Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1874-08-29
Jumping the Gap.

Tom Potts. a wtll-known lOcOmO
tive engineer in England and th'
States, is the self-accredited hero o
the following wonderful story O
successful daring. will narrate i
as nearly as can in his own words
| have heard him tell it often:
swell, gentlemen, ! say you'll
think it's lie, but | can't help that
you have asked me to tell it; and
all | can say is if you'd been in my
place you'd have seen it.
81 had been driving the witch
for about seven months, and a sweet
thing she was. never was half as
fond of an engine as | was of her
She was the kind of machine a man
only gets once in lifetime.
"She made her steam quick, was
easy on fuel, started off lively and
went like a deer. Her cylinders
were sixteen inch, her stroke twenty
two and her drivers seven feet six,
and she was as kind to handle as a
baby.
"TO see her run off with heavy
load, light and gay, was enough tC
shame the Juno, Venus and Helen,
and other eighteen inch machines.
"She never wanted fixing up
Venus was always going in and out
Of the shop to be titivated, and il
there's anything l don't like it's an
engine that all the time wants to be
titivated. She was always ready
and willing for work. Why, bless
you! She was only washed out for
| the sake of cleanliness--she didn't
need it a bit.
"She was the tidiest thing | ever
sced--seemed as though dirt
wouldn't stick to her.
"Well. What | am going to tell
came off years ago, before | left the
old country, and it was one of the
best railroads single track then,
though it's got three now, and four
in some spots.
"Well, the witch and 1 were on
the mail-one of the fastest trains !;
and they went like sixty in them
days.
"The engineer was fined a shilling
for every minute he lost. He dar-
ed not go slow for fog, unless lie
wanted to lose his days pay. He
had to keep going right along, and
see thugs before he got in sight Of
'em.
"We were running north one
darkish wintry day, and were max
ing our best streaks. | should rec
Oh we were going about fifty miles
an hour.
81 was saying to myself, 'she's
going her prettieSt' when we sud
denly shot ahead as if we had been
fired out of a cannon.
81 knew what that meant. We
had broke lOOse-we hadn't a car
behind us. The coupling had brOk
en- between the tender and the first
coach.
"How we flew, to be sure! |
whistled the guard to break up the
train. How we bounded along!
"I could make out no objects
alongside-we seemed to go faster
and faster. We must have got as
fast as one hundrad miles an hour.
cit was II straight piece of track
for some miles. | did not shut off
steam directly we broke, for | did
not want the train to run into us,
which might happen if they did not
hear me whistle for brakes.
''lt was lucky l kept her going;
for just as | had had enough of such
flying, a man started out about GOO
yards before us holding a red flag.
There was nothing in the way
so | knew something must be wrong
with the track.
"You might as well have tried to
stop a whirlwind as the witch in
that distance, as her speed was
frightful.
"Thele WASN'T much time to think,
and, as we could not stop, the fast
er we went the better; 50 | gave
her what mO1e steam there was.
She seemed to have some 'gO' in re-
serve, for we shot past the red flag
like flash.
"I saw men standing horror
struck.
"Bill,' l said, quick (! Get on
the coke and see what's ahead
"He looked, and went directly |
pale, tottered, and fell back in a
faint.