Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-10-26
DUFF BROWNS RIDE.
4 Locomotive Chased by an Ava.
lanclle OF Flame.
Engineer Browns Bash Down the
Mountain side from Prospect
to Brocton in Front os
Blazing Gil Train.
[Dunkirk Letter in New York SUM-

after l am dead / want you to put in the
| papers the story of that ride I had from
Prospect to Brockton in 1869"
The speaker was Duff Brown, an old loco
| motive engineer, who was lying at his home
in Portland, this county, dying with con-
| sumption. This was several weeks ago. On
| the 18th of this month he died. He was
| nearly 60 years old His story Of the awful
ride is this:
in 1869 was running a mixed train on
the Buffalo, Cory s. Erie railway The
track between Prospect or Mayville Summit
and BrocktOn Junction is so crooked that,
| while the distance is actually only ten miles,
| the curves make it by rail fourteen. The
| grade for the whole distance is over seventy
feet to the mile.
'About Q O'clock on the night of Aug. II,
| 1869, we reached the Summit with q train Of
! two passenger cars, six oil cars and & box
/ car. The latter contained two valua lie trot-
| ting horses, and their keepers with them, on
! their way, l believe, to the Cieyelanl meet
| Ing. There were fifty or sixty passengers in
: the two cars got the signal from the con-
ductOr to start, and l pulled out. We had
! got under considerable Roadway, when, look
ing back, saw that an oil car in the middle
! OF the train was on fire. reversed my en-
CINE and WhiStled for brakes. The conductor
and brakeman jumped Off They u coupled
thep passenger cars and set the brakes N them,
bringing them to a stop. Suppos lg that
the brakes on the burning Oil car would
also be put on, called to a brakeman On
the box car to draw the coupling pin
between that car and the head oil tank, back
ing so that he could do it, intending to run
far enough away to save the box car and 10
connective. As ran on down the hill, after
the pin had been drawn, what was my horror
to see that the burning cars were following
me at speed that was rapidly increasing.
The men had not succeeded in putting on the
brakes. l saw that the only thing to be done
was to run for it to Broct0n and the chances
were that we would never reach there at the
speed which we would be obliged TO make
around those sharp reverse curves, where we
had never run over twenty miles an hour.
"When 1 saw the flaming cars-for the
who six were on fire by this time-plungin:,,
after nae, and only few feet away, pulled
the throttle open. The oil cars caught me,
though, before got away. 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
best, 1 couldn't place mora than thirty feet
between the pursuing column Of fire and
ourselves. By the light from the furnace
as my fireman opened the door to pile
in the coal I caught sight of tie face of
one Of the hOrsemen in the box car, he
having climbed up to the grated opening in
the end. It was Us pale as death, and he
begged me for Gods sake to give her more
7 -
she could carry, and the grade tiff was
enough to carry US down at the rate Il fifty
miles an hour We went so fest that the en-
CINE couidn'5 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 we didn't tcppie over is something I
never could understand. She seemed to know
that it was race OF life and death, and
worked as if she were alive.
THE night was dark, and the road ran
through woods, deep rock cuts, and along
high embankments. There we were, thunder
ing along at lightning speed, and, only few
PAGES behind Us, that fiery Dc, On in full pur-
suit. There were $4,000 gale Of oil in those
tanks at least, and it was al in fame, max
ing q flying avalanche of 500 feet long
The flames leaped into the air nearly hun
dred feet. The roar was like that of some
great cataract. Now and then a tank would
explode with a noise like cannon when
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 1 felt
when these came in view was short lived. for
! remembered that train No g. on the Lake
Shore, would be due at the Junction lust
about the time we would reach t. No.
was the Cincinnati express. Our only hope,
all along during the race, had been that the
switchm2n at TIE junction would think far
enough TO open tie switch there, connecting
the cross-cut track with the Lake Shore
track and let US run in or the latter, where
the grade would be against US if anything.
and where we could soon get out Of the wav
Of the oil cars. The switch, of course.
would be closed now for the express, and our
last hope was gone, unless the express was
late, or somebody had sense enough to flag It.
While we were thinking 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 coniecturing did
not occupy two seconds, but in that two sec
onds lived years.
"'Good Godr 1 said to my fireman, what
are we to do nowF
The fireman promptly replied-and he
was brave little fellow-that I should
whistle for the switch and take the chances.
l did so. That whistle was one prolonged
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 fire.
man nor myself spoke another word.
Thanks IN Godl The engineer on the
express tIalu seeing US tearing down that
mountain l..-A IN eighth of a mile of solid
fire in close pursuit of Us, knew in moment
that only one thing could save u.s. He whis-
tied for brakes, and got his train to a stand
not ten feetaway from the switch The switch
man now answered our signal, and we shot
in on the Shore track and whizzed On I'D by
the depot and through the place like rocket.
The burning cars followed us in. OF course,
but their race was run. They had no pro-
polling power row, and after chasing us for o
mile they gave up the pursuit, and in three
hours there was nothing left Of them but
smoking ruins.
"GIy fireman and were so weak when we