Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1889-06-30
THE PHANTOM TRAIN.
IT MADE BRAVE MBN EDWARDS IN A SIN
GLB NIGHT.
Chased by a Ghosly Train Over the Great Cont
mental Di7ide-The Apparihon Which
Haunted Grand Canyon Final
" Laid to Rest

DeRrsT NelOs
Mountain engineers are perhaps the
most fearless class of men in the world.
Journeys of SO perilOus a nature that the
blood of an ordinary man would curdle at
the bare thought of one undertaken are
successfully made by them and under Cir
cumstances of so trying a character that,
on reflection, the average man would mar
vel at. Those men who ride hundreds Of
miles through the mountains are seldom
frightened, but to-day there resides in
Denver man who would not pull train
over Marshall pa for cool million, and
when the name Of that famous place is
mentioned he invOluntsrily clenches his
hands and pales visiblJ
Several years ago there was story cir
culated that three times week a phan-
tom train went steaming over the pass,
and that ghostly forms could be seen
through the car windows, and although
| the statements IN regard 10 il were incO-
hersnt, engineers began TO regard a certain
portion of the track with suspicion, and
| usually Rugged the rails there IS
close as possible. One morning
freight runner" pulled into Green
River and informed the operator that
be had see the train, and so earnestly did
be plead with the master mechanic, that
he was given an engine on the Salt Lake
division. Other experiences were related,
and it became almost a weekly occurrence
that some engineer would report having
seen train of which the dispatcher had no
record and could not account for. In
nearly every instance the engineers VINO
complained were those who pulled the
NIGHT passenger, which reached Green
River att o'clock IN the morning
One engineer who had twice seen the
much-talked-of train pulled out Of Salida
as white as the snow on the grodnd, and
the following morning the fireman brought
the engine into Green River, the brake
man freing and the engineer in an insens-
ible condition. He had seen the phan-
tom train, and that was his last trip on
the road
The regular train was then placed in the
hands o an old and tried engineer, by the
name of Nelson Edwards who had as a
fireman Charles Whitehead. Beth men
were cool and calculating, well educated
and generally considered the most fearless
men in the employ of the Rio Grande-men
who had caught runaway train5 on the
mountain side without so much as flush
Isuffusiug their cheeks. For nearly two
months they were on the train, back and
forth every other day, and while the alter
mating crews had changed several times,
they had not as yet seen the mysterious
train. the sight Of which had been the
cause of so many engineers quitting that
division.
Oae evening, Just at dark, while the FIRE.
man was lighting the lamp, the engineer,
Ed Yards, experienced a strange feeling
creeping over him, and rs he pulled into
the canyon the silence seemed deeper than
ususl, the night darker and the air colder.
Several times before they reached the grade
the popping of the safety valve caused
him to start But soon they we're winding
in and about the labyrinth of small canyons
ard over deep aroyas, and as his trained
eve sweep: the glittering rails ahead he
forgot his uneasiness. Engineers seldom
speak to their fremen-ss a rule they are
too busy; the constant watching requires
that their minds should be on their work,
and tonight Ed wards was more like q
sphinx than usual, for 1t WAS reported that
there wss a bridge in danger of going
down. and a defective rail in one o. the
canons, and ever ard anon be elsCkened
the speed of his train as q matter OF safety
The engineer passed under d snOwshed,
/. and the strange roar SO peculiar on such
. occasions followed. While in the shed far
away there came the long warning whis-
Ties ofan approaching train. Edwards re-
marked to mis- fireman that M 5 was fol-
lowing too close. Again, when about five
miles farther on, he recognized the same
whistle, this time nearer, aud at short in
tervals the signal was heard, coming rap
idly nearer.
SIT must be a wild train" Whitehead
qrumbled, as the engineer reached for the
rope and gave two short, sharp whistles,
only to hear the long, dangerous answers.
Again in a snOwshed, it occurred 10 him
that he had to saw by" an easi-bOund
freight at the next switch, % miles farther
M the mountain, and ss he left the shed
the bell sounded three times, and he
brought his train to a standstill rs quick
" "a possible He could hear the doleful
sound of the followers, SIS the pistOn-roos
Travelled back and forth in the cylinders,
in the crisp night air, but q sound more
lominous than that was the long-drawn
whistles of the engine that was so rapidly
overhsuling him. The conductor ran tor-
ward at this juncture, and asked
what did you stop tOr?'
"What did you pull the bell-c0rd for?"
rel oiued Edwards.
"You're crazy,n the conductor said
ssNow pull her wide open and light out
for the switches, because we've got to
pass No. 10 there, and besides there's q
wild train climbing upon us. Dye
heal?
Edwards drew back the lever with
strange feeling He opened the throttle,
the wheels slipped on the steel rails, but
40 tbav caught the sand the long, heavy
train bsgan TO move forward slowly
roth men in the cab could hear
the sand grind beneath the enor-
mons weight of the engine. The
trair increased in momentum as II
moved forward, and in abOut five minutes
was running as fast as practicable on that
portion of the road. The following tram
was approaching nearer aud nearer. Again
the short series of warning whistles was
heard. which Edwards answered, but only
to hear the wild train give the danger sig
nal again. He looked out of the window
as he was rounding a curve and noticed
the other train rapidly approaching Cold
beads of sweat stood out on his forehead as
he pulled the throttle wide opsn. Faster
and faster the speed OF the train in
creased, and more dangerous was the
track. They were now in the very
worst portion of the pass, where the
snow banks were the most tTeacherOus,
and Just in this part of the track was where
tins broken rail was reported Every time
the engine struck q curve it ,eemed as