(rshsdepot) RAILWAY DETENTIONS--THE LESSON OF THE SEASON

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

From the "New York Times" (New York, New York), 11 February 1861, 
page 3:

RAILWAY DETENTIONS--THE LESSON OF THE SEASON.--If any railway 
traveler has escaped annoying detention during the cold terms of the 
present Winter, caused by the inability of the engine to proceed, he 
has been peculiarly fortunate. The vital features of the locomotive 
are susceptible to cold in a much great degree than the public 
imagines. A blockade of snow certainly delays progress, but it does 
not of itself permanently interrupt it, for if a locomotive can only 
be made to generate the breath of life, the penetration of the 
loftiest New-England snow-banks is but a question of time. The 
trouble is, that the supply of feedwater to the boiler, being 
dependent upon the locomotion of the engine, is cut off--the 
alternate charge and retreat of the huge battering-ram does not 
develop sufficient continuity of the motion to keep the pumps in 
action--the blood stops flowing through the veins of the iron horse, 
till half-a-dozen of them together are stalled in the same drift. But 
a more frequent cause of detention is the freezing of the pump during 
long stoppages at stations, or while waiting for trains. As the 
action of this heart of the monster is dependent upon his locomotion, 
any temporary cessation of the pulsation and flow is likely to result 
in disaster more or less serious. . . .

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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