Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-09-12
OIL ON THE RAILS.


rOau man on the Mlssplifl iuclllc lisill
the other day TO his companion, but
have never heard Of a trip that would
beat one lmademyself some years ago.
nor of any half so exciting. formerly
lived at Garrett, Ind, the terminus of
the central division of the Chicago di-
vision of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road. had little to do, and made the
railroad yards my loaiing headquar-
tiers. At that time the "BillyO' had
an arrangement with the Wabash to
transfer all New York freight at AuburR
junction. nine miles distant, to the east
of us. This was done by the old switch
engine, the Gi2, which made the trip to
the junction daily.
"Well, one day | climbed aboard
box ear when the engine left with n few
ears of merchandise to transfer. There
were six Of us in the pary-four yard
men, another fellow and myself. We
had n Jolly time going down, made the
transfer aud were To come back light
that Is, withholding but the engine. We
had all crowded on the tender, the sig.
nal was given and Gent Potter. the en.
gineer, threw himself forward, pulled
at the throttle valve and the engine
jumped forward as If shot from cata-
pult.
I'VE did not think much Of this at
the time, ms Gent was "A fine engineer,
and handled the engine to suit his fan
cy. We went tearing over the railroad
crossings and frogs in asmanner that
was frigItlnl. The tender rocked as il
on hinges. Something must be wrong,
we tlouglIt, as Gent Was placing our
lives IN Jeopardy. Climbing over the
coal we found the cab full of steam,
ami Gent and the fireman hanging on
the side of the engine.
Jump boys said they; jump, Tor
Gods sake. The throttle valve is
pulled clear out. and the engine is run
ming wild.
ITO jump would have been instant
death. As one of the boys said after
ward, the telegraph poles looked like
fine tooth comb. The mile posts ilew
by with unseemly rapidity. The yard
foreman claimed that mile was COW
cred in thirty eight seconds, and not
one would doubt his word. ST. Joe
was In sight. Would the track be
cleari Only three miles to Garrett,
with its network of tracks, switches
and spurs! The steam gauge regis
tered ninety pounds. There was no
hopes of the engine dying out in five
or six minutes. With presence of mind
the foreman dashed off few words:
"'Engine wild; telegraph Garrett to
clear track
This he dropped as We passed ST.
Joe, and the operator, clear to compre-
hend the situation, sent it to the dis
patcher on the east end without a
call, as we learned afterward. There
was Garrett in sight, with its tall chin.
neys belching forth smoke; there were
the yards filed with freight cars and
engines. As we got closer We could
see the men hurying hither and thith.
er. The other yard engine was rush.
ing madly to the west end of the yard.
The main track was clear. We passed
the depot like pursued victim. Pale
faces watched US in our mad fight.
We passed the railroad shops, and
hundreds came running TO see the
cause of the commotion. The engine
was in n quiver; the bell was ringing
wildly with each sway of the engine;
the escaping steam whistled as il de-
mented, and fires blazed from the hot
boxes. Then W. saw something that
made us think we were doomed.
'The switch TO the coal chute was
open, and the long ascent could only
end in our destruction. We looked
again, saw men working on the track,
and then we knew we were saved.
What were they doing! Why, bless
my soul, friend, those fellows were oil
ing the track up the chute. We struck
the ascent and slid up about 100 feet;
and then the old GAG stood still and the
wheels flew around; sparks came from
beneath them like from an emery
wheel. Gradually the engine slid
down, the wheels still in the forward
motion, and thus the engine died out.
We all suffered q severe shock to our
nervous systems, but had it not been
for the presence Of mind Of the master
mechanic, who ordered the oil poured
on the chute track, l might not have
been here today"
"And how fast did you go"
well, the first six miles were made
In less than five minutes; the last three
were made in much slower time, as the
steam was exhausting itself rapidly."-
ST. Iouis Globe Democrat