When striking shop craftsman left unattended the old Wabash engine that daily runs over the 'spur' from Pittsfield to the main line at Maysville IL, the little city faced complete loss of railway service. The old engine needed daily coaling and grooming and nobody in Pittsfield wanted the job. Wabash officials, as a last resort, called for volunteers.

Five men put on overalls and stepped forward and guaranteed to keep the engine's tender filled with coal and her backsides spick and span. The volunteers were Mayor Maynard S. Highbert, Sheriff John H. Davis, George N. Smith, a former Mayor, Samuel Williams and Robert M. Weeks.