Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-09-19
ON an ENGINE MIGHT AND
DAY.
How II Seems 10 WhIrl Through
the Darkness Forty Miles
an Hour In q Cab.


"0h, yes; engineers do lose their
nerve" said Old Throttle, especially
one who has q night run all the time.
You see, in the night time an engi.
neer's eyes, thoughts aud all are CON
fined to a very small space; it's nearly
or quite dark inside the cab, and Il
his engine is workin' all right, carryin'
her water, good lots Of steam aud the
fireman wide awake and lively, that
engineer don't have much to do with
his eyes only to look out ahead over
the little space made bright by the
headlight, and his thoughts are natu.
rally confined to what his eyes take in.
In the day time it's different; he car
look around aud see lots that's goin'
on. He notices that this field of 'taters
looks good, aud wonders if his little
patch at home will turn out as we'll
he sees a Teller ishin', and remembers
thellAst mess he caught in the Shohola.
be sees a woman and babyin the little
T1i.e ssoase neal Inc BIG curve, and
his thoughts fly back to his home and
his wife aud children, aud wonders
what they are doin' just now. All
this he can take in and be tendin' Ia
business strictly but in the night time
all is changed, aud his vision and
thoughts, as | said, arc confined to the
small spot made visible and distinct
by the headlight, and his ideas Datur.
ally follow the rails. He remembers
that the eulvert just ahead is the
very spot hat was washed out last
spring, aud nothing left under the
ties aud rails for ten or fifteen feet
true, his engine jumped the chasm
and emily five cars loaded with ex.
press matter and baggage went down
and were smashed and piled on top Of
each other, but it might have been
the ten cars Of emigrants that were
coupled in the rear, and it isn't pleas.
ant to think of what might have been.
Just around the curve is the place
where his engine struck q draWhead
some careless brakeman had left lyins
on the track; bis engine only turned
over on her side, and fortunately the
air brakes had so stopped the train
that no further damage was done, but
he shudders as he recalls the sensa
tons he experienced while the engine
was turning over and crushing its made
way through the ties, and 'tis'nt
pleasant to think Of. He A.es over a
huge embsnkment at a space of forty
miles an hour, and thinks Of the feel.
ings that we're his on a certain trip
last winter, when a side rod came
crushing through the side Of the cab
while passing over this same embark.
ment. 10 the cut just ahead is where,
on the last trip, a watchman, intent on
Watching atrain on the opposite track,
had forgotten the express was due, and
the horror and agony depicted on his
face as the pilot threw him high in
the air, will never be forgotten;
neither will his mangled and stained
body, picked up and cared for as soon
as the train could be stopped. And
SO on every mile Of the road something
Of this kind is brought to MUD. as MS
thoughts follow tue circle of light
ahead, which flashes aud changes con
stantly, now shining on a bridge, now
showing an embankment, flashing its
now on a house and now through
and foliage, aud if the man is
easily worried or bothered he gets
very nervous indeed, and wishes he
was at the end Of this trip-anywhere
of the rail Why, I've known men to
give up the best trains on the road
and big pay because they had to run
in the night time, and take trains that
we're much harder to run and poorer
pay, because the latter run in day.
light. Yes, engineers do sometimes
get frightened and lose nerve, and it
is not to be wondered at, when we
think Of his standing one hand on the
throttle aud the other on the reverse
ever, with his thoughts going back to
Incident and accident of his busy and
hazardous life on each curve and
line Of the road, as revealed
BY the headlight Of his engine"