Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-04-17
THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER.
And the Grim Monster at Whose
Throttle He Sits.

Throttle He Sits.
Why should a locomotive engineer
be a fataliSt?
7 have been asked the question
time and again, says a writer in the
Chicago Tribune. There is only one
answer for the question. That is for
the reason that everything in the life
of the engineer points to the necessity
for philosophy If the engineer Is to
pursue his line Of work with a steady
hand and nerve.
Ordinarily when the layman stands
beside a great stationary steam en-
CINE working under heavy pressure
he is startled at its power. In the
hot, close atmosphere of the machin-
cry room, filled with sliding pistons,
great fywheels and rumbling shafts
whirling and flying overhead, he be-
gins to appreciate the latent power
that is encompassed within its mech
anism. If he will stop to consider
that the locomotive engine is mount
ed to travel so, 60 or 70 miles an
hour. while at the same time opera
ting under a steam pressure OF 22O to
24O pounds to every square inch of
boiler surface, he may get some idea
of the position Of the engine driver
who holds the throttle. Layman that
he is, he feels his insignificance as
30 hn 0i0 0f1t
is anchored fast to its foundations of
stone, steel and cement far below the
surface. If the design of that boiler
were to travel a mile a minute while
he was looking on his sense Of its
power and insecurity would be great
" exaggerated.
Anything that might interfere with
the physical flight of this great boiler
through space is at once a double
menace to the engineer He is re-
sponsble for everything in the oper-
alton of this huge boiler, while in its
working it's whole foundation changes
with every fraction of a second mark
ed off by his watch. Not the best
stretch of track on his division is
proved and safe. An open switch, a
flaw in a rail, a careless telegraph
operator, a sudden washout of bridge
or culvert-any one of these things
may send the engine driver into eter-
nity without q moments warning.
1t may be that his engine is type
having a driving rod plunging up and
down and forward and back squarely
under the seat which he must occupy
in holding the throttle hour after
hour. The swapping Of a crank pin
on a great driver may send the flying
steel bar crashing up through the en-
gineer's seat and mean death in an in
stant.
Or flying at a mile minute and
having to take for granted great
deal concerning the condition of the
water in the boiler, the menace of the
superheated steam itself may be
something which he can only take for
granted, while he turns blindly to his
luck"
Feeding water into the locomotive
boiler through automatic injectors
while holding to a fast schedule
leaves the engineer dependent upon
their workings. They may work or
they may fail.
Low water in a boiler is one of the
greatest dangers that confront the
engineer. and if the condition shall
escape his attention for any reason
and the baking injectors suddenly
pump cold water to the superheated
surfaces, the likelihood of an explO-
sion menaces him.
What a locomotive boiler exploding
cannot and may not do never has
been determined. A few weeks ago
on one of the mountain divisions OF
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in
West Virginia the boiler of a great
freight engine was pulling it on
sidetrack. 1t tore away from the en-
gine mountings and jumped 100 feet
clear of a freight car nearby. Strik-
Ing the Tire lOSC l5oil
for 200 feet and fell in a farmyard
lifting a third time and clearing the
| farmhouse into an orchard 500 feet
| from the ruins of the locomotive
among which both engineer and fire
man lay dead.
Holding the throttle blindly anC
| blindly trusting to "luck" the engi-
neer moves out upon his run his life
| in his hands. Any one Of a doZer
conditions may mean his death. He
has no control over any of them. Ir
a threatened head-on collision he /:
at such a height and moving at such
speed as to make jumping almost sui
cidal.
His only recourse is fatalism. He
will not get it till his time comes