by Mountcastle
It goes without saying that the name "R. I. CARTWRIGHT" was painted on the cab of No. 14 to honor Richard Cartwright (and rightly so), but does anyone know why it was decided to honor him in this particular way?
I'm just wondering if Mr. Cartwright had a particular fondness for No. 14. He did, after all, acquire both 18 and 14 (18 first) and his name might just as well have been painted on the cab of No. 18, rather than 14. But for some reason, 14 was chosen over 18.
Is a dedication of that sort considered permanent or could it be transferred to another locomotive, if deemed desirable (I'm not too familiar with railroad tradition with respect to this sort of thing), without incurring the wrath of the gods of the rails ?
Also, was the name painted on posthumously or during his lifetime?
Finally, are there any plans to similarly honor anyone on the cab of No. 18? Edward Lewis, for example, or Richard Reisdorf? I know that in the 1990s, Manley's name was painted beneath the engineer's window on the cab of No. 18, but it was just a gimmicky sort of thing (that looked awful) painted in a freehand script and was placed, inexplicably, in quotation marks (which made no sense at all): "Manley Hakes, Engineer".
No offense to Manley, but I'm glad that's gone. Quotation marks have no place outside of a quotation.
I'm just wondering if Mr. Cartwright had a particular fondness for No. 14. He did, after all, acquire both 18 and 14 (18 first) and his name might just as well have been painted on the cab of No. 18, rather than 14. But for some reason, 14 was chosen over 18.
Is a dedication of that sort considered permanent or could it be transferred to another locomotive, if deemed desirable (I'm not too familiar with railroad tradition with respect to this sort of thing), without incurring the wrath of the gods of the rails ?
Also, was the name painted on posthumously or during his lifetime?
Finally, are there any plans to similarly honor anyone on the cab of No. 18? Edward Lewis, for example, or Richard Reisdorf? I know that in the 1990s, Manley's name was painted beneath the engineer's window on the cab of No. 18, but it was just a gimmicky sort of thing (that looked awful) painted in a freehand script and was placed, inexplicably, in quotation marks (which made no sense at all): "Manley Hakes, Engineer".
No offense to Manley, but I'm glad that's gone. Quotation marks have no place outside of a quotation.