Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-06-05
Stories told by Railroad Men.

but lately iwithin the past two years,
the percentage of females among
tramps has been steadily increasing,
and now we meet with one almost
every month. They are not rs daring
a. the men in jumping on or of trains.
but we find them! hanging all over
car, on the trucks, or clinging 10 the
truss rods 10y hands and feet like the
sloth, in fact, in good many dan
gerous places that a male tramp would
never think OF getting in. suppose
this increasr in women ,tramps may
be attributed TO the way they are oc-
cupying' all the positions formerly
held 10y men alone, and they don't
propose TO let even the tranp's pro
fession 90 by without entering its
ranks
Il have been on the Il. 4 q. In the
capacity OF engineer and conductor
for % years, said Il. Ii. Bailey, Of
Parkersburg, w. Va, and "a YOU
see | have not scratch 10 show for
it, Every engineer running on the
road believes more or loss in dreams
and peculiar signs. had an engineer
under me that would never go out
when warned in a dream that there
was danger ahead. OF the dozen or
more times that he stopped at homr
only one accident occurred, aud that
was trivial. prevailed upon him to
give up this superstitious belief, and
ON the third night out after he had
been warned in three dreams, We met
with an awful catastrophe, in which
several persons were killed and many
wounded The enginser.. was among
those killed, aud have never FOR
given myself, nor will until die
persuade another man from any be-
lief"
One stormy night in October, three
wears ago, said j. X. Beesliug. II
was in mortal fear that the bridges,
of which there are "A good many on
that branch. would be washed away
by the swollen rivers. Fortunately
We passed nearly all OF them safely
but just a. we drew near the last
bridge ! happened TO be crossing
from one car TO another and noticed
"A strange, weird looking blue light
dancing up and down In front OF the
train. | don't know what possessed
ne 10 do 1t, but | rang the bell and
brought the train TO n stop. The en-
gineor, brakeman, and | then set out
TO discover the cause of.the light, but
il had entirely disappeared aud not a
trace OF ii was left. We went down
the track rs far AZ the bridge, and
found that IL had been completely
washed away by the STREAM, which
was swollen, only . few timbers re-
naming 10 bear evidence that n
bridge once spanned the stream. We
were kept there for over two days
until another bridge could be built,
aud although the other trainmen
laughed at me for il ! earnestly be-
lieve that that spectral blue light was
placed by n Divine Providence To
save Us from an awful fate.
Bridal couples give me more
trouble than spoilers, drunks, or the
other things which the general pub
lie think make conductors lifo mis-
erablc,' said Il. T.. Suydnm, now
yard master on the ID. L. aud w. Rail
road at Elmira, y. Y. II have been
"A conductor, and ! ray TO you never
make bridal trip on the cars II you
can help it. You cannot conceal the
fact. The more you try the less you
succeed. II IL n laughable sight 90
see man with his arm around girl
on "A train, but they do H. A mans
arm seems TO creep naturally ia that
direction. When you ask for their
tickets both Of them look at you A. II
you were an intruder. Then A. rule
they never know where their tickets
are. He thinks she has them and she
knows that she saw him put them
away, but she cannot tell where.
When they do find them they usually
drop them on the floor as they hand
them to you. Confusion ensues. No
matter how old couple may be, nor
how often they have tried inatrImoDy
before, they are n mark as soon a.
they get OH train. was married
before went to railroading and
never expect TO have to go through
the ordeal again, but II do III take
to the woods for my trip
When was running freight
train on the 'Nypano,' several years
ago, said John Fnlkerson, Of the
Pennsylvania line, Il used 10 have
a good deal Of trouble at a little sta
tion up in northeast Ohio. always
to get ont Of that place be.
hind time no matter what time / got
IN there' u j struck the town dUriug
the night, FOR II always took the crew
half al hour or more 10 get the whole
train ont Of the place. The trouble
was caused by number Of boys who
made practice OF pulling a. many
pins as possible while the
train war standing. OF course. when
the engine pulled out, only the ears
which were coupled to II would fol
low. Then the engine would back up
and all the pins be put in place. While
the brakemen were doing this the
boys would pull some more further
ahead, and so they kept us starting
and backing up again sometimes for
q whole hour. One night the engineer
TO try an experiment on