The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-25
LOCOMOTIVES LIKE MEN.
Few Years of Hard Work and Then
 to the Scrap Pile.
From the Kansas City Star.

From the Kansas City Star.
 A little, greasy switch engine pounding hard to pull short transfer train under the union depot sheds a few days ago at tracted the attention of r. C. Cox, general superintendent of the Santa Fe railway. Mir. Fox sat in his private car and watch ed the little machine struggling with its load.
 "The evolution of an engine" he unused.
 By its side stood a magnificent prairie type flyer, one of the kind that pulls heavy fruit trains sixty miles an hour through Kansas. And it looked like cruelty to ask that smaller machine near it to work. It looked like baby toddling around a Jeffries or a Fitzsimmons. There were not more than a dozen cars in the little transfer it was struggling so hard tn move. But the task caused 1t to strain and wheeze and groan.
 Time was when men would stop and lok at it, the same as they now inspect the prairie monster. Time was when it's boiler plate shone like blued steel; when it was as proud a machine as any that pulled off fifty miles an hour between stu tions. But that was a long time ago. It is now assigned to kick transfer cars around on switch tracks.
 It is soon to make it's final rum the trip which ends at the scrap pile. Could it's history be written it would tell of hun dreds of thousands of miles traversed of as many thousand dollars earned for it's master, the railroad. Yet no record will be written of it's labor Some time, may be, an engineer may think of ''the little girl which fought for time and took the special in" But there recollection ends
 Engines after all are like men," Alr. Fox said No matter how hard one tries, some person eventually will be found who will dlsplace him, No matter how much work an engine does, another eventually comes to displace it. An engine goes the other way It's only step from the limited to the scrap pile. The life of an engine in passenger service is ten or twelve years. Then it goes to freight service, is finally turned into switch engine and then railroaded to the scrap pile. An engine built for freight service will last for twenty years. sometimes longer. Of course the treatment given determines the length of service. In this Is seen the similarity between man and engine Feed man good food, give him plenty of rest, don't overwork him and he'll live longer than the man who has poor food, gets little sleep and works overtime. Feedsan engine good coal, give It time to rest and cool don't oyerwofk T. and 1t will last many years longer
 Tt Is not generally known that the At- lantic, Pacific and Prairie type engines have been used in this country only In the last three or four years The Allan tlc type engine Is built for speed It's six or seven feet drive wheels adapt 1t for A zine that reached a speed of 1O6 miles an hour, during the run of the Scott special several years ago l believe that if perfectly straight and level track was used, these engines could make two miles a minute, rate of 120 miles an hour They're built on the order of the race horse, long limbed light bodied graceful and powerful. The Atlantic type engine has but two drivers on the side
 The Pacific type engine is built with three drivers on the side and is construct eI for fast running with heavy passenger trains. It will take our trans-continental flyers up the heavy grades with only bare slackeHlng of speed It's d hill climber The prairie type engine is for fast freight service, and is constructed also with three drivers on the side. but 1t will hardly attain the speed on grades that the Pacific engine does
 
 body all the best features of the old style engines The 'od-timers' are called elght-wheelers, en-wheelers. mogul and consolidation engines. You still see many old moguls laboring with freight trains.
 "But the railroads are doing away with the old scrap piles such as they used 10 have. When an engine goes to it now. it IS taken to pieces and the best Is saved for repairing others. One engine. year after It has gone out of service may be distributed and become part of dozen other engines. That which is not used Is thrown into piles of assorted iron or steel. The Santa Fe section men col lect all metal loose along the road. and send it either to Topeka or Chicago to be assorted, When large amount has ac- cumulsted, the purchasing agent will no- tify foundry men Or machine shop own CTS, and sell to the highest bidder. Time and weather do not destroy worn out railroad machinery as 1t used to do. The metal is considered too valuable to let go to waste"