Fighting Fires on the Early New York Central
By Richard F. Palmer
From the beginning railroads were a constant fire hazard. In the early days smokstacks were imperfectly screened, spreading sparks all over the countryside. Flames from failing brake shoes would ignite surrounding vegetation. Old newspapers frequently published accounts blaming locomotives for causing fires. Tin roofs were finally installed on nearby buildings and woodpiles.
It wasn't until the 1860s that railroads began to come to grips with fire prevention. At places like Syracuse where scores of trains once passed daily through the heart of the city, engine crews had to be particularly cautious - right up until the end came in 1936. Engineer Carl Peterson once told the author the train speed limit through the city was 15 miles per hour, "and there was no stoking."
One of the earliest efforts to combat fires was developed in 1860 by Dyer Williams, master mechanic of the New York Central's Middle Division which then covered the main line and Auburn branch between Syracuse and Rochester. At that time what was known as Holly's Patent Rotary Engine and Pump had been developed and patented by the Silsby Manufacturing Co. of Seneca Falls, N.Y. For decades Silsby was one of the leading manufacturers of horse drawn steam fire engines which were shipped out far and wide on the New York Central.
Williams in his day was considered an inventive genius, patented numerous railroad appliances as well as farm machinery. After his inventions were patented they were used extensively, not only in the U.S. but in Europe as well. He thought the concept of a fire engine could be adapted to railroad use.
An experiment, which proved successful, was staged on June 12 and 13, 1861. The Silsby pump was mounted on the locomotive Republic, a switch engine, in the Syracuse yard near the roundhouse. Supplied with water from the tender, the pressure from the steam-driven pump through an inch and a half hose threw a stream of water 258 feet.
Williams intended this engine to do double duty - switching cars and being on hand in case of fire within Syracuse, anywhere within 1,500 to 2,000 feet of the railroad between the yards and the tunnel beneath the Erie Canal at the eastern city limits where there was no immediate source of water. In a letter to the editor of the Syracuse Daily Journal published July 22, 1861 he wrote:
"In addition to the suction hose, which is in all cases to be attached to the tank, where water can be supplied to the tank, by means of hooks, or brackets attached for that purpose, four pieces of extra suction hose of 14 feet in length, which can be attached to the usual suction hose, making in all about 80 feet, too be used as occasion requires.
"For instance, when at a wood pile that is on fire along the line where there is no head or elevation of water from which to fill the tank, this hose can be disengaged from the tank, and connected together, and lead off into a stream or pond, within 80 feet, or the length of the suction hose, and the length of suction can be extended to almost any length, so that almost invariably a fire can be reached either by a long suction or long leading hose, or both combined.
"There is also attached to the pump a length of hose of 50 feet, with hose attached, coiled up, and ready for instant use, so that all that is necessary to be done to start a 1 1/4 inch stream of water, in case the building where the engine stands should take fire, is to straighten out this hose, and open the throttle valve of the fire engine. This can be done by one man and in less than one minute from the time he steps into the locomotive. The engineer and fireman, and others who man this machine, all live with a few rods of the engine house, where this machine stands at night, so that they can all be called by the company's watchman, within a few moments after an alarm of fire is given, and if a despatch is received of a fire up the line, this machine and men can be on they way to it within ten minutes after the receipt of such dispatch, if in day time, and 15 or 20 at the farthest if in the night.
"In addition to the usual pump of the locomotive, a Giffard Injector, an independent steam, or as it is sometimes called, Donkey Pump, is attached, to supply the locomotive boiler with water, while standing in the engine house at night; or when the fire engines in operation at a fire. The application of a Steam Fire Engine and Pump for fire purposes, too a locomotive, is, I believe, original with myself, and for which I have applied for a patent."
The Evening Express, Rochester, N.Y.
Tuesday, June 17, 1861
Important Improvement in the Manner of Checking Fires at Railroad Stations. - Mr. Dyer Williams, master mechanic of the New York Central Railroad at Syracuse, was brought about a method of keeping fire at stations along the road in check. The improvement consists in attaching a rotary pump to the machinery of the locomotive.
This has been done to the locomotive "Republic" a work engine, and on Friday and Saturday the experiment was tried with a most gratifying result. An inch and a half stem was thrown 258 feet, The pumps are Cary's rotary, and are supplied with water from the tender. In case there is a fire at any station along the road, the locomotive can be sent forward, and quickly brought to the scene of action.
We have not seen any of these locomotives work, but give the above from a verbal description. Mr. Williams has heretofore established his reputation as a practical mechanic, by his many improvements upon locomotives, of which this is the latest; each one tending toward the one object, that of saving expenditure in the cost of running locomotives.
*Dyer Williams died on June 24, 1902 at his home at 6248 Jackson Park Avenue in Chicago at the age of 76. His obituary in the Chicago Tribune of July 6, 1902 said "he was widely known as an old railroad man and inventor. His car coupler, which he perfected in 1895, has been extensively used, and he also invented the Williams mower and reaper. In his earlier days he as for some years master mechanic of the New York Central Railroad, and later rebuilt the railroad running between Cayuga and Ithaca. Mr. Williams has been a great traveler in Europe, going in the interest of his mower and reaper, which was largely used in German, Denmark and Sweden. He is survived by his widow and three children - Mrs. George H. Barrus of Boston, Mrs. M. A. Sailor, and Mrs. Lot Snoddy of Chicago."
