The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-11-11

FINE CABS FURNISHED FOR OLD
TIME ENGINEERS.
Railroads Spared No Expense en in-
side Or Outside ornamsntation Of
Locomotives When Rail-
roadina Was New.

The railroad companies in former
days spared no expense when it came
to tie construction or ornamentation
of their locomotives. which We're not
only the pets of the engineers and the
pride Of the whole read but also daily
moving advertisements of the service.
In these twentieth century days Of
black, pooled locomotives whose mas
ters change every trip It seems a far
cry back to the romantic days of rail-
roading, when every road tried to out
do its rivals in the way Of dandy en-
gines, Of which the engineers were
the absolute masters
No one but a certain specified en-
gineer was allowed to run one Of these
engines under any circumstances, and
when it became necessary to place the
engine in the shop for thorough
overhauling the engineer quit work
until the machinists had got through
Perhaps the best examples of all
dandy engines were two bought by the
New Haven road in the Cos.
These engines. which were monsters
for those days, had driving wheels five
feet nine inches in diameter and cost
about $4,000 each. The cab was made
Of solid walnut. Inside the roof Of the
cab was composed Of narrow alternate
strips Of mahogany and walnut The
side windows we're made Of stained
glass.
Just as much expense was incurred
to make the outside Of the engine at
tractiye. First, the frame was made
Of planed STEEL highly polished The
drivers were all painted red, with a
tiny black stripe.
From the cab to the sand box every
thing was covered with brass. even the
jacket Of the boiler while from the
sand box to the stack the boiler was
covered with Russian iron. Around
the dome and the sand box was Gov
ering of brass and the cylinders and
steam chests were enclosed with the
same metal. Strips Of brass we're laid
along the edge Of the running boards
and the hand rails were of brass pip
ing, with large bells Of brass, eagles
or something Of the kind at the end.
On the side Of the headlight Of No.
rs, whose engineer was Edward Chat
terton, was painted the United States
coat OF arms, while the tender Of No.
"a had the same device on the side.
The tender was painted black and
enameled while all 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 old time
engineers, and he was very exacting
When he climbed into the cab Of his
engine just before starting on trip
he would take out his white handker
chief and wipe the different brass fit
tings in the cab to see If all had been
properly cleaned.
Many Of the engines in use in the
early days were named instead Of be
ing numbered. On the New Haven
Hartford road. which connected the
two cities before the consolidation, the
engines bore such names as andre
media Venus. Orient and Adonis. Some
engines had landscapes painted on tbs
sides Of the cab.
In those days the engineer was thu
aristocrat among railroad men. Al
soon as he reached the end Of his ruI
he would take of his overahs, turI
over the engine to a hostler, wash hi
hands at the tender cock and stel
/. of right at the station, his work donl
until the return trip.
II any repairs were needed he dil
+ not consider that his duty had heei
fulfilled when a report had been turnei
in. He made it his particular busi
ness personally to see that the repair
we're properly executed Often Al
engineer would spend hours of his Owl
+ time 10 get his machine into the yer.
: best condition. Under the presen
system the engineer gets away as soc
o as possible and doesn't show up agai
until ready to take out his run ono
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