Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 62, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 March 1912 — TWO BIG NEW ENGINES GET OFF THE TRACK. [ARTICLE]

TWO BIG NEW ENGINES GET OFF THE TRACK.

Powerful Locomotives Give Trouble First Day They are Tried Out On Monon Railroad. Engines 500 and 502, two of the powerful Brooks locomotives purchased for freight business by the Monon railroad met trouble the first day they were tried out. 'No. 502 went northward through Rensselaer Monday afternoon. t Jt reached Hammond before it had trouble and there went partially off the track. It was righted before morning. No. 500 arrived In Rensselaer at 10:45 Monday night and took siding to permit passenger train No. 3 to pass. After the passenger had gone ‘through, the engine moved up to go on the main track but it had gone only a short distance when the engine jumped the track and almost went over on its side. Engineer Kiley and Fireman Brick were in the engine and Brick jumped through the window of the cab and ran down the small embankment, thinking that the engine Was going clear over. But the solidly frozen ground kept the engine from going over, although it plowed deeply into the grountl along the truck. Conductor Chase lines says that the train was not going faster than four or five miles an hour. Had it been going at full speed serious trouble might have ensued. As it was, the 'damage was not extensive, although the pilot was torn from the engine and the steel monster was wrenched extensively. The tender was also off the track, but the train was stopped before the first car reached the switch, where the trouble started. Investigation showed that the left wheels had run over the “frog” instead of being pulled to the right side of it, thus passing outside the left rail' It is said that the engines are too long for the short curves at the switch ends and that they may not prove practical until considerable alterations are made in the switch connections. The Monon had ordered nine of these engines and these were the two first delivered. They come from the American locomotive works and are of the Brooks pattern. The engines are 68 feet in length, twice the length of an ordinary box car. The engine without the tender weighs 142 tons and is constructed to haul a train of 3,000 tons. They are of very attractive appearance and were counted upon to do wonderful service in the Monon's greatly congested freight traffic. Tn get the engine righted proved a big task and the Monon wrecker was inadequate to complete the task and at noon today, Tuesday, a big wrecker was brought down from the New York Central railroad in Chicago to help put the engine on the track and this was accomplished by 2:30 o’clock and the engine was able to pull its train into Chicago, leaving here at about 3 o’clock. The Monon also had other serious trouble, the “Red Devil Special” having crashed into the rear end of a freight train early this morning on a straight track near Carpentersville, south, of Crawfordsville. The engineer on the freight train was slightly injured as was one passenger. The north bound milk train was 3 hours late, caused by a broken eccentric on the engine.