The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-23
Great Changes Made in Style Of
Locomotives.
Modern Improvements Greatly
Tighten Work of Men.
ENGINES ONCE PETS.
Once Upon a Time They Cost as
Much as $4,000.
Other Items Of Interest ia
Railway People.

1 A&4AW ~ AGVYAEs
New York, Sept 2s-The electric mo-
tors or the New Haven railroad. which.
now pull passenger trains between the
Grand Central station and the present
terminus Of the electric division at Pore
Chester. cost $4,000 each. Not 50 very
long ago irst-cIass passenger Iocouo-
/ rfvs would have cost every bit as much
although the price Is only about $4,000
nowadays
The railroad companies in former
days spared 70 expense when it came TO
+ the construction and oruarnentatiou of
/ their locomotives. which were NOT ouIy
the pets Of the engineers and the pride
/ OF the whole road but also daily NOV
ing advertisements OF the service In
+ these IWent1sth century days Of black.
pooled locomotives whose masters
+ change every trip. it seems a far cry
back to the romantic days of railroad
ing. when every road tried To ouudo it's
rival in the way OF dandy engines. of
which the engineers were the absolute
masters.
I No one but a certain specified enzf-
neer vas allowed TO ryzn che Of these en-
gines under any circumstances. and when
II became necessary to place the engine
/ II the shop for a thorough overhauIing
I the engineer quit work until the ma
ehiuists had got through. Perhaps the
/ best examples OF all dandy engines were
two bought by the New Haven road IN
the sixties
These engines. which were monsters
for those days. had driving wheels fee
inches In diameter and cost about s35.-
600 each The cab was made Of solid
walnut Inside the roof OF the cab was
composed Of harrow alternate strips Of
mahogany and walnut The side win
dows were made of stained glass
Just as much expense was incurred
70 make the outside Of the engine ar
trscrivc- First. the frame was made or
ers' were all painted red. with a tiny
black stripe
Everything Brass.
From the cab 70 the sand box every
thing was covered with brass evan the
Jacket OF ne boiler. while from the sand
box 60 the stack the boiler was covered
with Russian iron Around the dom.
and the sand box was a covering Of
brass and the cylinders and steam chest Z
were enclosed with the sane metal /
strips Of brass we're laid along the edge /
or the running boards and the hand |
rails were Of brass piping. with large
bells Of brass. cables er something CT the /
kind a. the end
On tire side OF the headlight OF No. q. |
whose engineer was Edward Cf7atrertou /
was painted the United states coat Of
arms. while the tender Of Nc "a had the /
same device On the side The tender I
was painted black and euaueterz while /
al the stripping was made with gold /
leaf
The engineer Of No "a. MAYNARD |
Smith, always wore white duck as in |
deed did many OF the other oId-tirue I
engineers and he was very exactfrg
When he climbed into the cab OF his en- I
CINE, just before starting on a trip he 1
would take out his white handkerchief /
and wipe the different brass fittings in /
the cab TO see II all had been properly l
cleaned
Many of the engines in use in the ear
" days were named instead OF being
numbered On tEe New Haven & Hart |
forc road which connected the two 1
cities before the consolidation the en-
ginss bore such names Is Androreda /
Venus. Orient and Adoais. Some en-
gfnes had landscapes painted on the !
sides OF the cab
In these days the engineer was the I
1riStocrat among railroad men As 5000 L
as he reached the end OF his run he /
would take OF his everaus. turn over I
the engine to a nOstIeF, wash his hands /
at the tender cock and step or right at 4
the station, his work done until the re- 4
turn trip
II any repairs were needed he did 1
not consider that his duty had been
fulfilled when report had been
turned in He made it his particular
business personally 70 see that the re-
pairs were properly executed. Often
an engineer would spend hours Of his /
own time 10 get his machine into the
very best condition Under the pres
eut system the engineer gets awav as
soon IS possible and doesn't show I'D
again until ready to take out his run Il
once more
When an engine went into the shops
for repairs the machine was still uu-
der the controI OF the engineer No
addition. improvement or alteration /
could be made unless he desired it
For instance. before the injector
q
the boiler by means OF Il pump When
the injector made its appearance
many engineers had HttIe faith in it
and refused to have the new tangled
same engineers wonder how they got
along without the injector
Engines Much Changed.
Numerous devices have been addei
to the locomotive. until now an en-
g1reer Of The old regime would be at a
loss for q time IL he were nut in
charge OF an Up-to-dste engine The
throttle and reverse bar are the same.
but there are many little things that
go toward making the duties Of the
lighter
An automatic bell ringer il one ~
these Nowadays compressed air rings
the bell Whenever the engineer de-
sires to ring the bell he simply turns
5n the air
There is also an automatic sander.
Instead OF the Iaborious and slow
method OF drawing tie sand lever
back and forth 10 bring a flow Of sand
n front Of the slipping drivers the
has but to turn q little wheel
which controls an automatic feed and
hen can forget all about the sand
Reverse bars have been arranged 10
work with steam. but somehow or
1ther they have never met with favor
reversing on some OF the old
engines was most lSborfous task
8raciug the feet against q support IN
he cab. the oId-tiue engineer many