Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1913-09-13

The first achievements of American
railroading are. IN the greater number
Of eases. lost in the ohscurity Of tradi-
ton. and there has sprung up host
Of interesting sterics that go the
rounds like llomeric tales. The honor
of having created Il record or n custom
that is now commonplace has had
many claimants in nearly every in
stance.
Take the first train To run mile
minute. The Antelope. an engine on
the Boston and Maine railroad. accord
ine 10 one Of the most cherished Of
these legends. pulled the first train
that made this record Her run was
between Boston and Lawrence. a dis.
lance OF twcnty-siX miles, and one
day IN ISIS She Is said To have made
her last fourteen miles in thirteen min.
utcs
But II is Just as earnestly upheld
that the Davy Crockett of the Mohawk
and Hudson railroad has tins distinc-
ton. The Davy Crockett was the
pride of the road IN her day. II Is said
that her engineer. David Matthew.
loved her better than he did his fam
lily I,ut she reached the pinnacle Of
her fame locally when In lS32. six
teen years before the Antelope WAS
heard OF. according 10 this other story,
She covered fourteen mile straight
away level stretch between Albany
ana Schenectady IN thirteen minutes
and made one stop for water besides.
4 letter written by Matthew in that
year mentions having done better than
Il mile minute with her on several
occasions.
Running nm engine at mile min
utc in those days was many times
more dangerous than IL Is now. Three
quarters of a century ago the rails
were light strips of iron spiked down
to all sorts of ties There were no tie
or fish plates then. and in hot weather
especially the sleepers and the rails
would warp IN the torrid sun and pull
apart
Not infrequcntly the ends of the light
rails would curve upward from the
track. forming the much dreaded
SNAKE heads" which were the horror
Of engineers and passengers alike.
Many tales are told Of snake heads
springing up under the jolting train.
piercing the nimsy ear floors and Inn
paling passengers in their seats. Until
a remedy was found for these snake
heads by using better fastcnings and
more seasoned ties a large force Of
men was continually employed TO walk
the tracks and nail them down.
Broken ear wheels were another ever
present danger In those remote days.
The present standard gauge is said 10
have been originally established by
taking the distance between the
wheels of the carts used on English
highways For the same reason. APP
parcntly. the first rolling stock was
equipped not with solid wheels. but
with east iron models of the wooden
wagon wheel. though of smaller di-
ameter These were not submitted 10
the drop test that Is now universal
and were Of dangerously light pat
tern. The result was that often inte-
rior defects In the casting would pass
unnoticed until the wheel broke AMI
the train was ditched II took bad
accident. in which Il number of peo-
Pile were killed. so runs the tradition.
To bring about the testing OF car
wheels by tapping them.
Real time saving In running trains
did not begin until 1851. Charles Mi
not. superintendent of the Erie railroad.
was one of those given credit for in
augurating telegraph signals for the
handling Of trains.
| He was In the cab of passenger
train one day. 50 the story goes. There
were no double track railroads In those
days. and trains had 10 lie out on sid
jngs and wait for the train bound IN
The opposite direction TO come along.
/ However long the delay. tine train Of
! the siding waited
On this particular occasion Minot's
train took Its siding. The operator at
( he little country station strollcd over.
remarkins that the train In the oppo-
site direction had got stalled ON the
grade some ifty miles down the line
and that II would be two ar three
hours before she could patch NJ her
lcaky fucs and get power enough TO
climb the hill.
Minot was IN hurry. and he decided
to telegraph down the line that the
train he was on would not wax az the
siding. but would proceed for station
agents Ia watch ont for the other train
and have II wait on the siding nearest
the spot where they would meet. The
engineer refused point blank TO take
any such risk. saying that Il was
against an railroad law and custom.
Nlinoi finally discharged him. put him
on the engine and ran the train him
self L. the end ~ the division. Keeping
posted by telegraph ~ each station
Everything worked ont lust ~ he hat
planned aud WAS so satisfactory that