400 N. Park Street, Bellefontaine, Ohio 43311
In 1914, I hired out as machinist apprentice and a year later
they moved the shop from Bellefontaine to Indianapolis. I still
have a steam engine I made in the tool room of the local shop.
In 1916, I hired out as a locomotive fireman and was promoted to
engineer in 1923. I fired and ran steam locomotives for 35 years
and 6 years the diesel engine; retired January 20, 1960 with the
last 5 years as a passenger engineer.
In the course of 42 years, I heard several interesting stories –
here is one about the big locomotive. I will picture myself as the
engineer or conductor.
Back in 1905, I was an engineer on the Western Pacific R.R. at
Cheyenne, Wyoming where they had an extra large locomotive to shove
the long freight trains over the mountains. To get some idea of how
large – the turntable at Bellefontaine is 110 feet long and turned
any locomotive on N.Y.C. but this engine was 220 feet long, had 30
inch cylinders, 5 driving wheels on a side and carried 230 pounds
of steam. The engine was so big and powerful and heavy that when we
hit a wet rail and the driver spun trying to take hold, the rails
curled up like bacon rind in a hot skillet.
The firebox was so large you could put a table in it and seat
fifteen people around it. With a firebox that large it would be
impossible to fire it by hand, so they, had a small steam shovel
mounted on deck and fired it with that understand this was before
the stocker was invented.
The tank was also a large affair. It held 60 thousand gallons of
water and 80 tons of coal and when the coal got out of reach of the
steam shovel, they used a mule skinner and a span of mules to drag
scoop and bring the coal within reach. They kept the mules on the
back end of the tank with a pipe fence.
It is standard practice before leaving the roundhouse for the
fireman to examine the tank and see if it is full and if not, to
fill it. This day as we were leaving, he had to fill it and forgot
to close the lids to the manhole and it was an extra large
manhole.
On leaving the terminal, the mule skinner had nothing to do
until the coal got out of reach of the shovel, so he went to sleep
and while he slept one of the mules wondering around on back of the
tank, fell in the manhole and drowned.
When the skinner woke up, rubbed his eyes and saw only one mule,
he climbed down over the coal into the cab and cried over my
shoulder about losing a mule. I happened to look over at the water
glass and there was the mule floating up and down in the water
glass.
Anything I hate is a liar!
If you liked this story, next time I will tell you about the
time I was conductor of the elephant train in the Ringling Brothers
circus.
