Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-01-15


day in August,
u 1877. The even
| ing train from Albany, known as the
Day Boat Special" stopped at Balls
ton Spa. The superintendent of
! the railroad alighted from the train,
and stood for a moment watching it, as
it sped on toward Saratoga Springs,
the next station. He turned his face
homeward. thankful that it was Satur-
day night, and that his busy weeks
| work was ended.
Just then the telegraph operator ran
out of the station and handed him
message. 1t was from the superin-
tendent of the Hudson River railroad.
1t stated that q gentleman had left
New York on the six o'clock train,
who was very anxious to reach Sara
:oga Springs without delay, as he de-
sired to obtain an order from
judge who was there in an i'm
portant law suit; that, as it was
Saturday, it was necessary to appear
before the judge before midnight, and
special train was needed to take the
gentleman from Albany to Saratoga,
since the regular night train did not
reach there until nearly one o'clock in
the morning.
The message ended with the words:
Can you do it?''
The superintendent reflected mo-
ment The Hudson River railroad
train would be due at Albany at
| quarter past ten p. m. That would
leave one hour and forty-five minutes
| for only thirty-eight miles
Certainly it could be done. He turned
back to the telegraph Office and sent as
answer the single word: Yes"
Then he Immediately ordered an en-
| CINE that was in Saratoga Springs to
be got ready; sent another order to the
train dispatcher of the road in Troy,
telling him what was to be done, and
went home to get heavy coat, for the
first drops of coming shower were al
ready falling.
Returning to the telegraph office, he
watched the orders that were given by
the train dispatcher, and saw that
every agent and operator on the line
between Albany and Saratoga Springs
was notified of the special train that
was to be run, and of the probable
time it would pass each station.
By that time the engine was ready
and had come to Ballston. 1t stopped
for moment to take the superintend-
ent on board and then proceeded at
moderate rate to Albany.
There it arrived at about 10 o'clock
The light shower which had begun
about eight o'clock had become heavy
| summer thunder storm, and by that
| time had settled into hard, driving
rain, with strong wind.
Through the midst of this the super
intendent ran up to the station of the
Hudson River railroad and asked the
| station master, Mr.. Foster, If the six
o'clock train from New York was on
time.
Forty minutes late and losing
time" was the reply.
That meant that it would be at least
eleven o'clock before it would arrive
at Albany. Only one hour to mid
night, and thirty eight miles to go over
a crooked road! The superintendent
began to be anxious, but still he
thought he could manage it, though it
would not be pleasant.
He gave up at once the idea of taking
car for his passenger and decided
that he must ride on the engine. This
he had brought up to the station yard
of the Hudson River railroad, and ar
ranged details with Mr.. Foster so as to
save every minute after the New York
train should arrive.
This took but brief time and then
there was nothing to do but wait
Half-past ten came; then ten forty-fve
and message arrived from Hudson:
Train is fifty minutes late!'
Eleven o'clock and no further news.
Eleven five-the superintendent had
his watch in hiS hand ooCn4ip0
minute and watching the long bridge
that spans the Hudson river at Albany
for some sign of the approaching train.
Eleven ten, eleven twelve, and then
Mr.. Foster cried out: There she is!''
The headlight of the train was seen
coming over the bridge.
The next minute the train was in the
station. Then the question was how
to find the passenger who was to be
carried to Saratoga Springs. The SUI
perlntendent ran one way, Mr.. Foster
another, and in the confusion of the
storm and of the alighting passengers
from the long train, two or three more
precious minutes were lost. Finally
Mr.. Foster called out: Here he Isl"
The gentleman was pushed upon the
engine with scant ceremony and placed
in the freman's seat. The superintend-
ent took his place in front of him and
nodded to the engineer. and the race
against time began.
1t was just sixteen minutes past
eleven when the engine left the AL
bany STANDARDIZATION minutes for
the thirty -eight miles This perhaps
will not appear anything very difficult
for many of my readers, but to those
who are familiar with the road, es-
pecially as it was then, it will be adj
mitted that it was fast time.
There were then no safety switches
in the track, no block signals, not even
light on any switchstand to tell
whether the switch was right or not
The agents and operators at each
station showed white light, to signify
that all was right at their stations, but,
aside from that, the road was in