Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-05-15
ON A RUNAWAY TRAIN.


ON A RUNAWAY TRAIN.
Probably no occupation is subject t.
greater perils, no life more filed with
incidents liable in moments time Z,
develop into dangerous and. thrilling ex
periences than that of 2, locomotive ON.
gineer; and no death is so sudden or
!! may be, even, SO r,,rotracted and hor
rbie in suffering, as that which Otter
TAILS TO the lot of these heroes of the
throttle, and the lever.
Inc incident which ] am about to re.
ia1e will serve to illustrate some of the
oa Agcts to which have referred.
IL was su!try day, and tired of nv
fNng ride westward, and the heat and
confinement of the cars, | took the oppor.
tunity, while the train waited for con.
ncctions, to walk along the road to re-
fresh myself. As was strollinr by the
engine, an unusually fine one, l stopped
to admire it, and presently began CO.,
versatlon with the engineer, who SCENE ]
good-humored and friendly, and whom
perceived to be avery intelligent man.
Seeing my interest in his engine, he
presently invited me to take a seat in
the cab; and during the half hour we
were compelled to wait at the station he
gave me many practical points of his
vocation, concluding with the following
narrative OF an experience, without a
parallel, so far as know, in the annals
OF life on the rail: He said:
''ln the summer of '7S ] was pro-
NOTED to passenger engine 40, the same
we are I'D now. 1t was, and is still, one
OF the finest and fastest engines on this
line. The road had then been built only
hve 'or six years, but was already doing
a Urge freight and passenger business.
1.-The division that l ran over was a
long one-a hundred and twenty miles.
The boys called it the ridge be-
cause it was upgrade from Doth ends
to nearly the middle. The grade was
pretty heavy for part of the way. so
when there happened to be long train,
an extra engine, called a helper was
was ordered out to Lelp the regular en-
CINE up the grade. At the ton was a
tank and a side crack where .helnars'
uncoupled. l.. was the duty of ~ to
lake the we,h-bourd express over this
ne evening there happened to be
sew erai coaches of excursionists beside
anc regular train. and consequently an
extra engine, but not the regular 'help-
tr, as it happened, had been ordered
up to help me over the grade. L felt
rather uneasy when saw No f. back
down and couple on in front of me.
No. IA was a very good engine, as
good as any on the road for power,
weight and speed. but she was in charge
OF an engineer whom l distrusted, Dick
Rogers, large, heavy-built and head
strong man, much too fond of liquor.
he went on his 'sprees' when off duty,
End so had been allowed to keep his
place; but it was whispered among the
boys that he had had touches of ire
mems already. --a -
You can never quite trust man
with an appetite for liquor; put that
down in black and white.
became more uneasy when l
mounted Dicks engine to talk with him
a minute and compare watches: for
detected the smell of whisky in his
breath, and saw that his face was red
SsSAA hlS 6toS UfOOdSnOt.
AT length All aboard!' was given,
the gong struck, and we pulled out.
Side-tracks, streets, houses and signal
lights were soon passed. As we got out
on the main line, we quickened speed
and soon were going up the grade at q
rate of about thirty miles an hour.
The west-bound express made but
two stops in the entire distance to the
summit We made these all right and
on time. Everything was working as
well as usual. 1t had grown dark; and
as the forward engine prevented my
seeing the track ahead, 1 leaned back
after time on my cushion. NV own
son. Johnny, was firing for me, then.
Poor boy! He was only nineteen. l
didn't want him to go on the road, but
he begged so hard, that took him on
to fire for me. Well, l sat watching
him as he now and then replenished the
fire. and listening to the drum-like
sound of the exhaust. You know that
noise, so UNMARRIED and continuous,
tends to quiet and benumb the senses. l
must have sat so for minute or two
"Suddenly, Johnny called out to me.
father?' he shouted
Il started and looked out The en-
CINE was swaying violently; and though
l could see but little in the darkness, |
knew that we were on the level stretch
and getting near the side track, at the
summit where No. IA was to unlock
from us. f,-r
What did Dick mean by not slowing
up? at once shut off steam and then
sprang on the air brake.
There was rapid slackening of
speed for few moments-then sharp
snap and shrill hiss!
The rubber hose had burst; the va
cuum brakes were useless! and, the
speed at once quickening again, we went
tearing past the side track and entered
on the long stretch of down7grade be-
yond, where with the patent brake
burst. the efforts of both engines would
be needed to stop or hold the train.
ANGRY and astonished that Rogers
could be 50 utterly careless. / babe
Johnny set the tender brakes, and
opened the front window of the cab, to
shout to the foolhardy man ahead.
Meantime the train-conductor, or some
one else. was pulling furiously at the
bell-cord from the rear of the train.
The instant I had opened the sash l
knew by the sound of the forward en-
CINE that she was plunging ahead I'M
Aov k,,l1 v,pocs,ro nf sfoa,y, Tx,,;oo 7