Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1910-07-22
A BROKEN DRIVING BOD.
The Disaster Most Dreaded by the Lo-
connective Engineer.

The Disaster Most Dreaded by the Lo-
connective Engineer.
The close calls that whiten the engi-
neeTs hair are mostly due TO some one
else's error or oversight which he can
not foresee or prevent That many of
these close calls do not result fatally is
due to the engineers swift and skillful
meeting of the emergency.
The great driving wheels on which
most of the enormous weight on the To-
connective rests are connected by mas
sive jointed bars of forged steel. The
ends OF these are attached to the
wheels about halfway between the
axis and circumference. IL is through
these bars, called driving rods. that
the wheels receive their impulse from
the imprisoned steam. These rods
weigh thousands Of pounds each. Oc-
casionally one OF their fastenings will
break. and then every revolution of
the wheel TO which the other end is'Nt-
tached win send the rod swinging like
titan's fail. beating down 800 strokes
minute. Nothing can withstand these
awful blows. They tear up the track
below and shatter the engine above.
especially the cab where rides the en-
gineer. No disaster comes so unex-
pectedly and is so much dreaded as
this. Almost invariably It happens
when the engine is running at high
/ speed. When a driver breaks 1t is a
miracle If the men in the cab escape
with their lives. II they do survive
and by their heroism succeed In stop
ping the train and avoiding a wreck
! despite the rain of blows from this
huge dali OF steel their act brings forth
! a greater measure of praise than al
most any other form of bravery that
the railroad knows.
Only the other day one of the driv-
| ing rods of a fast passenger locomotive
broke while the train was running
more than sixty miles 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 It was
impossible TO bring the train to a stoT
by ordinary means The great locomo
tive lunged forward like a runaway
horse that had thrown its rider. II
some way, however. Lutz. the engineer
had escaped injury. He crept to th
opposite side of the cab and climbed
out through the little window upoi
the boiler to try to reach some of ID
controlling apparatus from the outside
He was working himself astride alon
the scorching boiler when suddenly tn
engine struck a curve, which It took a
terrific speed The shock half threw
the engineer from his perilous position
but be saved himself by grasping tn
bell rope. Then he worked himsel
down along the uninjured side of tn
swaying locomotive TO where he coul'
open one of the principal steam valves
A cloud Of vapor rushed forth with {
tremendous roar. Although robbed o
fits power. the locomotive did not slack
en- speed until it reached the bottom o
the grade. Then little by little thu
thrsshing OF the great diving rod
which was pounding the upper part o
the engine TO pieces. grew slower, ant
finally It stopped. No one was hlle'
or injured. and not a passenger in tn
long train knew until it was over o
the danger that had been avoided 81
narrowly. Thaddeus S. Dayton II
Harpers Weekly. o..