The mountain Democrat., 1864-01-02
Running In . Fog.

-
In the year 1856 was running an en-.
gine on the - road. Ny engine was
,, - ~ :; =. ~, eSA Z -reer she Eak,
too and she could turn them about as
fast as necessary, ] can assure you. Ny
regular train was the Morning Express" "
leaving the upper terminus Of the road at
half.past four, running sixty nine miles
in an hour and forty.flve minutes, which,
rs had 10 make three stops, might, with
justice, be considered pretty fast travel
ing
- --~', ~ 49, w. ~->vN~~~~>.~ &Ve1.
hSidges, which we're liable to be open at
all hours, but more especially at day.
break. To be sure there we're men sta.
toned at every brid. e, and in fact every
half mile along the road. whose special
duty it was to warn approaching trains
Of danger from open drawbridges, OBJ
strucliOns on the track, &C., but the
class Of men employed on such duty was
not noted for sObriety, and the wages
paid were not Sufficient to secure . pecu-
liArly intelligent or careful class. So the
confidence | was compelled to place IN
them was necessarily burdeaed with
much distruSt.
These men were provided with white
and red signal lanterns, detonAtlng tor
pedoes and co!ored flags, and the rules Of
the road required them to place . tOrpe-
do on the rail and shox q red signal both
on the bridge and at fog station" dis
tant half mil. from the bridge, before
they opened the draw. At All times when
the draw was closed they were to show .
white light Ut flag, at this fog station"
This explanation will, | trust, be suffi.
cient TO enable every reader to under
stand the position in which found my
self iE the grey Of one September morn
ing
| left the starting point Of my route
ten minutes behind time. The fog was
more dense than had ever seen it. 1t
had envelOped everything. coul not
see the end OF my train, which consisted
Of five cars filled with passengers. The
headlight which carried on my en-
gine illuminated the feccy cloud tor only
few feet, so that was running into the
most utter darkness. did not like the
looks Of things at al, but my "orders "
were positive to use oil due exertions to
make time. So, blindly putting my trust
in the miserable twenty dollars a. month
men, who were the agents along the road,
| darted headlong into and through the
thick, and, to all mortal vision, impene.
trable fog. The Racer behaved nobly
this morning she seemed gifted with the
wings Of the wind" and rushed thun-
deringly on, making such time that as.
tonished even me, almost "natIve to the
manor born" Everything passed off
right. had made up" seven minutes
OF my time, and was within ten minutes
Of my journeys end. The speed at
which had been running had exhilera.
ted and excited me. That pitching into
darkness, blindly trusting to men that
had at best but weak faith in, had given
my nerves All unnatural tension, so I re-
solved to run the remaining ten miles at
whatever rate Of speed the Racer was
capable of making. gave her steam,
and away We flew. The fog was so thick
that could not tell by passing objects
how fast we ran, but the dull, heavy and
oppressive roar as we shot through rock
cuttings and tunnels, the rocking and
straining Of my engine, and the almost
inconceivable velocity at which the driv-
ing wheels revolved, told me that my
sp,ed was absolutely awful did not
care, though. was used to that and the
rules bore me out; besides, | wanted to
win for my engine the title Of the fastest
engine on tn" road, which knew she de-
served. So cried "On on!"
had to cross one drawbridge which,
owing to the intervention of high hill,
could not be seen from the time we passed
the fog station" until we we're within
three or four rods of it. watched close
ly for the "fog station" 1t was white.
"All right, 60 ahead, my beauty /" shout
ed !, giving at the same time another jerk
at the throttle" and we shot into the
"cut."
In less fine than it takes me to write
it, We were through, and there on the top
of the "draw," dimly seen through rift
in the fog, glimmered with to me actual
ghastlness the danger signal red light
1t seemed to glare at me with almost fen.
dish malignity. Stopping was out OF the
question, even had | been running a
quarter Of my actual speed As was
running, had not even time to grasp
the whistle cord before we would 6e in.
So giving one longing, lingering thought
to the bright world, whose duration to
me could not be reckoned in seconds
even, shut my eyes and waited my death,
which seemed as absolute and inevitable
as inglorious. 1t was but an instant of
time, but an age of thought and dread
and then, was over the bridge A
drunken bridge tender had, with accurs-
ed stupidity, hoisted the wrong highland
my adventure was but scare,"-but
half dozen such were as bad as death.
1t was three weeks before | ran again,
and | never after "made up time in a
g."--Trips in the life of a Locomotive
Engineer.
Tnr Dr. Tb;e hon,I.