Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-11-24
RAILROAD news


maj he q gaoa puaieF oT n poor paaas@F
These shlngx are asyuna the po~sF u
manufacturer or eagfnseT 4" deter
miEe.
To ret the best out Il hsE@-to use
the prunoun that engineers employ
eaSsomarily In speaking Of = toeoHno'
sixewshe must le hanaoEed~ Her 60
gsneer must know what she = do
and shat In her limit II a strange
engineer attempts To run her. h. nat'
uraTly fails 1 ges the best results
from her.
In former days the engine vas q ,
gorgeoa affair. siitteFing With brass
from one end To the other, Some Ell
xlnaers showed affection far the una
chine By spending hundreds Of dollars
an brass work. But nh that In chang
al hy modern practice on the big rail
roads which makes the locomotive o"
plain an possible.
The engineer studied his engine un-
dill he knew every n N her points.
both good and had. And IL Is right
here That the locomotive becomes nj"
most human.
Build twenty 0f them along exactly
the same lines. aud yet each machine
will be different from the others. This
In one Of the reasons why the engin'
eer becomes attached 10 his machine.
He In the Only ono who knows her,
and he can get from her the best re
suits,
The story Is told of an engineer who
sald he would almost rather run over
a friend than reverse his engine. Re-
verslng an engine while moving at
full speed has a tendency To shake her
up some. The engineer meant that
no would rather risk iniurIng a friend
than his locomotive.
Down on the Missouri Pacific road
was an engine that had a record OF
disaster. II was n passenger engine
Of the most modern workmanship. aud
from n mechanical point of view had
no superior.
The fireman had On easy job IN
Keeping steam up ON her. and 1t was
said that the engine could outrun and
output any engine Of her build on the
road. But she was unlncky.
She had been In many smashups
and every engineer who had run her
had been killed. Yet the last engin'
Ger that got her became so proud o.
her that he never stopped talking
about her good qualities. To a frient
he said one day as he was oiling up;
II can't give this engine up. ! have
become so attached TO her that
wouldn't care 10 run any other. AM
yet feel that she'll get me n q
these days"
WE'LL" replied his friend, IL yo'
feel like that you ought to quit run
ming her right away"
7 don't care" said the engineer
'.l'm going to stick 10 her anyway"
And he did,
Aud she got him. An empty ca
blew out on the track one night whit
he was going at full speed, and whe
the engineer was lacked up the engil
Ger was found dead underneath.
Riding over the Illinois Central tn
other day In the cab of one Of the bill
gest passenger engines OF the road
layman was told by the engineer;
This engine Is too fast for this rul
It's too bad We are not behind a littl
that | could show you what she cOuI
do"
Just the same this was the faste'
run between Chicago and st, Louis t
any OF the roads, and the engine
the time her engineer spoke was ira
cling not much lcss than "A mile
minute.
watch her jump now when | u
a little Of the reserve puwer.' CONT
ued the proud engineer.
And then he pulled the long thr'
tie lever out to It's limit wide 0pe
in railroad parlance.
Jump she did and commenced
move at almost %redoubied speed.
Why. this old girl could travel II
that right Into st. Louis and not tn
a hair" affectionately said the eng
Ger, turning IA proud and pleased ia
TO his passenger after he had push
the throttle back to Its normal Pc
ton.
The engine might have been I
fast for that particular run, hut
wasn't too fast for him. that vas We
evident. and If anyone had suggest
taking her off and substituting
smaller machine that man would ha
been as much aggricvcd as II on" h
suggested the separation from a ne
relative.
Optic ada bring results.