RUNNING OVER ORDINARY TRACK.
The hill which our train encounters nearly at the beginning of the journey is the Pons Asinorum of the division. The style in which it is ascended shows what kind of an engine pulls the train, and it tests in a searching manner the ability of the engineer. Our engine has got over the summit successfully; and the succeeding descent is accomplished with comfort to the engine, and security to the train. And so the rest of the trip goes on. The train speeds merrily along through green, rolling prairies, away past leafy woodlands and flowery meadows: it cuts a wide swath through long cornfields, startles into wakefulness the denizens of sleek farmhouses, and raises a rill of excitement as it bounds through quiet villages. But every change of scene, every varied state of road-bed,—level track, ascending or descending grade,—is prepared for in advance by our engine-men. Their engine is found in proper time for each occasion, as it requires the exertion of great power, or permits the conservation of the machine’s energy. Over long stretches of undulatory track the train speeds; each man attending to his work so closely that the index of the steam-gauge is almost stationary, and the water does not vary an inch in the glass. This is accomplished by regular firing and uniform boiler-feeding, two operations which must go together to produce creditable results.