New England railroads. Fortune. March 1930.

Railway lines, west of Chicago and St. Louis. Fortune. March 1930.

Timothy Hackworth – Scientist of the Day

Timothy Hackworth, an English steam locomotive pioneer, died July 7, 1850, at the age of 63.

He stood crooked, his right shoulder higher than the left from years of carrying the ties over his back. His right ram horn was broken and chipped, his right eye silver and blind. A massive scar just beneath it in the shape of a lightning bolt shown through his grayish white fur, stretching from just below his eye, down his neck and across his chest.

He never spoke much, and when he did it was either to ask where the tracks should lead or to tell the railroad owner how much they owed him for his effort.

He knew how to tend to the locomotives as well, as he once was the head of the roundhouse. Though he stopped ages ago, some still ask him for advice in maintaining the older locomotives. The ones with character and personality that younger steam heads weren't familiar with or couldn't understand. The ones the legends say he built.

Now, he builds the tracks, lays them down for miles and miles day after day. Hauls ties and rails out on a wagon behind his steam roller and cranes them in himself. He works day and night for the right price, and he's been known to lay the smoothest track imaginable for high speed trains.

When the curator of the railroad museum met with him, the idea of upgrading existing trackage wasn't necessarily new to Samuel, but the nature of the request was. Samuel would need to reroute the track to avoid a mountain and add super elevation to bank the train inward around the corners. For this Samuel charged the curator a handsome fee and set to work.

He parked his steamroller at the museum and grabbed a lantern from his crate. He started walking along the eight miles along tracks into the night, noting every joint, every surface imperfection, everywhere he would have to move ballast and everywhere the track looked alright.

He noted the corners that would need lifted and super elevated, and charted out a path to reroute the tracks around the mountain.

Best Friend of Charleston – Scientist of the Day

Best Friend of Charleston, a steam locomotive, was built by the West Point Iron Foundry in New York City in the late summer of 1830, was delivered to the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company (SCC&RR) in the fall, and made its first run in Charleston on Christmas Day, 1830.