The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-05
a MIGHTY RACE.

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Baltimore correspondent Of the PhilAdelphia
One of the most rsmarkable escapes
from n great disaster ever known i'm the
history Of railroadinR took place here on
August 10. A wild engine ran at full speed
u distance of three miles through three
long tunnels, two short tunnels and two
stations, escaped N train only by the cool
ness of a s~witchman, and ended i'm an
utter wreck and with n tremendous crash
by performing the thick brick wall of a
storage warehouse. The total damage il
stimate at about $4,000.
Travellers who have gone over the
Pennsylvania road will remember a little
station that il passed just as Baltimore Is
reached On the way north from Washing
ton. 1t is Lafayette station,. and il Is
three miles from the regular city stations,
to reach which the trains must pass under
the city through long tunnels.
At the Lafayette depot this morning lo-
not No. ~, u large and heavy en-.
ginc, used as - shifter, stood Oh one of
the tracks. About 1OO yards above the
station the rails devide,. one pair making
delphia express comes rtlmbling around
this curve at n few minutes of . O'Clock
every morning. The railroad people take
special pains To give "A clear track tn the
Philadelphia flyer, but things went wrong
this morning. No. IS was standin direct
~ i'm front and not n hundred yards away
from the headlight of the Philadelphia
train when il swung around the curve.
ton az n glance. There was no time to-
get out of the way except by going in the
same direction as the express,. and going
was facing west and the express was conn-
ing east. He told Fireman Cox to jump
from the engine. Then he pulled the
throttle the reverse way and himself took
u flying leap, and backward the flying en-
CINE flew toward the mouth of the tunnel
at Fulton station. 1t was done i'm an in
With a full head of steam on and not n
hand to offer restraint, No. " began her
-.-n x.nrx. a NSnrn F0a
N ordinary train to get through the first
Of the three sections OF the long tunnels
T S,Ms mnr nniay So' "a a made o the distance st y IN
about thirty seconds. Then 1t shot into
the yawning mouth Of 2 section, and all
q cloud OF smoke. At Pennsylvania ave
nue. station the attendants saw O Hash OF
something. and the engine disapPeared i'm
Inc OF In next tunnel. steam
was kissing from the valves, and the fuin
nee door hnd been swung open by the ire
Al Union station, the busiest railroad
center of tho city, stood the nine-car ves-
tibuled train about to begin its journey TO
thai on which the wild engine was rum
ming. The passengers were .treaminR
through the station rates and climbing up
they heard q roar like that of thunder;
then they beheld n black mass belching
but an echo and lingering smoke. 1t RE-
9uired but the fraction OF q minute for
the runaway 10 swing oyer the bridge that
toward Calvert station.
Two cars, of the combination freight
and smoker species, stood on the second
Morris d Co.'s warehouse in their rear.
Both cars were comparatively new. No
minutes they would have formed part of a
orth-bound express train. To the left OF
these two cars was q train OF passenger
engine -, which stood partly on the
switch leading to the adjoining track.
his machine and pull the four cars out Of
the yard he heard an omnibus rumbling
coming from the direction of Center
saw the switch tender at Centerestrees
crossing waving his hand wildly and
s Sis lrs%au I in9p saf the cab so ssd the n wesa
instant No. IS came laundering down the
track. The rear end Of her tender first
glancing blow. hut the force was sufficient
to cut OF a section of the truck. grind the |
cow-catchcr INTO ~smithereens and deraii
leap and landed full and fair on two new
and a sound OF cracking timber, Of falling
bricks, escaping steam, then everything
was shrouded i'm smoke and dust.
the wall Of the Nelson Morris & Co. build
ing. The front end OF the car nearest the
ward car. The II iii-fased engine, ss, lay
tangled and twisted and as completely
wrecked as though she had passed under
~ steam hammer. The rear truck, which
had suffered the brunt OF the tremendous
collision, lay fully twenty feet away from
the body OF the tender, which was jammed
the front part of the car. The cab of
the locomotive was pressed against the
roof Of thec car scraps of iron lay scattered
about i'm every direction. The debris was
piled mp on either side OF the track for n
feet or more.
Nelson Morris & Co. examined the in
terror of the two ice houses in which were
stored meat shipped to them by the West
crn house. The side wall OF the building
is over two feet thick. On the inside is a
heavy layer of cement, another section of
brick work and finally u thick layer of
planking. The car was driven clear
through this barrier across the first room.
which IL % feet i'm width, and then pierced
n second brick wall, finally coming to a
stop in the middle of the second apart
meut. /
The man who saved the loss of life was
the switchman N square below the place of
the catastrophe. He saw that the rapidly
approaching engine was running wild and
threw the switch open, and the
smashed into the empty cars, otherwise IL |
would have wrecked a train that was
standiug ut Calvert station. IL will take
an official investigation to fix the blame.
Joking - leAilrOad Director.