The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-07-14
"NAlDEN'S CREEK"
THE INTERESTING STORY OF AN or, n
ENGINEER.

o of n Detached Box Cara PIace Dreaded ,
EnSncers-HIs Narrow Escape.
is eyes, % said an old engineer yesterda,
= = talking to an interested group of Este,
D ers, Il have had some novel experience.
: and some narrow escapes, too, since
! began to pull the throttle of an engine
e 1 stand before you, though, without, without
e scratch, except a patched up arm."
Rolling up his sleeve he exposed t,
view an arm that looked, judging from
the scar that remained, that it was a
one time very useful factor in pullin.
the lever of a locomotive.
''That was nearer serious accident
than any I've ever been in" continued
the narrator, "but that amt what I was
going to tell you about After the lis.
teners had expressed their desire to hea,
his story, he retilled his pipe, and after
dehbcrating a few minutes, said:
'sIt was on the Baltimore and Ohio
about forty miles out of Toledo, Ohio
that the accident, or to be more correct
as to the nature of it, 1 will say, Incl
dent, occurred, for I can't say that it
; was an accident at all It was the most
novel, funny, and at the same time most.
dangerous experience that I ever wit
messed. The place speak of was called
let me sect was called the ssMaiden's,
Creek, and was a very -autiful place.
to the tanrist and pleasure seeker, but O.
worry formidable place to the engineer
who had as many as forty cars to pull.
The "Maiden's Creek was spanned by a
trestle about one hundred yards in
length, and It was approached from the
north by a grade of one hundred and
zen feet, about two and q half miles in
length, and one Of about the same
length, and steep in proportion, to
ascend o1 leaving the creek. To an en-
elloer with moderately loaded train
following him, it was necessary that he
got good start on his descent, in order
to be able to clear the grade on the 9TH
eH side. We had orders from headouar-
ters not to approach any trestle in gen.
eral, and this one in particular, at a
greater speed than twenty miles an hour.
Well, now, it would have been utterly
to go over that hill with an
impetus OF twenty miles per hour from
the other side. As we were approaching
this place, one night, my fremen said to
me, George, you'll have to give 'er
steam, or we'll camp over yonder on that
NIL, as sure as preachin. 4 know that
aid !, and I'm going to let her roll
And l did let her roll, as sure as you're
born. We went down that grade at the
ate of forty miles an hour, or we didn't
30 foot, We just fairly slid down. I
hardly knew when the trestle was reach
ID, we went over so quickly. The first
hing l rememl er was, we were about
laf way up the grade on the other side
,oing ahoat fifty miles an hour. I
houg hi We were climbing mighty easy,
nut l had brand-new twelTe-wheeler,
nd attributed it to that. Finally I
1ade the top of the grade, and started
own another. Something told me that
was wrong, but I couldn't see
anything. l was lett--ig her roll down
he grade at about fifteen or twenty an
our, and as that something kept tell
,g me that something was the natter, T
elt my fireman back over the cars to
ee if anything was the matter, sure
1ough. When he crossed twelve boxes
e came to q halt. We had been dis
'nnected. By this time We were at g.
andstill. This was predicamentg
bout half way to the bottom of steep
ade, IN the dark, disconnected, not
aowing whether the other part Of the
ain was coming down on us, or wheth-
1t had failed to come over and had
,ne back the other wayl We hadn't
ng to wait, however, for all at once we
'ard a terrible rattling, and then I
lew that was the detached part of the
ain that had managed to get over the,
ade, and was coming down on usr
hat must do? It would not do to-
Ind still and let the wild train in it's
ad rush run over my engine, which.
.;lld have meant certain destructionr
the meantime, my tr1lsty fireman had
tten off and was going back to discov-
if he could see or hear anything. So
was he who yelled to me: Fly! Out
q it! It is a box carr I caught his
'anlng, and took in the situation in a
;ond, and in another one was going
WI at a fearful rush, pursued by that
PITY box Car. While going down I
ought of plan by which l could stop
, car without serious damage. 1 would
! just a little slower than it, and by
It means let it overtake me. This plan
rked admirably. The car caught up
h me just before l reached the foot Of
grade, and the connection was so
INT that it was scarcely perceptible.
er checking up, and coming to
odstil, I found that 1 was still in a
Where was the remainder of the
n? For it was plain that we were in
&c sections instead of two. After
ting there about ten minutes I saw
balance OF the train coming slowly
n the grade with two or three of the
y holding their lights, not knowing
Vt minute they would nun into the
car, or my engine. They came on
n, however, and we coupled up again
finished our trip without any more
dents.
But I have always thought" con-
ed the old engineer, ''that was the
t novel, as well as the most danger
way of getting over a grade that 1
heard Of. I could not do it again
thousand years without smashing up
9erty, and probably sacrifice life,
Id l, boys?''
le unanimous answer was: