The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-10-09
{ W. D NIGHT-RUN.
BIZ ZONES Ha~ Awful Experience az
ii . Short Line.

press engine 1856, wiped his hands on
| bunch of waste and leaned back in
his cab contcntediy smoking awaiting
the signal from the conductor to start
In front the green light below the head
light, indicating another section of the
same train would follow, shone bright
ly, while behind a long line of baggage,
day and sleeping ears stretched out into
the darkness beyond the station. At
last the signal came. With alert senses
the engirc-man opened the throttle and
the train slowly started through the
maze of tracks in Harrisburg yard on
Its long run to Philadelphia. Little by
little more steam was put on, and faS-
ter and faster the express ratified along.
Then the deafcning noise and roar
ceased and the steady click, clickity,
click of the wheels as they passed over
the rail joints indicated that the long
siding filled with freight cars had been
left behind. Gathering momentum. the
train dashed into the quiet night Far
off in the distance a light Shone from q
farm house, but the nearer dwellings
lay white and silent in the moonlight.
Suddenly dazzling lights glared all
around Big, half-naltcd mca, looking
all the more gigantic in the radiance,
ran hither and thithcr upon tasks which
could only be surnised. and then
the picture was dotted out 1t was a
group of iron mills. On dashed the
train, its course now lying between the
old canal and the broad SuSquehanna
A slight mist was rising from the river,
but far across twinlled the dim lights
of another train. emphasized by Il clearer
light as the furnace door was opened by
the fireman. Bill Jones saw it and
smiled to himself 1t was the Balti-
more connection whirA had left Harris
burg five minutes before his train. lie
jerled the cord, and Il shrill whistle
sounded through the night. Two min
utes later an answering blast hoatcd
sleepily across the water. The express
rumbled on, now at full speed, whiz-
zing by a coal train, which had crossed
over to the weStbOund track to let it
pass, and ratified through Middlctown
past long lines of other frcights held
back by the angry red OF the soma
phore SO that the express might not be
Wv WI tIG JllC luItLStCjlDl al dlitdtl
the signal governing the castbound
track shOne crimson. Suddenly it
turned into white light, and Jones re-
leased the air, which he had just put on,
the train dashed forward and with Il
jolt, a rumble and Il twist sped across
the mainline tracks. disappearing
down the Mount Joy branch, the single
track line used for passenger service be-
tween Lancaster and Harrisburg.
Just twenty-five minutes from the
time the express passed the intersection
it drew up at Mount Joy, fourteen
miles distant, and took the siding to
clear the Pacific express going west.
The silence of night was almost oppres-
sive and the only sound which broke
the stiffness was the steady working of
the injector, resembling nothing so
much as person painting after a long
run. From down the valley came
faint whistle, then a rumble, a roar,
the flash of headlight and the rush of
a heavy train dashing by at full speed,
with scarcely a light visible in the long
line of sleepers. AS it passed Bill
reused himself and pulled the whistle
cord sharply three times to warn the
other engineer of the section following,
and then he started MS train again for
Lancaster.
Meanwhile, the rear brakeman was
standing half doing on the platform of
the last sleeper. He heard Jones give
the signal to the engineer OF the Pacific,
and he saw the red tal-lamps of the
of hon. IN, ho ,fI
Harrisburg as he felt his own train in
motion. Then there tloated back
another signal loot, foot, toot. The
braleman's heart leaped. That meant
there was another section of the Pacific
also. close behind, and the engineer had
neglected to call Jones attention to
the green lamps on his own engine I'M
til reused by Bills whistle. The brake
man was in Il quandary. Should he
pull the bell chord and stop the train
only to find Bill already knew of the
second section of Pacific running that
night and was supplied with orders, ne
would invite a reprimand for his
otficiousness On the other hand, if
his fears were we'll founded and
the express was running on the
single track toward the opposing train
-. He resolved to run the risk of
leaving his post and go forward 1t IS
no easy task to thread ones way
through three or four sleepcrs, around
staterooms and smoking apartments,
and it is still more difficult to pass
through an ordinary coach in the mid
die of the night when passengers
sprawl into easy attitudes, and extend
their limbs into the aisles Like an age
it seemed to the brakeman ere he
gained the platform of the front ear,
clambcred over the rocking tank of the !
engine and stood beside the engineer. |
"Bll. did you notice Pacific carried sig |
nals for Il second section?" he yelled |
into the engineers ear My God, no."
Then the man accustomed to dangers
made Il lightning calculation. There |
Would be at least twenty-five minutes
Roadway between the two sections |
caused by the stop at Lancaster. Fully |
five minutes had already expired, and lie
knew by the surroundings Mount JOY
was four miles behind. Within the next |
five minutes the second section, if on
time, would leave Lancaster and run
slowly to Dillerville, the junction |
of the branch and the main line. |
Could he with eight cars run the |
seven miles and get there ahead of the |
westbound train? Aye, if it were in
the wood.
He threw the levers as far as they !
/ I !