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The Dummy Engine
The Dummy engine was chosen as a sort of compromise for the people who wanted the track to run west of Sengentacket Pond for fear of the engine scaring the horses. The Dummy engine chosen was built by Jerome Wheelock. It looked like a passenger car, so it was thought to be far less threatening to horses. It went twenty-five miles an hour, held twenty-four people, could pull a train carrying one hundred and fifty people, and used about five hundred pounds of coal to cover eighty miles. The dummy engine cost nine thousand dollars.
On the day of the trial trip of the "dummy" engine, most of the residents showed up to watch. The engine left Oak Bluffs heading south. Everything was going fine until it reached the first curve. The engine stopped and was unable to make the curve, as it was too sharp a turn. After all the planning and building of the Martha's Vineyard Railroad, an engine had been purchased that couldn't travel on it's own tracks.
