Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-06-03
ID A wild Engine Behind,

Nolumols, u, ten or twelve years AGO
and several things conspired to brin.
about the incident | am about to re.
late. had a passenger run of nire
hours, beginning at z O'Clock p. NJ
For nearly three years | had a loco.
motive named aftera railroad official
ben Davis, ard | got to know that
piece OF machinery better than any
man ever knew his horse. You NAV
buy two watches OF the same make oi
the same jeweler, at the same time
and while one will keep excellent time
and give good satisfaction, the other
will have offspells. 1t the same with
two locomotives. While ben Davis
would make regular trips day after
day Tor months without giving me the
least trouble ar wanting cents worth
oil repairs, other locomotives from the
same shop were in the hands of the
repairers as often as on the road.
One OF our freight engineers was a
man named George Roby. He came
70 our road from some line in New
England, and gave good satisfaction
for about three months. Then whis-
ky got the better of him and he went
to the dogs. One day, after his fire
man had brought the train into Co.
lumbus, with Roby drunk and asleep
on the floor Of the cab, he got his blue
envelope. The idea somehow lodged
IN his head that the officials were
down on him, and he swore he would
have revenge for being discharged.
One afternoon he turned UP down the
road and was noticed to be drinking
heavily and to have the bearing of a
man bent on some desperate deed.
This WAS mt station eighteen miles
from Columbus and on gloomy
April evening. Twas due there at 1928,
and It was two-minute stop. A mix
ed freight always side.tracked there
Tor us TO pass and then followed as
down the line.
Well, | was there on this special
evening on time, as usual, having bag
gage, express and three coaches. 1t
began to drizzle just before we reached
the station, and i saw that we were
in for II dark night and slippery
track. / did not see Roby, nor did
any one tell me that he had shown up
there. | noticed that the freight train
was unusually long and that it was
pulled by one OF the biggest engines or
the road. Three or four people got
OFF, and perhaps as many got on, and
run OF seven miles to the next stop,
and my schedule was thirty-seven
miles an hour. We had not yet come
to standstill at the next stop when
the telegraph operator, whose face
was white as snow, ran alongside and
called to me:
There's a wild engine behind you
for heav-"
He ran back to the conductor, and
in ten seconds that official rushed UP
and shouted to me:
Its a runaway engine-pull out at
oncei"
lie yelled, frAll aboard" sprang fet
the steps os car, and away we went,
some OF the people getting otfor on be.
ing flung down as they jostled each 9th
err After weleft hesitation where the
freight was side tracked n brakeman
ran down the track to open the switch!
As he did SO Roby mounted the en-.
CINE with cooked revolver in hand, and
drove the engineer and fireman off.
He had previously unco Ipled her
from the train without being detected.
He ran the engine out on the main
line and half mile beyond. Then
he filed up the fire box, and saw that
she had plenty OF water, pulled thu
throttle wide open, and jumped OIL
That was how we came to have q!
runaway engine behind us As soon
as the engineer was driven from the
cab he ran into the station and in;
formed the operator, and about tn ]
time the runaway started of we go
the news. We were about six miles
ahead of her. That meant six minutes.
When | pulled out | supposed the
programme was for some ofthe station
folks to run down and open the switch,
so that the runaway would be ditch
ed, but it appeared that the agent was
so dreadfully ratified that he did not
attempt this step until too late. The
switch was forty rods from the sta
ton, and just as an employe reached
it the runaway came roaring past,
My next stop was ten miles distant. J
reasoned it out in about a minute
that ;f the runaway was pitched the
fact would be teiegraphed ahead. II
she wasn't, that fact would also be
clicked over the wires, and would get
some sign or signal as we passed. II
she was following us there would bt
no time to switch in, and my hair
stood up at the idea of trying to out
run her. | made the ten miles IN
twelve minutes and a half. A mile
away / began footing the whistle, and
as we neared the station, still flying
| leaned out to look for the agent. He
was on the platform. If he held ur
his hand | would stop. But he did
not. On the contrary, he waved his
arm down the line for me to keep on,
and | knew that we were IN forlt. The
runaway could not be over three
minutes behind, and there would not
be time to turn her in on the siding
here.
The next stop was eleven mules
away, and it was good piece OF track.
Little by little gave her more steam,
and after the first mile KNEW that We
were Keeling off mile every minute.
There was train enough to hold us
steady, and the track was straight,
and but for the awful roar 1t would
have been easy to imagine we were NJ.
ing. The agent ahead would let me
know by signal, as the other had done,
He was on the platform, with q great
crowd behind, and he motioned me
on. The runaway was still after us
She must have gained some, but how
much could not say. 1t was eight
miles and half TO the next station,
and could not do better than forty
five or eight miles an hour on the uT
grade. The runaway must catch us
in the next six or seven miles. we
had gone about i've miles when got
the signal on the bell-ropeto stop.and
as soon as had slowed down little
a brakeman came over the tender with
instructions to stop at the station.
The conductor, knowing that we
could not outrun the wild engine, and
that there WAS no show to ditch her,
could think of but one plan to save
the train. He called the passengers
from the rear coach and cast 1t OH
This was on the eleven-mile run, and
the coach had about two minutes 80
lose its momentum before the run
away struck it. The pilot ran under
the platform. the end OF the coach was
lifted up, and the next moment engine
and car were in ditch. Neither one
of them was ever repaired, the wreck
being too complete; nor did the 9th,
GERS of the law ever succeed in laying
hands on Roby.
The Baptist Home Mission society