Frank W. Doughty

“ During the time the engine is under steam with a train, everything seen, heard, felt and smelt is capable of affording a lesson.
On the engine the eye is trained to distinguish different colors at considerable distances. If one is color-blind he cannot be a good engineer.
On the engine the ear learns to detect the slightest variation in the beats and knocks about the machinery—to distinguish the difference between the knock of an axle box and the knock of a journal. ”

“ First of all in building a model locomotive, as in every other class of engineering work, it is necessary to get the measurements correct in spacing out the different parts to be joined together; and do not think that because it is only a model you are making that any off-hand way will do, because you will find before the engine is half finished that great accuracy is necessary if you wish your model to work.
A slight mistake in the measurements of a large engine will cause so much friction as to take half its power to overcome. The same mistake with your model will stop it entirely. ”

“ Now all these things have got to be learned while a fireman, for unless you know them you can never become an engineer.
Some engineers will give no instructions. They demand certain results, and if the fireman don't do just what they expect because he does not understand what is wanted, they call him a fool, snatch the shovel out of his hand and do the work themselves. ”

“ It is only while an engine is in steam and going at good speed that the rocks, coral-reefs and sand-banks on railways can be seen and learned, and the value of and the rank acquired by an engineer are in exact proportion to the pains he takes to find them out, and to remark their dangerous position on his chart. ”

“ Sound rules and principles are absolutely sure in the effects of their application—not right to-day and wrong to-morrow; not right in a short trip and all astray on a long one; not right on one particular engine and wrong on another; not right on the first part of the run and wrong at the end; not right with one kind of coal and wrong with another, but always right, every time. ”

“ Before going to his engine an engineer should, for his own safety, as well as that of the public, visit the special and general notice boards and post himself fully upon the running of the trains for the day. By neglecting this more than one engineer has lost his life. ”

“ A clean engineer frequently scales the ladder of progress much faster than a dirty one, although the latter may have everything else in his favor.
A model engineer runs the most important trains, and he is never the man who wore the greasy, dirty cap or the coat and trousers all smeared with oil. ”

“ Nothing looks so bad as to see an engineer suddenly close the regulator, pull the lever very nearly out of gear and "smack" the steam on again. The force with which the steam may strike the piston under such circumstances is very great and often may do damage.
To an attentive engineer the start is full of interest; for, although he may have made a careful and thorough examination of his engine before joining his train, he cannot feel satisfied that all is right until the full pressure of the steam is on the piston and the engine feels its load. ”

“ Of course the state of the steam depends altogether upon the way the fires are managed, but for us to give directions how to manage a locomotive fire-box to the best advantage would require pages of description which could scarcely be understood unless one had had previous practical experience.
Remember one thing, the engineer is responsible for the fire, even if he does not make it. He must therefore know when a fire is good and when it is bad, why and what to do. ”

“ For two or three generations we have had the story of James Watt told us; how when a boy and watching his mother's tea-kettle one day he saw the steam lift the lid, and that suggested the idea that if a little steam could lift the lid of a kettle, a great deal would lift still heavier weights and revolutionize the world. ”

“ Inspect carefully also the inside springs and axle boxes, specially the latter. See that the fireman oils them; if he does not, you are to blame.
The ash-pan, piston rod, smoke box, etc., all need to be looked at with care, for to run right the engine must start right, and this brings us to the most important thing of all—the condition of the fire before leaving the round house, for there is no other one thing on which an engineer's good name, success and future prospects depend so much as on the condition of the fire at the beginning of the day's work. ”

“ In starting the regulator should be opened gently, especially with a full boiler.
Care is necessary when starting to keep the cylinders and valves clear of water. Half a pint of water will wash the faces of the cylinders and valves. Slip or no slip, it is better to use a little sand than to incur the risk of slipping when the rails are inclined to be slippery.
When the engine begins to feel its load the regulator can be opened more. A few clear, sonorous puffs at the start do good; they rouse the fire into action at once—there is no hesitation in the matter. ”

“ For the first few months, unless he is fortunate enough to gain favor in the eyes of some obliging engineer, no one is going to stop to explain matters and he need not expect it. Nevertheless there are a thousand and one little things that he can pick up if he is shrewd, all of which will come in play later on.
When the locomotive is taken out watch how they do it. When it comes in keep your eyes open for points, and you will be sure to get them. When it breaks down and comes in for repairs then is the very time of all others to be on hand if you can and watch how they fix it. ”

“ There comes the tug of war, the time when it will be definitely decided whether the engineer is good, bad or indifferent.
Hundreds of lives may depend upon prompt action, thousands of dollars' worth of property are in the engineer's hands, either to waste or save when the moment of the break down comes. ”

“ It is scarcely necessary to state that to properly run your engine steam must be kept up.
When the engine has got the train up to speed, steam should begin to issue from the safety valves. When it does not do so there has not been a full boiler, as there always should be at the start and the fireman must be made to understand how to make a starting fire in proper shape. ”

“ Steam horses were "contrary to nature;" they were "damaging to good morals and religion;" the smoke of the locomotive would "obscure the sun, and thereby ruin the crops." Farmyards and farmhouses would be burned by their sparks; the clanking, puffing locomotive would have such an effect on the mind as to drive people crazy (this was backed up by certificates from a dozen doctors) ; locomotives would cause springs to dry up and fields to become sterile; they would create great chasms by constantly running over the same ground. ”

“ On long runs if the engine is not instantly up to the mark at the start, and if the feeds must be held off to allow the fire and the engine a chance of recovery, the consequences are that the water in the boiler gets lower and less, and the uncertainty of ever getting the water up again becomes greater every minute, especially with a heavy train and against a strong side wind. ”

“ If the fire is not properly lighted at the start, no matter how good the engine or how smart the engineer, constant trouble during the trip, to say nothing of an increased consumption of coal which is bound to tell against him, will be the result.
Don't get to your work late, and don't allow your fireman to be late. If the fire is to be properly built he has got to take time to it. Fires thrown together in a hurry always turn out bad.
Duties of a Fireman.
As the model engineer must first have served as fireman, let us say a word on that score. ”

“ Take the best engine ever built and let an engineer run it awhile with these "haycock" fires, as they are called—and many do it—you will be sure to find the boiler subject to sudden leakage, either in the joints of the plates or in the stays, the tubes, or the foundation ring. Such engines are always in the repair shop, and because of bad firing and nothing else. ”

“ When finished place your locomotive on the track and get up steam. Fill the boiler with water by means of a funnel until you see it rise up three parts of the way in the glass water-gauge. Then see that all taps are turned off and start the fire. Charcoal is the best fuel, as it gives a clear, hot fire without much smoke once you start it right.
Try the safety-valve occasionally to see how your steam is getting on, and when it begins to form turn on the blast-tap, which will soon draw up the fire, and you will presently see the pressure rise and show itself in the pressure-gauge. ”

“ If you wish to fit a force pump it should be placed centrally between the cylinders and be worked by an eccentric on the main shaft, but a pump on a model locomotive is next to useless unless it is also made to work by hand.
In Fig. 29, we have one which can be worked either way. A is the pump; B the eccentric on main-shaft to work it by steam power. To work by hand you have only to push up hook connection C, which disconnects it from the eccentric; and then by working the handle D, which is screwed into the bottom of the plunger C, the water is forced into the boiler. ”

“ Before a fireman can serve on a passenger train, he should have served awhile as freight brakeman, or in the yard shifting cars. Before going on an express train, he must have run on slow trains as fireman. ”

“ When steam, water and fuel are being thrown away through the safety valves, it is a positive proof of the existence of either one or the other of the following evils:
Either the engine is too small for its work or too great for its man, and both the engine and the man would do better on short runs ”

“ Especially is this necessary at night, when the engineer's attention should always be on his engine, listening constantly to its beats to detect any irregularity which may arise from some defect in the machinery, frequently casting his eyes on the pressure gauge, and on the level of the water in the gauge glass.
When the fireman puts on coal, the engineer should look round occasionally, to be sure that he is doing it right, placing [Pg 30] the coal next to the walls of the fire-box, and not piling them in a heap in the middle. ”

“ Tin is the best material to use for the tender, as no great strength is required—indeed it should be made as light as [Pg 43] possible. The wheels and axles you must finish in the same manner as those on the engine, and it can be made into a tank to hold an extra supply of alcohol by soldering a piece of tin round the inside and covering it in with another piece cut to shape and fitted with a screw nut to fill by as shown in Fig. 18.
Such is the method of constructing a model locomotive which will run without complicated machinery. ”

“ If a fireman, in the act of firing, lifts his feet off the foot plate, he will roll about, and the firing will be improperly done, in consequence of the coal being knocked off the shovel by the latter catching against the fire hole ring or depletion plate. ”

“ To fire properly the fireman should stand in such a position as to be able to reach the coals in the tender easily, and to work the shovel without shifting his feet, except when he turns slightly on his heels, first, toward the coal, and then toward the fire hole. ”

“ In the first only partial pressure of the confined air is used, in the latter the full pressure is employed and the brakes brought against the wheels with all force at once.
One of the most important duties of an engineer is to be well assured that the air-brakes are in proper working order.
After the call for hand brakes has been given, the air brakes must not be applied until the hand brakes are released. Air and hand brakes should never be used at the same time on a car. ”

“ P is the line-clearer or wheel guard. Q are the leading wheels, R R the driving wheels, S is one of the cylinders with piston rods and guides bolted to frame and showing double connecting rod at T T. U U are the springs which support the weight of the boiler, etc., on the axle bearings. The spring or rear wheel does not show, being inside the safety guard and hand-rail V. W is the back pressure valve, through which the water is thrown by the force-pump into the boiler, and X is the blow-off tap to clear the engine from all water after having used it. ”

“ On the engine the body learns to distinguish the shocks, oscillations, etc., which are due to a defective road from those which arise from a defective engine. The olfactory nerves became very sensitive so as to detect the generation of heat from friction before any mischief is done. ”