The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-04-20

A wild Engine Behind.
New York SUM- had a run out Of
Columbus. o.. ten rtwelvayears ago,
and several things conspired to bring
about the incident am about to re-
ate. 1 had u passenger run OF niue
hours, beginning at z o'clock y. NJ.
For nearly three years had loco
motive named aftera railroad official,
"Ben Davis" and got to know that
piece of machinery better than any
man ever knew his horse. You may
buy two watches OF the same make of
the Same jeweler, at the Same time,
and while one will keep excellent time
ndgive good satisfaction, the other
will have offspells. Ttisthe same with
two locomotives. While "lBen Davis"
would make regular trips day after
day tor months without giving me the
least troublear wantinga cent 5 worth
of repairs, other from the
same shop were in tho hands of the
,epairsrs as often rs on the road.
Ono of our freight engineers was a
man named George Roby. lie came
to our road from some line in New
England, and gave good satisfaction
for about three months. Then wills
Ky got tho 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 sworc 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 tho bearing of q
man bent on some desperate deed.
This WAS at q station eighteen miles
from Columbus and on n gloomy
April evening. Twas due there ut 7:2S,
and it was IL two-minute stop. A mix
cd freight always sile.tracked there
for us to pass and then followed us
down the line.
Well, l was there on this special
evening on time, rs usual, having bag
gage, express and three coaches. 1t
began to drizzle just before we reached
the station, and saw that we we're
in for u dark night and q slippery
track. did not sec Roby, nor did
any one tell me that he had shown up
there. lnoticed that the freight train
was unusually long and that it was
pulled by one Of the biggest engines on
the road. Three or four people got
of, and perhaps as many got on, and
we were OFF on the second. 1t was q
run OF seven miles to the next stop,
and my schedule was thirty seven
miles an hour. We had not yet come
to standstill ut 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-"
lie ran back to the conductor, and
i'll ten seconds that official rushed up
and shouted to me:
otis runaway engine-pull out ut
once!"
He yelled, call aboard" sprang for
the steps Of a car, andaway We went,
some OF the people getting of or on be.
ing flung down us hey iostlcd each 9th
cr. After left thcstation where the
freight WAS si,le-tracked a brakeman
ran down thetls,ck to open the switch.
As he did so Iioby mounted the en-.
CINE with cooked revolverin hand, and
drove tho engineer and fireman off.
He had previously unco lpled her
from the train without being detected.
lie ran the engine out on the main
line and half u mile beyond. Then
he filled up the fire box, and saw that
she had plenty of water, pulled the
throttle wide open, and jumped off.
That was how we came to have u
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 the
time the runaway started of we got
the news. We were about six miles
ahead of her. That meantsix minutes.
When pulled out l supposed the
programme was for some OF the station
folks to run down and open the switch,
SO that the runaway would be ditch
ed, but it appeared that theasent 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 rs an employee reached
it the runaway came roaring past.
My next stop was ten miles distant. l
reasoned it out in about O minute
that if the runaway was ditched the
fact would be te!egraphed ahead. II
she wasn't, that fact would also be
clicked over the wires, and Iwould get
some sign or signal rs We passed. II
she was following us there would DO
no time to switch in. and my hair
stood up ut the idea of trying to out
run her. l made the ten miles IN
twelve minutes and n half. A milo
away I began footing the whistle. and
as we neared the station, still flying,
l leaned out to look for the agent. He
was on the platform. If he held up
his hand l 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 forit. 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 miles
away, and it was q good piece of track.
Little by little I gave her more steam,
and after the first mile KNEW that VIZ
were Keeling off a mile every minute.
There was train enough to hold us
steady, and the track WAS straight,
and but for the awful roar it would
have been easy to imagine we were fly.
ing. The agent ahead would let me
know by signal, us the other had done.
He WAS on the platform, with great
crowd behind, and he motioncd me
on. The runaway was still after us.
She must have gained some, but how
much j 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 up
grade. The runaway must catch us
III the next six or seven miles. We
had gone about five miles when I got
the signal on the bell-ropc to stop, and
as soon as l had slowed down n little