Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1910-08-05
A BROKEN DRIVING ROD.
The Disaster Most Dreaded by the To-
connective EnaIneer.


connective Engineer
The close calls that whiten the ensl'
neor's hair are mostly due TO some one
elses error or oversight which he can
not foresee or prevent. That mahy VI
these close calls do not result la'uny 10
due to the engineers swift ana shiiiiu'
meeting Of. the emergency. .,
The great driving wheels on whicil
most of the enormous weight on the 10
connective rests are connected by mas
siye iointed bars of forged Steel Ne
ends of these are attached 10 tue
wheels about halfway between tue
axis and circumference. 1t Is throuSu
these bars. called driving rods. that
the wheels receive their Impulse from
the imprisoned steam. THESE rous
weigh thousands Of pounds each. DC
casionally one of their fastenlngs VIII
break. and then every revolution VI
the wheel to which the other emu Is at
tachcd will send the rod swinging IKE
q titan's fail. beating down 3OO strokes
q minute. Nothing can withstand these
awful blows. They tear up the track
below and shatier the engine ABOVE
especially the cab where rides.th en-
rineer. No disaster comes so unex-
pectedly~ and is so much dreaded as
this. Almost Invariably 1t happens
when the engine is running at high
speed When Il driver breaks 1t Is a
mirucle II the men In the cab escape
with their lives. If they do survive
and bv their heroiSm succeed in STOP
ming the train and avoiding q wreck
DESPITE the rain of blows from this
huge fall of steel their act brings forth
greater measure of praise than al
most my other form of bravery that
the railroad knows.
Only the other day one of the driv'
ing rods of fast passenger locomotive
broke while the train was running
more than sixty niles an hour down
the steep grades of Pickerel mountain.
In an instant the whirling bar OF steel
had smashed the cab and broken the
controlling mechanism, so that 1t was
impossible to bring the train TO stop
by ordinary means. The great iocomo-
tive lunged forward like a runaway
horse that had thrown its rider. In
some way, however. Lutz. the engineer,
had escaped injury. He crept to the
opposlte side of the cab and climbed
out through the little window upon
| the boiler to try to reach some or the
controlling apparatus from the outside
| He was working himself astride along
the scorching boiler when suddenly the
engine struck curve. which 1t took at
terrific speed The shock half threw
| the engineer from his perilous position
but he saved himself by grasping the
bell rope. Then he worked himself
| down along the uninjurcd side OF the
swaying locomotiveIto where he could
open one of the principal steam valves.
A cloud of vapor rushed forth with a
tremendous roar. Although robbed OF
| its power, the locomotive did not slack
en- speed until 1t reached the bottom OF
| the grade. Then little by little the
thrashing Of the great diving rod
which was pounding the upper part OF
the engine to pieces. grew slower, and
finally 1t stopped. No one was killed
or injured, and not q passenger in the
long train knew until 1t was over OF
the danger that had been avoided SC
narrowly. - Thaddeus S. Dayton In
Harper's Weekly.