Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 127, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1912 — DID THEIR WORK WELL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DID THEIR WORK WELL

OLDTIME LOCOMOTIVES WERE SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE. Make .Somewhat Ludicrous Comparl* son With the Monsters of TodayTrain Crews Had Little Time for Gossip on Their Runs. What a contrast between the old freighters of the ’sos and the monster

locomotives of today. The early locomotives could haul about 15 of the small freight cars of that time, while the modern locomotive can run away with 80 or more of double the capacity of the old cars. In the 50’s locomotives had been considerably developed from the crude machines on wheels of the 30’s, when they

were first introduced into New England. - Take, for instance, the Gardiner and compare it with the first locomotive to turn a wheel in Maine, In 1836, on the old Bangor, Oldtbwn & Veazie railroad, the fourth road in New England. These little engines were built in England, had one pair of driving wheels, one pair of leading wheels, no cab, pilot or headlight. They weighed about- six tons and could run only in one direction, as they had no reversing mechanism. The rails were of wood, which were later improved by bolting iron straps on them. The Gardiner was a great improvement over those engines, and repre-. sen ted the latest in locomotive construction at that date. It was built at Taunton, Mass., by Fairbanks, later known as the Taunton Locomotive Works, in 1854, with cylinders 15x22 2__ M j C fnr ony» ocLUQ D"IOUL urlV"rßj lui bee & Portland Railroad Company, better known by its later name of Portland & Kennebec. It was designed for freight service, and for many years hauled freight between Augusta and Portland. Finally the old machine was put in the passenger service and pulled the night Pullman. Eventually it became attached to the work train service, and was finally sold in the late 70’6 to the Canada Southern Railway. 4 When first put in service this locomotive was equipped with the old hook motion, which was later changed to the Stevenson link motion. The Gardiner was a showy engine, resplendent with brass work and fancy fainting. On the tank was a landscape representing a train of cars crossing a long arched bridge. The drivers were painted red, and there was an ornamepttrt molding under the eaves of the cab. The Gardiner’s drivers were only one inch less in diameter than the large B. & M. Mallet locomotive. The Gardiner weighed about 35 tons, and the modern engine 228 tons. The Gardiner’s cylinders were 15x22 inches, while the 1291’s cylinders are 22x80 inches high pressure, and 35x30 inches low pressure. The Gardiner had two pairs of drivers, the 1291 has •lxIn the method of firing and in the amount of work the fireman had to do there was a vast difference. The Gardtadt’s fireman had to help.wood up the tank before starting and several times on the run, when the whole crew helped. The cylinders were oiled from the outside, and cylinder cocks had each to be opened and closed from the outside. The cocks were opened while standing at a station. Atfer the engine was under way and the condensed water freed from the cylinders, the fireman had to make his way along the running board to the cylinders, reach down and shut each cock on both sides of the engine, and return to the cab, where he was kept busily employed In throwing wood into the furnace and between spells getting the wood forward on the tank to be easily reached. When the cylinders needed oiling be

would go out front again when they <were descending some grade, while steam was shut off, drain the oil cups and pour the melted tallow into the cylinder cups. In a high wind, or on cold days In winter, when the running board wab icy, this was a dangefous task. Those little, old, eight-wheelers performed well their part. Many an old engineer, who has handled a throttle on the old wood burners, Is still in harness, handling the modern locomotives, but if you should ask him what was his favorite engine, the chances are he would assure you one of those old engines he handled in former years would “lick the spots off anything ever made of her Inches," and they were smarter, very much smarter, according to their size, than the heavy machines of today. Less machinery and consequently less friction.