Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-21
THE MAN IN THE CAB.
A Reporters Trip on the Texas
and Pacific Cannonball.
THE FASTEST TRAIN IN TEXAS.
From Wills Point to Mineola, Thirty Miles,
In Forty Minutes-The Scenes Along
the Line The Transcon-
tinental Division.

|
| Pacific enginemen who pull the cannonball,
the fastest train in Texas. When they want
! TO "get" anywhere they always succeed.
| When the cannonball pulled out from Fort
Worth yesterday morning it was pulled out
| by engine 125 Engineer Smith at the throt-
tie and Gus Woods handling the scoop. 1t
was as dark as the proverbial stack of black
cats, and it was not until we had dropped
over the divide and were flying into Dallas
that the sun showed his face. The tram
| was in charge of Conductor Z.
r. Woodward, with Gus Pick
EFT, brakeman, and Presto Young
| porter. A more affable and genial set of
trainmen can not be found in Texas, and
| they spared no efforts to render THE GA
ZETTE mans trip pleasant one.
| At Dallas some delay was occasioned by
the journals of some of the coaches running
| hot. Here THE GAZETTE man went ahead
and was heartily welcomed by Engineer
Smith and.Fireman Wood, two of the most
| genial enginemen it has been THE GAZETTE
| to share his seat, q mark of distinction
rarely accorded by engine men TO casual
| riders upon their engine, and the flight to
| the eastward began.
From Dallas the road is rather crooked
for some distance east, but it is located
| through an unusually rolling, beautiful coun-
| try. The cannonban makes but few stops,
IS its running time is pretty fast, averaging
| thirty miles an hour exclusive Of
| stops. The first stop made was at
Forney, town noted for the quantity and
excellent quality of the hay it produces
each year. Shortly after passing Forney a
| long tangent is found, stretching away q
little north of east as the crow flies to Ter
rell. Here the line defects little more to
the east, and away we go, as the crow flies,
with the rising sun almost dead ahead Of
our headlight.
Terrell is very pretty little city, very
handsomely located, and possessing many
fine buildings that would really be credit
to many cities of a larger growth. The
state asylum for the insane is located here,
ana looms up to the north OF the track
as one flies eastward from Terrell.
Between Forney and Terrell the pretty little
| town of Lawrence is passed, Surrosnded by
a rarely beautiful and fertile country. From
| Terrell the line runs straight away until
just before reaching the station of Elmo,
| and as the engine swings around the curve
| the signal board is turned and we stop for
| the little piece of tissue paper known as
ORDERS This informs the engineer that
he is to meet No. Z at a certain siding, and
that No. Z will take the side track. THE
GAZETTE knew nothing about this,
Smith "patted her on the back
and she buckled down to work
| he settled back on the seat prepared to en-
joy the ride. All went well until we came
to the top of hill and across long swale
saw another train on the opposite hill
| The GAZETTE saw no signs of town and
could see no siding. Engineer Smith seemed
| perfectly cool, apparently unheeding
| the fact that the intervening stretch of rails
was growing beautifully less. Suddenly
switch trigger flashed by and 125 came to Il
| stop, while the other train walked
right along and turned on the
siding as though she knew
it was there and was not under any neces-
sity for stopping. The reporter concluded
there yet remained several important
things for him to learn about ralroading
A short time after Wills Point was reached
and another other, long tangent stretched
got behind time. and as soon
as Mr. Smith pulled the throttle it was evil
dent that something was going to happen.
There was quiet but determined air about
| him that engine 125 seemed to understand.
Fireman Wood kept showing the coal into
her, and her gauge showed 1i0 pounds pres
| sure In other words, the old girl was hot,
and when Mr. Smith hooked her down in the
corner and took her by the neck she seemed
| to know it meant business. Already her
valve stems and piston rous were flying
| like shuttlecocks, and the heads
| flashed between the guides as though
endeavoring to design some new
poured from her stack in heavy black
cloud, and her exhaust lost its stuccato
qualities and became steady roar. And
how the old girl did pound the steel.
The reporter jammed his hat down over
his ears and braced himself as well as pos
sible. MISUNDERSTANDING ''Goit, old lady.
If you go in the ditch l am with you.''
happened to be standing beside
the track involuntarily put their hands
to their hats, but it frequently
happened too late and that important article
of headgear had gone sailing with the wind.
Mile after mile flew by. Up hill and down
dale darted the noble machine as though en-
dowed with life. When the train
watch showed that this thirty
miles had been covered in forty minutes,
and allowing a loss of a minute for the
stop at the Katy crossing the actual run
ming time is inside the rate of fifty miles an
hour which is good speed for a
better time than this can be made, but in
the case Of any future trips of this kind the
reporter declines to hold the watch ON them
and would greatly prefer to sit on the fence
and see them go by. After brief stop
at Mineola the run was resumed
and the next forty-six miles into Longview
was only n repetition of the gait adopted at
Wills Point. The GAZETTE devoted its
attention to hanging on to the side of the
cab in order to avoid a disgraceful
dumping in heap on the deck of the en-
CINE and had no time to take notes. Fire
man Wood seemed to be interested only in
| that internal steam gauge and kept showing
the coal into the engines hungry NAV as
though he was DESTROYS of bankrupting the
E|sASdpany. He was not annoyed by the
swaying and rocking of the engine and ap-
parently was used to such bursts of speed
The man who laid out the road from Ter
rell to Mineola must have have had
straight nose and followed it pretty closely
except when he occasionally studded
his toe, causing him tOschange his course
slightly.
All along the line from Dallas to NIineola
can be seen some of the finest farm
ing lands in the South. Broad
rolling fields of corn and cotton
dotted with substantial farm houses attest
the truth of this assertion. Thus far the
line has been almost entirely
through rolling prairie coun-
try, but at Nlineola the prai-
RE gives way to timber, through
which we run the rest of the way to Tex
arkana. One OF the distinctive features of
the towns along the lines is the handsome
and substantial schoolhouses.
At Longview engine 125 is given rest
and engine ISIS, with Joe Allen at the throt-
tie, takes the run to TeXarkana. Joe is in
clined to get over the road little himself,
and seemed determined to make up the
lost time. From Longview we few past
Lansing, Hallville and Abney's to Marshall,
handsome, busting and apparently lively