Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-12-12
An Awful Railroad Race.


From Mayville Summit to Brocton June
tion on the Lake Shore road the distance is
ten miles, but owing to the numerous sweep
ing curves in the railroad the distance by rail
is fourteen miles The grade for that dis
tance is nearly eighty feet to the mile. The
Cory road extends into the Pennsylvania oil
regions, and ten years ago carried large guam
titles of petroleum. On the night of Aug. H.
1863, John Davisons engine was nt the Sum-
nit with train of one box car, six loaded oil
cars, and two passenger cars. The box car
was next to the locomotive, and the passen-
ger cars were at the rear of the train. The
engineer had started the train, and it had at
tanned good Roadway, when he discovered
flames issuing from one Of the oil cars. Ho
whistled down brakes, and the coaches were
cut loose from the oil cars, which were quick
ly uncoupled from the box car. The engi-
neer then pulled on down the hill, to get out
Of the reach of the burning cars in order to
save the locomotive and the other car in
which were two valuable trotting horses and
their keepers on their way TO Cleveland. He
supposed the brakemen would put the brakes
on the oil cars, but in the excitement this
was not done, and they followed the locomo-
tive gaining headway every moment Be-
fore the engineer had taken in the situation,
the oil cars every one of them now ablaze,
came dashing upon him around curve. They
crashed into the box car knocking in one end
of it, but, singularly enough, neither that nor
any Of the moving cars was thrown from the
track by the collision. The engineer and fire.
man could have escaped all danger by aban-
doning the locomotive, but as Dawson said
when asked afterward why he did not pursue
that course, they had $50, 600 worth of the
company's property in their charge and they
were determined to save it if possible. Ac-
cording to the engineers story of the Incl
dent he saw that there was to be a race for
life between him, with his engine, and the
flaming cars, under no control. The heat
was unbearable. Dawson pulled the throttle
valve wide open, and he declared that they
flew down the eighty foot grade so fast that
the engine could not pump The keepers in
the car next the oil cars climbed up to the
opening in the end Of the car and with faces
pale as death begged the engineer to give
her more steam" They could see the blaz-
ing oil cars through the broken end of their
car, and it seemed to them that they gained
at every turn of the wheels. The engineer
said that when he struck the sharp curves at
the lightning speed at which he was going he
expected that his engine would leave the
track and be hurled down the mountain side
The night was very dark. The engine thun-
dered along faster than any engine ever ran
in this country before or since, through
woods and deep rock cuts, and on the edge
of high precipices. The horses were stamp
ing and neighing with terror in the box car,
and only few feet il the rear was the flying
mass of fame rushing down the mountain
like tremendous meteor. The blaze from
the thousands of gallons of burning oil was
more than sixty feet in height, and lighted up
the woods and rocks and crooked road for
miles. The whole heavens were illuminated
aud from Brocton the sight of the great con-
hagration, apparently flying through the air,
now hidden for a second by cut or a piece
of woods, and then leaping out again and up
toward the sky like great fountain of fire,
is described as having been awful in its gran
deur.
The idea of Engineer Dawson was to call
for the opening of the switch for him at
Brocton Junction, so that he could run on to
the Lake Shore track, where the grade was
ascending and where he could soon get out
of the way Of the burning cars through their
having lost the propelling power of the de-
cline of the Summit grade 1t happened,
Lake onore road would be due al the juno
tlon when Davisons engine reached there.
To add to the terror of the situation, a west
bound Lake Shore freight train was at that
moment running to pass the junction before
the arrival of the express. There was only
one thing TO do and that was TO whistle for
the switch, and take the chances Of the freight
getting ont of the way and the express being
tagged or late. The engineer knew that he
must have been seen from Brocton Junction
by the light of the burning oil in his life or
death race down the mountain, and that the
railroad men there understood the peril of the
situation and would be prompt to act. He
whistled for open switch. He and his fire.
man then baie each other good-by and await
ed the result. The freight train gained the
siding out of their way. The switch was open
ed, and they tore on up the Lake Shore track,
past the depot and through the village, and
were soon out of the way of the burning cars
The latter gradually came to a stop. The en-
CINE and box car were stopped within hun
dred yards of the Lake Shore express which
was both late and signalled. When Dawson
and his fireman found they we're out of dan
ger they tainted on their engine. The oil
tanks burned for three hours after they were
stopped. The most fortunate circumstance
of the whole affair was the uncoupling of the
passenger cars from the oil cars at the sum-
init. They were filled with passengers and
if they had remained with the burning tanks
would have been wrapped in flames in very
short time and there would have been no es-
cape for the passengers from a most horrible
fate. 1t was just nine o'clock when Dawson
pulled out from Mayville Summit When he
was taken from his engine, sixteen miles from
the starting point, it was not yet twelve min
utes past the hour. James keenan,, Davison's
fireman, was killed about three years ago
He was on his engine, when he saw child
playing on the track some distance ahead.
He ran out to the pilot and, reaching over,
caught the child and tossed it to one side of
the track. He lost his balance, however, and
fell in front of the locomotive, and was crush
ed to death,