The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-04-28
stories About Early Railroadlns.

Stories About Early Railroading.
. R. r. Randall, of Lincoln, Neb., was
in Toledo few days since, and related
an incident of his first experience in
railroadiug in Illinois. This was in
lS45. and Mr.. Randall was then . boy.
The springfield 4 Meredocia Railroad,
at present forming the oldest link in
the great Wabash system. had just been
built. m ,f --s ~
,a One bright Sabbath morning. while
all good little boys were at Sunday
school, Mr.. Randall. with other urchins,
going out on exploring expedition
in search Of fresh mischief. found q
dat car standing on side. track. The
boys, after many experiments, hit upon
. plan to propel the car. A strong
breeze was sweeping across tho prai-
ries. They obtained piece of scant-
ling and . sheet. and rugged sail upon
the car. The wind rose, the sail filed.
and the car moved down the track. BY
the time it reached the main track .
good speed had been obtained, and the
boys, enjoying their first trip upon the
railroad. were in high glee. The car
swept ON down the main track, gaining
speed every moment. Houses, corn
uofuSs RuruouS anu 0rcn6rOS Wete
passed in quick succession. but the car
sped on, its velocity never slackening.
The boys were becoming uneasy. They
were getting too much Of = good thing:
They ried % lower the sail, but in that
they failed. with the car In such rapid
motion. i, They could not even stand
upon their feet. An engine whistle at
tracted their attention. Down the
&hac 81 f.,n
was a train. The boys all jumped from
the cars into the soft mud. As they
scrambled out Of the slush and dived
into the adjoining corpfield. Mr.. Ran
dali saws ne remembers the impression
Of shock, and something going up
into the air behind him. -FortuRately
no one on the train-was hurt, but the
collision made q great stir in the neigh
borhood at the time. The boys, covered
with mud, never stopped running until
they reached home. The country was
secured for the persons who wrecked
the train. bat oven to this day, now
thirty-six years since the occurrence,
the boys have kept the secret Of their
first ride on the Wabash 45,'lcag
The railroad builders of that day had
some peculiar ideas. The western
terminus Of the Springfield & Meredo-
ola. was located in the public square in
Jacksonville, right In the heart Of the
city. When the road was finished, a
grand excursion was given to Jackson
vile. Thousands Of people, very few
Of whom had seen locomotive. came
into the city from the surrounding
country. The streets adjoining the
square were literally. packed with all
kinds Of sehicles- Some one cried ont,
1.-THE train is comingr' The people
rushed into the square to see the won-
derful sight, and left the horses and
wagons standing all around the square.
The engine, then an object much more
frightful to dumb Abrutes than now,
came pulling and screaming and pant
ing down into the square, throwing out
great clouds OF steam and black smoke.
the engineer evidently intent on show
ing the people how much fuss the old
thing could make. The horses outside
snorted and painted in imitation of the
terrible iron monster which was fright
enins them to distraction. Then q
stampede commenced, aud such q STAN
pede was never seen before. A thou
sand runaways were in full blast at the
same time. Mr.. Randall estimates that
in three minutes after the arrival of the
frat train in Jacksonville . half dozen
whole vehicles Of any description could
not be found in Morgan County. For
tunately but few persons were seriously
hurt, but such o wreck of wheel car
riages was never seen before or since.
At this time serious doubts were en-
tertained Of the success Of railroading.
tho principsl argument being that the
cost OF building roads was TOO great.
Judge Semple. q well-known gentleman
of Springfield, proposed to solve the
problem by dispensing with the road
bed and track. He invented and built
monster engine, which, without road
bed or track. he proposed should
traverse the pra'ries between Chicago
and sc Louis. drawing after it long
trains Of wagons just as many as the
farmers along the route should choose
to hitch on. He made the first expert
ment with his monster engine, built
Of that day. on the prairies near Spring
field, in the summer Of 1915. The
engine had nearly completed circuit
of i've or six miles over the rough, un-
even surface OF the prairie. crushing
down the tall grass in its track. when.
getting up considerable speed on the
homestretch. 1t struck an unusually
large gopher hill and toppled oyor,
breaking some of the machinery. The
trip from Chicago to st. Louis was
never made.-To,edo Raiirodder.
Dorset. VT, is conservative. Pastor
Pratt has been minister for twenty-five
years. His chorister has started the
tunes for thirty years or more, his
descons have held office. one for forty
years and the other for twenty years.
The Sunday School Superintendent has
provided slxtesn ysars, and one OF the