Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-09-05
OIL ON THE RAILS
he Rsasrkable Manner In which q
wild Enwlns Was Atopped,

- W. sSkkN
Talk about fast time" said q rail-
road man on the Missouri Pacific train
the other day to his companion, but
I have heard Of a trip that would
beat one made myself some years ago,
% OF any half 80 exciting. formerly
lived at Garrett. Ind, the terminus Of
the central division of the Chicago di.
vision Of the Baltimore and Ohio rail.
road. I had little to do, and made the
railroad yards my loafing h~eadquar-
ter. At that 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
engine, the 642, which made the trip to
the junction daily.
We'll, one day I climbed aboard q
box car when the engine left with few
oars Of merchandise to transfer. There
were six Of US in the party-four yard
men. another fellow and myself. We
had . jolly time going down. made the
transfer and were to come back light
that Ia, with nothing 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 IL shot from a cata-
pult.
I'VE did not think much of this at
the time, as Gent was a fine engineer.
and handled the engine to suit his fan
cy. We went tearing over the railroad
crossings and frogs in n manner that
was frightful. The tender rocked rs IL
on hinges. Something must be wrong,
We thought, as Gent was placing our
lives in jeopardy. Climbing over the
coal We found the cab full of steam,
and 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, ard the engine is run
ming wild
ITO jump would have been instant
death As one o the boys said after.
ward, the telegraph poles looked like a
fine tooth comb, The mile posts flew
by with unseenlly rapidity. The yard
foreman claimed that n mile was GOV.
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 It's 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 of a few words:
Engine wild; telegraph Garrett to
clear track
This he dropped as We passed st.
Joe, and the operator. clear IL compre-
bend the situation, sent il 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 ears and
engines. As we got closer We could
see the men hurrying 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 a pursued victim. Pale
faces watched us in u mad fight.
We passed the railroad shops. and
hundreds am running to see the
u Of the commotion. The engine
was in a CULVER; the bell was ringing
wildly with each sway Of the engine:
the escaping steam whistled as If de.
mented. 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 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 6i2 stood still and the
wheels few 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 a evere 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, ! might moi have
been here today"
And how fast did you gof'
well, the first six miles were made
in less than five minutes; the last three
were made in much slower time, ms the
team was ~eShaustins itself rapidly
st. Louis GlJbe-Democrat.
N.U Trnut.