Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-10-25
miscellaneous.
An Avalanche Of Flame.
ENGINEER BROwN's DASH Down THE
MOUNTAIN SIDE IN FRONT OF TRAIN.

Il don't expect to live much longer.
and after am dead want you to put in
the papers the story of that ride had
from Prospect to Brocton in 1869"
The speaker was Duff Brown, an old
locomotive engineer, who was lying at
his home in Portland, this county. diving
with consumption This was several
weeks ago. On the eth of this month he
died. He was nearly 60 wears old. His
story of the awful ride is this:
I'm 1869 | was running mixed train
on the Buffalo, Corey and Erie railway.
The track between Prospect or Mayville
Summit and BroctOn Junction is so crooked
that. while the distance is actually only
ten miles, the curves make it by rail four
teen The grade for the whole distance
is over seventy feet t. the mile.
About six o'clock on the night OF Aug.
Il. 1869. we reached the summit with
train Of two passenger cars. six oil cars.
and box car The latter contained two
valuable trotting horses, and their keep
ers with them, on their way believe, TO
the Cleveland meeting. There were fifty
or sixty passengers in the two cars got
the signal from the conductor to start. and
pulled out We had got under consid-
cradle headway. when looking back,
saw that an oil car in the middle of the
train was on fire. | reversed my engine
and whistled for brakes. The conductor
and brakeman jumped off. They uncOupled
the passenger cars and set the brakes on
them, bringing them to a stop. Suppos-
inc that the brakes on the burning oil ears
would also be put on, call to a brake
man on the box car to draw the coupling
pin between that car and the head oil tank,
backing so that he could do 1t, intending
to run far enough away to save the box
car and locomotive. As ] ran on down
the hill, after the pin had been drawn,
what was my horror to see that the burn
ing cars were following me at a speed
that was rapidly increasing. The men
had not succeeded in putting on the
brakes. saw the only thing to be done
was to run for it at Brocton, and the
chances were that we would never reach
there at the speed which we would be
obliged to make around those sharp re-
verse curves, where we had never run
twenty miles an hour.
When saw the flaming cars-for the
whole SIX were on fire by this time
plunging after me and only o few feet
away, pulled the throttle open. The
ttfS Caught Illt tIOuoi, btlOlc SOt ttNtf
They came with full force against the rear
OF the box car. smashing in one end and
knocking the horses and their keepers
fiat on the floor. The heat was almost un
bearable and do my best | couldn't place
more than thirty feet between the pursu-
ing column of fire and ourselves. By the
light from the furnace, as my fireman
opened the door to pile on the coal |
caught sight of the face of one ofthe horse,
men in the box car. he having climbed up
to the grated opening in the end 1t was
rs pale as death, and he begged me tor
Gods sake to give her more steam. !
was giving her then all the steam she
could carry, and the grade itself was
enough to carry us down at the rate of
fifty miles an hour. We went so fast that
the engine couldn't pump. Every time
we struck one of those curves the old girl
would almost run on one set of wheels, and
why in the world she didn't topple over
is something | never could understand.
She seemed to know that it was race of
life and death. and worked as if she was
alive.
The night was dark, and the road ran
through woods, deep rock cuts, and along
high entertainments. There we were,
laundering along at lightning speed, and
only n few PAGES behind us, that fiery de-
mon in full pursuit. There were $4,000
gallons of oil in those tanks, at least, and
it was all in flame. making flying ava
lanche of fire 500 feet long. The flames
leaped into the air nearly 100 feet. Their
roar was like that of some great cataract.
Now and then tank would explode with
noise like cannon, when a column OF
flame and pitchy smoke would mount
high above the body of the flames, and
showers of burning oil would be scattered
about in the woods. The whole country
was lighted up for miles around.
Well, it wasn't long going at the rate
we made. before the lights of Brocton
came in sight down in the valley. The
relief felt when these came in view was
short-lived. for remembered that train
No 8. on the Lake Shore, would be due
at the Junction just about the time we
would reach 1t. No. was the Cincinnati
express. Our only hope all along the
race, had been that the switchman at the
Junction would think tar enough to open
the switch there, connecting the cross-cut
track with the Lake Shore track, and let
us run in on the latter, where the grade
would be against us, if anything, and
where we could soon get out of the way
of the oil cars The switch of course.
would be closed now for the express, and
our last hope was gone. unless the ex
press was late. or somebody had sense
enough To flag it. While we were think
ing of this we saw the express tearing
along toward the Junction. Could we
reach the Junction. get the switch, and
the switch be set back for the express be-
fore the latter got there? II not, there
would be an inevitable crash, in which
not only we. but probably scores of others
would be crushed to death All this con-
occurring did not occupy two seconds, but
in that two seconds lived years.
Good Godl" | said to my fireman.
what are we TO do now p
The fireman promptly replied-and he
was brave little fellow-that l should
whistle for the switch and take the chan
ces. | did so. That whistle was one pro-
longed yell of agony. 1t was shrek
that seemed to tell us that our brave old
engine knew our danger and had her fears
Neither the fireman nor myself spoke
another word.
Thanks be to God. The engineer on