Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1890-09-17
!. A TE RI Ill I RIDE.

a TERRIBLE RIDE.
How The Passengers On : wild Engine
We're Saved by IN Ollod Track. @
Talk about fast time, = said q rail-
road man on the Missouri Pacific train
the other day to his companion, but
have never heard OF g trip that would
beat one made myself some years ago,
nor of any hall. so exciting. formerly
lived at Garrett, Ind, the terminus OF
the Central division Of the Chicago d.
vision of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad.
I had little to do, and made the railroad
yards my loaflng headquarters. Atthat
time the 'Billy.O had an arrangement
with the Wabash to- transfer all New
York freight at Auburn Junction, nine
miles distant, to the east OF US. This
was done by the old switch en-
CINE, the 842, which made two
trips to the junction daily. Well.
one day I climbed aboard a box-car
when the engine left with q few cars Of
merchandise to transfer. There were
six OF us in the party-four yardmen
another fellow and myself. We had q
jolly time going down; made the trans
fer, and were to come back light that
Is with nothing but the engine. We
had all crowded on tho tender; the sig
nal was given, and Gent Potter, the en-
gineer, threw himself forward, pulled at
the trottle-valve, and the engine jumped
forward as II shot from catapult., We
did not think much of this at the time,
as Gent was fine engineer and handled
the engine to suit his fancy. We were
tearing over the railroad crossings and
frogs in q manner that was frightful.
The tender rocked as If on hinges.
Something must be wrong, we thought,
as Gent was placing our lives in jeop-
ardy. Climbing over the coal. we
found the cab full of steam and Gent
and the fireman hanging at the side Of
the engine.
Jump, boys said they, Jump, for
Gods sake! The Unbelievable is
pulled clear out, and tho 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 q
ane-tooth comb. The mile posts few
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 clear?
Only three miles to Garrett. with its
network of tracks, switches and spurs!
The steam-guage registered ninety
pounds. There were 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-
bend the situation, sent it to the dis
patcher on the east end, without call,
as we learned afterward. There was
Garrett in sight, with its tall chimneys
belching forth smoke; there were the
yards filed with freight cars and en-
gjnes. AS we got closer we could see
men hurrying hither and thither. The
other yard engine was rushing madly to
the west end of the yard. We passed
the depot like pursued victim. Pale
faces watched US in our mad flight We
passed the railroad shops, and hundreds
came running to see the cause Of the
commotion. The engine was in a
CULVER; the bell was ringing wildly
with each sway of the engine; the es-
Gaping steam whistled as if demented,
and fires blazed from the hot boxes.
Then we 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 we're they doing? Why, bless
my soul, friend, those fellows we're OIL
ing the track up the chute. We struck
the ascent and slid up about one hun
dred feet and then the old 642 stood
still and the wheels few around; sparks
came from beneath them like from an
emery wheel. Gradually tho engine
slid down, the wheels still in the for
ward motion, and thus the engine died
out. We all suffered severe shock to
our nervous system, but had it not been
for the presence of mind of the master
mechanic, who ordered the oil poured
on the chute track, I might not have
been here to-day"
''And how fast did you go?''
SWELL, the first six miles were made
in less than five minutes; the last three
we're made in much slower time as the
steam was exhausting itself rapidly."-