Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1910-05-20
OLDEST ENGINEER
A Few Words About the Oldest Er-
gineer of the C. & O. Ry.

- y" " 0Aoo <AUOut tAC OAuCot LII
gineer of the c. & o. Ry.
IN the death of Leondas S. Alley a
Anderson, W. Va, last week, earl,
rallroading on the c. and o. when i
was the Virginia Central, is recalled
by some of our citizens, and especially
by me. In a notice of his deatl
which appears in the Monroe Watch
man l extract the following:
Leonidas Salathiel Alley was bor1
i'll Prince George Co, Va, September
s, 1882 He spent his early childhood
and manhood in said state, living al
Richmond, Staunton and jackson
River. After spending several years
at White Sulphur Springs. W. Va
he removed in 1871 to Anderson, w.
Va, where he lived till his death.
| Mr.. Alley has several SONS with the
G. and o. Ry., at this time, who are
trusted as their father was trusted
when he was in active life.
During most of the civil war, in
deed until near it's close train left
Stanton every morning and ran
to Millboro, where it was turned and
came back in the evening. The con-
ductor was Capt. Tom Moody. The
engineer was this same Leonidas S.
Alley, and his fireman was man
named Joe Newman, long ago dead.
| The other members Of the crew are
not fully recalled. The engine was
named the Jefferson Kinney and the
train consisted of about three cars.
An occasional freight car was in the
train. All engines in those days
| burned wood, and several stops were
always made to take OH supply both
going and coming. The schedule was
easy and the train stopped when and
where it suited those in charge On
one occasion l recall that Capt. Gar
rett Gooch was on board. On North
Mountain two pheasants flew up, hav
ing been flushed by the train. They
alighted short distance from the
road The train was stopped, Capt.
Gooch who carried double barrelled
shot gun in the train, got out, flushed
the birds agail, and killed one with
each barrel. >---@--
Those who remember Mr.. Alley
then, recall rather tall slender man
with full brown beard and heavy
brown suit of hair. He was more en-
We'd by the boys than most any other
man connected with the train, be-
cause he had the engine ill charge. |!
When he put his hand on the throttle
and began with gentle pulls to let the
steam on the cylinders and the engine /,
began to move "Uncle Dick' as boys
called him then, was more than the
ordinary man. l used to be favored |
by him somewhat more than other
BOYS. He would take me into his en-
CINE and let me make the trip with
him to Millboro and back on Satur
days when I was out OF school. This
cudUlcu ulc W put II 6iA ONOA oAS
others. When the train got back to
Staunton in the evening and
with grease Oh my hands and
blackened with smoke.
[ was the cynosure ofall boyish eyes.
It was my peculiar desire to turn the
gage cocks on that engine to see
where the water stood i'll the boiler.
This seemed SO easy for Joe Newman,
i he fieman, to do that tried it one
! " when nobody was looking and got
4 badly scalded hand for my pains.
Mr. Alley went to work for the road
again as soon as hostilities had ceased
and grew with it. He almost be-
came part of it over i'll West Vlr-
ginia, and saw it expand and develop {
rom single. track with about ~
pound rail, into double track with
ong heavy trains and giant locomo-
ives, any coach in which trains now,
would weigh as much as the whole
ain he used to pull to. Millboro be-
lind the Jefferson Kinney. There
we're no railroad shops here then ard
the repairs to his engine were usually
made in blacksmith shops or in the
government works of which my father
had charge here during the last two
years of the war, and where l would
watch Mr. Allev as he made bolts and
i ted valves. In those days railway
engine was the most marvellous thing
in existence to me and hung around
the Jefferson Kinney as closely as
school and other circumstances would
permit
He was at his death the oldest engi-
1eer who had run an engine on this
line prior to the war. Many who
came after him. Seth Mac, Jim Bran
lon, Raymond Dunn. and a long list
If others, have all passed away. He {
alone of the engineers of his day was {
eft : his death ended the list. He {
never had serious accident. think
he told me when I last saw him,
some years before he quit active work
hat he had never killed a man on
my run. He belonged to that class
If men who move the world, not by '
olare Of trumpets, but by sturdy work,
Icing well what they undertake, round
ng out harmonious cycle, in their (
Useful lives. He coupled the pioneer {
lays of railways with those Of today.
re travelled with railroads as they grew
rom weak youth, into virile manhood.
His character and his faithful and
careful conduct of the business en-
L.. Liz