N&W in 1910--Unconscious

[NW Mailing List]

Matt,

Some of the older engineers, even 20 years ago when I was just starting my journey on the
high iron, were silent old so and so's who said little but expected everything of their fireman!
Sometimes you had to judge whether you had done a chore in the cab correctly by the type
of silence!!!

I can well believe that a Fireman with an Engineer of this 'old school' type might be even
afraid to look at the fellow nevermind check if he was conscious.

Regards to you,

Cameron


                                              

Cameron Míċeál Tyre, MPWI

SD40-2 at illinois.usa.com             
                                              




-----Original Message-----
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Fri, May 21, 2010 6:35 pm
Subject: Re: N&W in 1910--Unconscious



This is slightly confusing to me.  How would it be that it would take the fireman that long to find that his engineer is unconscious?  Even on the M's and W's (and possibly others) where the engineer is alongside the boiler forward of the backhead, I would think an "apparently lifeless" man would be easily noticed by the fireman, who presumably would be able to see alongside the boiler from his firing position.

Was there that little communication between the two in practice, or is the firing work heavy enough that the fireman wouldn't have time to notice?

Matt Goodman
Columbus Ohio



From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: 3N&W Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Fri, May 14, 2010 10:35:16 PM
Subject: N&W in 1910--Unconscious


Bluefield Daily Telegraph
November 24, 1910
 
UNCONSCIOUS AT THE THROTTLE OF HIS ENGINE
------
Engineer Struck by Rock at Genoa and Not Found Until Train Was at Rodney
    Riding a distance of four miles unconscious at the throttle, Norfolk and Western Engineer J. C. Neff, of Portsmouth, was found by his fireman inert and apparently lifeless as the train was pulling into Rodney, W. Va.
    Neff is supposed to have been struck on the head by a rock thrown by [someone], for a four-inch gap was found in his scalp.
    Neff says that the last thing he remembers is when he was passing through Genoa, a distance of five miles to Rodney, where he was found by the fireman as stated.  He was placed on board a freight and taken to Williamson.
------
[Rodney and Genoa were on the old Twelve Pole line between Naugatuck and Kenova.]
 
Gordon Hamilton




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