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 Another Veteran Engineer Gone.
Jasper Wandle, another of those old locomotive engineers, one
of the few pioneers who helped make railroading a success, and
whose life was practically spent with a firm grip on the throttle
of a locomotive, has passed away, he died on Wednesday, January
30, 1907, at Paterson, N. J., where, for the last eleven years
he has made his home with his sister, Mrs. Peter Doremus.
Mr. Wandle was born in New York City on March 10, 1825, and
was nearly 82 years old. While still a young man he engaged himself
with a "whaler," and for three years cruised about the
Pacific Ocean and the China Sea, this was in the forties, when
the American built clipper ships and whalers were the pride of
the seas. In 1852 he took to railroading and began his career
on the Erie Railroad, when its Eastern terminus was at Piermont,
New York, he was at first employed as a fireman, but was soon
promoted to the right hand side of the cab, his first engine was
the "New York," No. 9, a six-wheel connected Baldwin
wood burner with a haystack boiler and an old fashioned broad
top smoke stack, the valves were operated by hook motion, the
cylinders were mounted at an angle about half way up the sides
of the smoke-box, and the main connections were on the rear drivers,
there were no truck wheels under the engine.
In 1856 Mr. Wandle left the Erie, and soon after went to the
Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, where for more than six
years he ran both freight and passenger trains, then early in
1863 he entered the service of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company,
remaining in their employ until December, 1895, over thirty-two
years, when, being nearly seventy-one years of age, he was retired
by that company and his name was placed upon its pension
roll, thus ending most satisfactorily a long and successful railroad
career; his last engine on the Lehigh Valley was No. 27, shown
in our illustration below.
During his later years Mr. Wandle led a very quiet life, but
was always ready to talk of the good old days in railroading,
his record of over forty years as a locomotive engineer was remarkable
in that during all that long period of service he never met with
a serious accident, this was his one pride and of which he often
spoke during the latter part of his life, that, this excellent
record was appreciated by the Lehigh Valley Company, is shown,
in the following letter sent him by the superintendent notifying
him of his retirement.
LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD.
Lehigh Division and Easton & Amboy Railroad, Office of
the Superintendent.
EASTON, Pa., November 6, 1895.
Mr. Jasper Wandle, Engineman,
South Easton, Pa.
Dear Sir.—In consideration of your long term of service
in the employ of this company as a locomotive engineman, and your
good record during that time, permission has been given to allow
you to retire from active duty, and the salary to be paid you
will be $35.00 per month.
This retirement may go in effect, say by December 1st, if you
so desire. Of course, if you prefer to remain at your post for
a while longer you are at liberty to do so, but considering the
fact that you have been on an engine for a period of thirty-two
years in the employ of this company, no doubt you will be glad
to accept of retirement.
Yours truly,
(Signed) JAMES DONNELLY, Superintendent.
On March 25, 1851, Mr. Wandle was married at Keyport, N. J.,
to Miss Sarah Cornelia Allaire, a descendent of the old Huguenot
family of that name, his wife died in October, 1895, they had
no children, he is survived by three sisters. The body was laid
to rest in the family plot in Easton Cemetery.
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