a glaring light from the frebox-
II reckon you'll get enough OF II tween here
and Buffalo" he said "Climb aboard"
BRACING ONES SELF IN THE CAB.
The fireman Bland Moelk. also OF Collinwood
well knit young giant, handsome as the
men Gibson draws, showed The Tribune man to
his own seat on the left side OF the cab. He in
dicated how the feet should be braced 10 pre-
vent being tossed out OF the low window on
curve OF on the floor OF the cab II the engine
tilted the other way. He rummaged around the
cab until he found an old jumper and tight
fitting cap.
you'd better put them on" he said. TITS
dirty ride, and the oil may fly"
There was a rumble and roar at the other end
OF the long train shed. It announced the arrival
% the Twentieth Century from the West and
brought the preliTninaries 10 an end. Sohlinger
reversed the big engine and as she felt the
steam she slowly backed into the shed The
tired engine from Toledo was out OF the way
and in less than a minute No. 4,6S3-known 10
her crews Miss Nancy-was on the mark
ready for the race against time half way across
Ohio. through a neck Of Pennsylvania and into
the Empire State.
She was noisy even in the semi-repose Of the
station wait. II was a fOretaste Of the clatter
and din that was to come. Steam hissed out of
various exhausts and water throbbed through
the palsy. one had Just a moment 10 contem-
plate her size. She weighs 355o 900 pounds does
Miss Nancy. and she carries steam at $50
pounds In her big boiler mile and a half
q pipes giving tremendous heating surface in
the most compact form possible.
We're of" shouted the fireman as the en-
gineer got his signal and turned on the steam.
The rails were slippery from a light rain which
was falling and for a second or two the driving
wheels spun around. Miss Nancy coughed
from her stack hissed about the pistOns. gUrgled
within and fumed in the fire box. The engineer
turned on the sand and finally the wheels caught
the rails jolting the train into motion.
There was no chance for speed at first while
the flyer felt her way through the tangled yards.
There were myriads of lights. red blotches OF
danger and the green and white Of safety.
sohlinger knew his way. and 10 his trained eye
the signal lights on the track Miss Nancy was
70 follow were white. She cleared switches with
bang. now and then shaking herself vigorously
ss n 10 timber up for the race.
She cut into mile a minute gait seven or
eight minutes after leaving the yards along the
shore of Lake Erie. There was not as much a
feeling Of rushing through space as one has
when riding back in the Pullmans. There were
too many contrary motions 10 be absorbed by
The human frames in the cab.
The STEADY THUMP ON THE RAILS.
First and most persistent was the thump Of
the engine on the rails. She seemed TO be going
Forward with short jumps and 10 light after each
jump with all the weight of every one Of her
$4,000 pounds A noise attended this humping