That anomalous principle, friendly rivalry, which exists between the various railway companies of the world, is responsible for many extraordinary performances.
One of the most interesting, and certainly one of the most curious, of these has been the attempt by three different companies—two on this side of the water, and one on the other—to erect a locomotive in less than twenty-four hours, and so far the palm has to be awarded to an English company.
By building is simply meant the assembling of the thousand and one intricacies that constitute the iron steed of to-day, and not the manufacture of these innumerable parts, as it is perfectly obvious, even to the most uninitiated, that such a feat is absolutely impossible, under the present circumstances, in such a brief space of time. The accomplishment of such brilliant performances, however, speaks volumes for the skill, efficiency, and pride of the men engaged in such herculean tasks; the organisations of the railroads; the good feeling prevalent between the masters and the men; and lastly, but by no means least, the splendid standard of perfection attained by the gigantic machinery for the execution of the work with precision and thorough regard to gauge, thus enabling the parts to fit as accurately, and move as smoothly, as the cog-wheels of a watch.
The first record-breaking in this direction was attempted so far back as February 1878, by J. Deans, the well-known engineer of the London and North-Western Railway, and the engineering works of this company at Crewe. The class of engine selected for the operations was one of their standard coupled six-wheeled goods engines.
THE ENGINE AT 12 O'CLOCK, AFTER 5 HOURS' WORK.
The engine was taken out of the erecting shop, complete in every detail, having been erected in the extremely short time of 25 hours 30 minutes. It may be as well to mention that only the actual working time devoted to the engines is considered, and although about two and a half days elapsed before the engine was completed, only 25-1/2 hours were really occupied in its erection. That same day the engine ran a trial trip, and was afterwards sent back to the shops for a final coat of paint.
RESULT OF 10 HOURS' WORK ON THE ENGINE.
Some ten years elapsed after the establishment of this record before another effort was made to erect an engine within twenty-four hours. On this occasion it was the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, one of the largest railroad companies in the United States, possessing over 8,000 miles of railway track, which is about equal in extent to almost three of our leading railway systems combined. The engine selected on this occasion was also a tank of the light passenger type, with cylinders 17 inches in diameter and a 24-inch stroke, driving wheels 62 inches in diameter, and with a total weight when in complete working order of 96,300 lbs., or about 43 tons. It was erected under the supervision of Mr. F. L. Sheppard, General Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, at the company's works at Altoona, Pennsylvania.