Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-10-10
His Last Trip in the Cab.

congressman crane OL leAds toiu
an interesting story Of his experience
as a locomotive engineer one day re-
Gently to a group of Members in one
of the cloak-rooms of the House of
Representatives
In my young days" said the Con-
gresham, Il was an engineer on the
Sante Fe railroad. Do Won fellows
know what a trying thing ii is TO oe
a locomotive engineer? Well, can
tell YOU that il will do a mans nerves
more harm than anything else in the
word. Alcohol and tobacco are mere
trifles in comparison. even il they be
used 10 excess. didn't stay very
long in the business. | like excite
ment, but running cannon ball eX-
press whose scheduled time was sixty
miles an hour is a little too much for
me. But the three months time that
| ran No. 76 was not sufficient for me
to realize the injury it was doing my
nervous system So that was not the
real reason that led to my abandon
ment of the throttle forever.
Il had only been on, as | have
said. about thee months, when 10y
some carelessness or viciousness one of
the engines known as a mountain
climber got away with full steam on
and started down the road on mes
sage Of death and destruction. | lad
Just finished long run and was pre-
pnripg TO go home when the train de-
spatcher rushed wildly out OF the
Office and told me the news. The
track had been cleared, he said, and
there was nothing 10 stop the mad
rush of the runaway locomotive until
it should dash into the station at
Galveston and plough its way through
bricks and mortar until both the
building and locomotive were ruined.
| had plenty Of nerve then, and sup
pose by your laughing you think
have lost none OF it, but ! am free TO
confess that would not now dare 10
undertake the task that successfully
accomplished that day. Perhaps 1t
was the excitement and enthuiasm OF
the moment which led me to volun-
teer to lasso that locomotive. l
always smile when | recall the look
of increduilty that met my confident
assertion that | could catch and ar
rest tn, mad flight Of the runaway,
but | was so confident that they gave
me a hearing, and | finally secured
the service of a sturdy Irish lad as
fireman.
I'm less than three minutes after
the dispatch had been received / was
on my engine, with steam slowly
coming up again, and pulling out as
rapidly as possible to meet the on
coming terror. 1t was impossible Tor
the dispatcher to give Inc any accurate
idea as TO where the runaway was.
The best he could do was that it had
passed a small station about seventy
five miles up the road some ten min
utes before, moving at the rate OF
about ninety miles an hour. a few
minutes more, and with steam up,
/ had my engine moving at the rate
of sixty miles an hour and going
straight at the runaway on the same
track. | ran this way for about
twenty-five minutes, when, as near as
| could calculate, the runaway had
done thirty-seven and n half miles
and | had covered twenty-five. II my
calculations were correct there were
still some twelve and half miles be
tween us, but you can imagine that
the last five miles ] covered running
direct at the on-coming monster were
anything but pleasant. Well, | re-
versed my engine and started running
away, gradually increasing my speed
until we settled down TO a comforta-
bic thirty miles an hour, the Irish
lad meanwhile keeping on a terrific
amount OF steam. We might have
run into almost anything, for | did
not look ahead at all. Ny eyes were
strained until they panied me look
ing up the track for the runaway. 1t
might have been ten minutes more or
less-it seemed like years 10 me.
FINALLY we heard the rumble and
the roar Of the monster. 1t didn't
take her long TO heave in sight, and
she was coming humming. For the
first time. confess. ! lost my nerve.
1t was only momentary, however,
and then opened my throttle and
away we went. There was a good
mile OF straight track between us
when | first caught sight Of her; then
we turned a curve and she was out OF
sight il not out OF hearing. When
she did come she had gained on us
pretty nearly half a mile. shut OIL
steam a trihe and when we struck
level piece OF track but a quarter of a
mile separated us. told Irish TO
keep up pressure, and the way he
did il it's a wonder the boiler OF 10
didn't burst. She kept getting near
er and nearer, and it was all could
do to keep from throwing wide the