The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1922-03-03
never JUMPS FROM
DANGER
BILL" SHAW, DEAN OF WESTERN MARY
LAND PILOTS, HAS CLEAR HEAD AND
STEADY NERVES.

By Alfred T. Newberry in the Balti-
more Sun of Feb. II.
| Men and women Scurry down the
| train shed. The second hand of the
dispatcher's clock jumps to so minu-
! ties past six. George w. Brodbeck
closes his ticket window. A locomo-
tive bell clangs. Train No. 43 moves.
"BilI' Shaw's starting on his run.
For the last Al years this scene has
been enacted at Hillen Station with
Shaw. senior passenger engineer OF
the Western Maryland Railway, at the
! throttle.
Passengers rush to his train; his
conductor glances nervously at his
watch; hurry and confusion FREEDOM
mate But not so with Shaw. Three
minutes before leaving time, whether
he be running fast mail" or the slow
est accommodation, he can be seen
walking serenely around his engine,
touching a cylinder head here, a bolt
there. and so no, enjoying a pipe or
cigar the while.
! Those who know him say he has
nerves of iron" And these men who
know him" constitute practically the
entire roster of the company's engi-
neers, nearly all having fired" for
Shaw at one time or another and hav-
ing been taught by him the mechanism
of the locomotive.
Fellow-trainmen say he can look
from his cab window, see other trains
coming toward him on the same track
and with a single movement stop the
train. Shaw has never been known to
jump.
"A few weeks ago-January 23-he
saw a runaway carload of lumber
dashing down the mountainside just
east of Highfield, Md. A collision was
Cramer, who lives near Ellicott City,
yelled to him and jumped.
There was a crash. Lumber was
hurled in the air and set afire by
sparks from the engines firebox. Shaw
was half conscious. But he stuck to
his post.
Several years ago he was running
the Chicago Limited and when round
ing curve at PatapSco, Md, his en-
CINE jumped the track, ran few hun
bred yards on the crossties and car
eened over on its side. The whistle be-
came disconnected and blew a contin-
uous shrieking blast.
Passengers of the train and neigh
boring farmers, together with the train
crew. walked around the bowling steel
monster enveloped with steam and
looked for the engineer. Later a hand
was seen to grasp the window of the
| overturned engine, and then came a
no linz
from his post dazed and hurt. His fire.
man escaped injury by jumping. But
Shaw stuck to his post.
These men who know Shaw will tell
you of the head-on collision this engi-
neer had with freight train in 1902.
Both engineers remained in their cab.
The engineer of the freight was killed.
Shaw was injured badly.
Shaw has driven every freight and
passenger run" operated by the West
ern Maryland since 1881. 1t was on
April of that year that he mounted
his first engine. 1t was wood-burn-
ing locomotive, and he is, perhaps, the
only engineer in active service today
who fired an engine of this type.
He started out firing a 16-houra-
day freight drag" and worked UP to
engineer of the Fast Mail,' which he
he!i tor II years. He gave it up to
take another run so he could spend
his nights with his family. For years
he operated the Blue Mountain Elk
press"
Miles of track was washed away by
the overflow from the Johnstown flood.
1t was Bill" Shaw who drove the
first engine over the washed-out terri
tory.
/ During the blizzard in 1899 he was
A running the milk train. At Ayondale,
below Westminster, the train got
snowbound and the monster engine
was powerless in the deep snowdrifts.
This occurred on Friday, and it was
the following day that the train start
ed to move toward its destination. The
passengers and crew obtained food
from farmers and slept in the coaches.
The milk cans in the baggage cars
were empty, it having been served to
the passengers. After reaching Bal
/ timore his engine was turned and with
three other engines in the rear started
out to open the main line with snow
pillow from Baltimore to Hagerstown
on Monday afternoon.
It is estimated that Bill" Shaw has
carried at least the equivalent of eve
ry man and woman resident of Cum
berland. Hagerstown and virtually all
the towns and villages which the
Western Maryland passes through.
Sticking to his post when the runa-
way car crashed into his engine, "Bill''
Shaw is now confined to his home,
1922 Forrest street, suffering from a
badly bruised back and leg and prob
able internal injuries. Since the mis-
hap he has not been able to Sign up
for run No. 43.
He lives near the Hillen yards, and
each morning, while lying in bed, he
can hear the whistle of his engine. He
longs to be back in his cab.
Mr. Shaw was born and raised on
farm in Taneytown district. The first
engine he fired was for the late Levi