The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1906-11-29
MOST HUMAN OF ALL MACHINES
Is the Locomotive, Say the Men Who
Know 1t Best.

/
that of all pieces of machinery a loco
motive comes nearest to being a living
thing.
1t may be slow or it may be fast. 1t
may be good puller or poor puller.
These things are beyond the power of
manufacturer or engineer to determ
inc.
To get the best out of her-to use the
pronoun that engineers employ Gus
tomarily in speaking of locomotive
she must be humored. Her engineer
must know just what she can do and
what is her limit. If strange engin-
eer attempts to run her, he naturally
fails to get the best results from her.
In former days the engine was a gor-
geous affair, glittering with brass from
one end to the other. Some engineers
showed affection for the machine by
spending hundEeds of dollars on brass
work. But all this is changed by mod
ern practice on the big railroads which
makes the locomotive as plain as posi-
BILE.
The engineer studied his engine un-
til he knew every one of her points,
both good and bad. And it is right
here that the locomotive becomes al
most human.
Build twenty of them along exactly
the same lines, and yet each machine
will be different from all the others,
This is one OF the reasons why the en-
gineer becomes attached to his ma
chine, He is the only one who knows
her, and he can get from her the best
results.
The story is told of an engineer who
said he would almost rather run over a
friend than reverse his engine. Re-
versing an engine while moving at full
speed has tendency to shake her up
some. The engineer meant that he
would rather risk injuring friend than
his locomotive.
Down on the Missouri Pacific road
was an engine that had record of dis
aster. 1t was a passenger engine of
the most modern workmanship and
from mechanical point of view had no
superior
The fireman had an easy job in keep
ing steam up on her, and it was said
that the engine could outrun and out
pull any engine of her build on the
road. But she was unlucky.
She had been in many smashups and
every engineer who had run her had
been killed. Yet the last engineer who
got her became so proud of her that he
never stopped talking about her good
qualities. To friend he said one day
as he was oiling up.
"[ can't give this engine up. | have
become so attached to her that would
not care to run any other. Aud yet
feel that she'll get me one of these
days"
swell, replied his friend, 'if yor
feel like that you ought to quit truuninG
her right away"
81 don't care" said the engineer
"I'm going to stick to her anyway,
And he did.
And she got him. An empty car blew
out on the track one night while b.
was going at full speed and when th
engine was lacked up the engineer wa
found dead underneath.
Riding over the Illinois Central th
other day in the cab of one of the big
gest passenger engines on the roa'
layman was told by the engineer
"This engine is too fast for this run
It's too bad we are not behind little
that / could show you what she coul
J. do"
just the same this was the tastes
run between Chicago and ST Louis o.
any of the roads, and the engine at tn
j. time her engineer spoke was travelin
II not much less than mile minute.
IS "Watch her jump now when use
little of the reserve power" continue
the proud engineer.
II And then he pulled the long throttl
\ lever out to it's lmit-wide open,
railroad parlance
Jump she did, and began to move &
almost redoubled speed
"Why, this old girl could travel lii
that right into st. Louis aud not turn
u hair" affeetionately said the enginee
: turning proud and pleased face to b
70 passenger after he had pushed Il
lie throttle back to its normal position.
r. The engine might have been too fa
re for that particular run, but it wasr
80 any too fast for him, that was very Q
ls ident, and if any one had suggest,
IN taking her off and substituting sma
ne er machine that ma would have be,
oil so much agrieved as if one had su
I'll gested his separation from near rel
ce tive.
II, OF recent years on some of the roa
there has been change in the han
ling Of engines. Where in former yea
nv each engineer had his own locomoti
rs which he ran over a division of hu
o dred miles or so and then took re
'e now runs have heightened to l5O a
81 e 200 miles and some of the engines hs
ms as many as three engineers.