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2 the last one drawn in on a curve. “All the work was conducted under mv instructions, our very efficient su *•A * • pervisor, H. A. Bittier, bavins every detail of it carried;out just as I desired it. £ “On May 21st,'.' I furnished him a programme forchanging the side-tracks between Atlanta and Chattanooga, which was promptly carried out. “The change of gauge on the main line commenced,, at Chattanooga on May 31st, at shortly after 1:30 P. M., when our last train on the 5 feet gauge left Chattanooga, with a flag on each side of the last oar with the words in large letters, “THE LAST TRAIN, which gave notice to each overseer alone; the line to commence the work of changing the gauge on the main line. “That train did not reach Atlanta until 6:35 P. M. It will be seen, there fore, that the.men commencing at the Chattanooga end of the road had an advantage in the way of time; but to compensate for the time, I had increas ed the force at each section in propor tion to time, length of track to be changed, etc. “The work was done so expeditious ly and with such zeal that by 10 o’clock on the morning of June Ist we drove the last spike on the main line 16 miles from Atlanta, having also in the meantime changed all side-tracks which had retained the 5 feet gauge until that time, except a few where broad gauge cars were stored until the car department could change these. “The following names are those of each overseer, the section on which he operated, the number of his extra hands, and also his regular force em ployed on the occasion. The list com mences at the Chattanooga end of the W. & A. R. R : B. F. Collins, the Chattanooga yard out to the Cincinnati Southern Railway target. Eight regular hands, none extra. H. M. Adams then commenced work at 136 milepost, on until he met H. G. McGuffin, the overseer between the 127th and 134th mile posts. His force included only his regular hands. Mr. McGuffin’s force numbered 7 regular hands and 11 extra. W. H. Higgins was overseer between the 120th and 127th mile posts, with 8 regular hands and 5 extra. T. W. Green was overseer between the li 3th and 120th mile posts, with 7 regular and 8 extra hands. C. S. Evans, overseer between the 107th and 113th mile posts, with 8 regular and 10 extra hands. From the 107t.h mile post through the tunnel our efficient bridge foreman, T. Jeff Smith, had charge of the work with the bridge gang, of 8 regular liands. A. B. Baker, overseer between Dal ton and Tunnel Hill, had 8 regular and 12 extra hands. J. J. McFarlan, overseer from Dal ton to the 92d mile post, had 7 regu lar and 13 extra hands. A. V. Whaley, overseer between THE GREAT KENNESAW ROUTE GAZETTE. the 92d and 85th mile posts, had 6 regular and 14 extra hands. R. F. Hogan, overseer between the 85th and 78th mile posts, with 8 reg ular and 14 extra hands. E. A. Underwood, overseer between the 78th and 70th mile posts, with 8 regular and 4 extra hands. T. F. Biddy, overseer, between the 62d and 70th mile posts, had 7 regu lar and 20 extra hands. He was as sisted by our former supervisor, Mr. J. W. Wade, who rendered valuable ser vice. J. B. West, overseer between the 55th and 62d mile posts, had 8 regu lar and 16 extra hands. He was as sisted by one of his old associates, so as to work from both ends of his sec tion. R. Chapman, overseer between Car tersville and the 55th mile post, had 8 regular and 8 extra hands. He was assisted by the hands from the Dade Coal Company’s road leading from Rog ers out tolronville. That little branch road had changed its gauge some few days before, and our force had assisted them and they now cleverly returned the compliment. H. L. Dobbs, overseer between Car tersville and Allatoona was assisted by our very efficient and experienced con ductor, George Kendrick, who render ed valuable assistance. This force numbered 8 regular and 19 extra hands. J. A. Templeton, overseer between the 32d and 40th mile poftts, had 8 regular and 18 extra hands. He was assisted by one of our old overseers, Mr. Gibson, who volunteered his services, for which I desire to express my high appreciation. J. W. Bennett, overseer between the 24th and 32d mile posts had 8 reg ular and 20 extra hands. He was as sisted by another of our old overseers, who did good work. Thos. Moon, overseer between the 16th and 24th mile posts had 8 regu lar hands. He was assisted by the men from the Marietta and North Georgia railroad, whom the superin tendent kindly sent to us,.who did very efficient work, for which I am greatly obliged to them as well as to Superintendent Glover, of the M. & N. G. R. R. J. T. Griggs, overseer between Bth and 16th mile posts, had 7 regular and 24 extra hands. He vias assisted by our old overseer, R. F. Hill, whose services were very valuable on this oc casion. J. H. Griggs, overseer between At lanta and the Bth mile post, had 8 regular and 2 extra hands. He was assisted by Mr. T. B. Mitchell with the construction train hands, and all work ed with commendable zeal and effi ciency, and, a 1 though they commenced so late in the evening of May 31st, they made connection at 6:00 A. M., June Ist, when Mr. Mitchell started up the road with an extra train and his force assisted in making the change as he went along, until all was fin ished. At Bartow station, 42 miles above Atlanta, Mr. Mitchell met Mr. 11. A. Butler, supervisor, who had started from Chattanooga the evening before with the engine ‘Kennesaw’ and three cars, with the floating gang, and had worked his way on down, assisting the overseers at points where they had not completed the work. In this manner, as just indicated, Mr. Butler from the Chattanooga end, and Mr. Mitchell from the Atlanta end assisted each sec tion gang until they met at Bartow at 12:10, June Ist. The last spike, however, was driven near the 16th mile post above Atlanta, at 10 A. M., June Ist, and the work of changing the gauge of the track was accomplished at that time. The overseers and the men who did their work so rapidly and efficiently are entitled to the thanks of all, and I take great pleasure in tendering mine.” By referring to the above it will be seen that the total force engaged in changing the track gauge of the W. & A. R. R. between Atlanta and Chatta nooga, a distance of 138 miles, was 436 men —the work being commenced at the Chattanooga end, at a little af ter 1:30 P. M., and at the Atlanta end at 6.35 P. M., of May 31st, and being completed so as to open the road for traffic by 10 o’clock, June 1, 1886. But the most expensive feature of the change of gauge was that connect ed with the fitting of the cars and en gines of the company for the new width of the track. The Western and Atlantic had been working to this end for a number of weeks, and on the morning of June Ist, had changed enough of its cars to meet all the current demands. NUMBER OF CARS CHANGED. This included, in the passenger ser vice, 12 coaches, 2 combination cars, 4 baggage cars, 4 postal cars and 3 sleeping cars, total 25; in the freight service, 298 Green Line box cars, 58 local box cars, 27 stock cars, 147 coal cars, 15 flats, 11 conductors’ cabs. All the cars in the passenger service, by the way, were equipped with new wheels, axles and journal bearings. This work was done under the su pervision of Mr. Wm. Kinyon, master car builder, and the highest compli ment which can be paid him and his force is to mention that there has scarcely been a hot journal on any of these cars since the change. CHANGE OF ENGINES. In reference to this part of the work, we quote from Mr. M. L. Collier, who, though probably the youngest master machinist in the Southern States, is certainly one of the best in any of the States. He has been in the machine department of the W. & A. R. R. for 20 years —having worked his way up from being an apprentice to the posi tion of master machinist. Mr. Collier says: “On about the first of June, 1885, I received instruc tions from Mr. Anderson, our general superintendent, to make the necessary preparations for the change of gauge, which would occur about the Ist of June, 1886. Fully realizing the magnitude of the job, we allowed no grass to grow under our feet, and went to work at once. We commenced this undertaking with a reduced force in all branches of the machine department, and, after a general survey of the subject, it was decided to change our engines by put ting in new’ wheel centers, which would make the engines as safe and secure as ever. This brought about the making of new wheel centre patterns, one 58 inches in diameter for passenger en gines, and one 49 inches in diameter for freight engines; and we adopted these as the standard sizes for the freight and passenger service of this road. On the 17th of August, 1885, we made our first driving-wheels, and since that time have made and fitted up in their entirety 160 driving-wheel cen ters, with no increase of force, except the taking on of one machinist. We came up to the date of the change of gauge with 37 engines pre pared, of which 11 were for passenger and 26 for freight service. These en. gines are now running successfully. This leaves us with 14engines to change, which we are doing rapidly. (The editor will here remark that since the date of Mr. Collier’s letter 7 more of these engines have been changed.) We had one engine that it was found impossible to do anything with. This was the “Nicffajack,” which has been in the service of the company ever since before the war, and we shall, for sentimental reasons, part with her on the main line, with regret. The work of effecting this change of gauge on the engines was an under taking which has been accomplished under very adverse circumstances. In the first place, owing to the tremend ous business that was done through the winter months, I might say six months, making on an average 150,- 000 miles per month on a road only 138 miles long with about 40 main line engines, and contending with one of the most severe winters we have ever experienced in Georgia, we were compelled to work very hard in order to keep enough engines, in running or der to maintain the efficiency of the service, stopping five engines at a time to put in new wheels. I desire to say in conclusion that I earnestly thank the employes of the machine department of the W. & A. R. R., for their untiring efforts, and great zeal which they manifested on all occasions since we commenced this work. I also wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to the officers of the company for their kindness and courtesy to me as well as to the men in my depart ment.” Mr. Collier’s modesty prevented him saying that he, himself, perfected a de vice for removing the tires of the wheels which proved eminently successful, in that he frequently removed the tires, 3 inches thick, in from 6 to 10 minutes, where the expansion allowed on the