Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1910-07-13
A BROKEN DRIVING ROD.
The Disaster Most Dreaded by the 10.
connective Engineer

The Disaster Most Dreaded by the Lo-
connective Engineer.
The close calls that whiten the enri.
neers hair are mostly due 10 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 aud sklIlful
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 tho
wheels about halfway between the
axis aud 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 fastenlngs Will
break, and then every revolution of
the wheel 10 which the other end is at.
tnched will send the rod swinging like
n titan's fail. beating down 800 strokes
n minute. Nothing can withstand these
awful blows. They tear up the track
1Nt0W Ah0 HAAtNCA NhC NAHlhG
especially the cab where rides the en-.
gineer. No disaster comes so unex-
pcctcdly and Is so much dreaded as
this. Almost invariably II happens
when the engine is running Mt high
speed. When n driver breaks Il is n
miracle II 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 n wreck
despite the rain OF blows from this
huge Dali OF steel their act brings forth
a greater measure of praise than nj
most any 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 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 Il was
impossible 20 bring the train 20 a stop
by ordinary means. The great locomo-
tive lunged forward like n runaway
horse that had thrown It's rider In
some way. however. Lutz. the engineer,
had escaped injury. He crept 10 the
opposite side OF the cab and climbed
ont through the little window upon
the boiler 10 try TO reach some OF tho
controlling apparatus from the outside.
He was working himself astride along
the scorching boiler when suddenly the
engine struck a curve. which IL took ut
terrific speed. The shock half threw
the engineer from his perilous poSiton,
but he saved himself by grasping tho
bell rope. Then he worked himself
down along the upiniured side OF tho
swaying locomotive 10 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 Ii 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
finaliy 1t stopped. No one was killed
or injured. and not a passenger In the
long train knew until II was over OF
the danger that had been avoided so
narrowly. Thaddeus S. Dayton In
Harper's Weekly.