Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-11-20
ON A RUNAWAY TRAIN.
ENGINEERS wiLp mpr ABOUND noRsr'
sIIoE CURVE.

"Th. worst scare ever had" said Oh
old engineer, as be- pulled meditatlvel
upon bls pipe, "wss on one raw Noveul
b.r night comm down the mountai
from Galll,tsn To Altoona.
~ ~asnt no grcenborn neither, nj W
time the thing happened. for I'd hrr
ihr,c year. right on that division, an
had run an engine for II months, so
far as experience went ! had plenty, an
be.ld. 4 knew the track Ike book
which 4. ssyin' q good deal, since ih
Horseshoe Curve or kittannipg Point
right In the middle 81 IL.
a. msn hs. to be mighty well po.te'
before the compsny'll trust him to pul
q freight up the mountain, much ir.'
bring one down. II requires .klll TO hsu
= string of empties up that hill with
double.hesder and pusher behind, bu
that's chlld's play compared tn bring,n
down a train of loaded ears with onl,
one engine. =.
"Ths sensation of helm In front of y
or CD box car. on gO.foot grade aud
vet r.ll where the brakes wont hold !
.omethin' like them dreams fcllcr Ia
occasionally of bein' showed over blu'
loo feet high.
cit. .kstIn' ON mighty thin Ice. tel
you, an 10 YOU loss control of the trait
nine iime. out ~ ten you'd better ssl
your Now Law me- Well, That nigh
", pull.Si out of John.tovn With forty
odd coal car. and 10 cripples for Aitoon'
shop.
"a crippl. 1. . car needln' repairs
you know mayhe = dra~hcsd's broke
IN. roof leaks, or. what's commone
than anything else, the brake. are bust
ed. Il so happened that every, on'
% them ten car. that night had NJ
brakes. 80 they we're all put up behln'
next the cab.
"Alony about 2 rs In the mornin' ~
p,s.ed Crc..on, aud after creepin
through the tunnel began Ia hustle
down the hill. A. ! said, u VA. an
ugly night. all damp and foggy, maxim
the ,rsck .lIppy and hldln' the 'lgn'l'
I'LL you we're right up sgin them.
"in them days there was no suci
thing a. air brake. on frelgh, car. o'
engines, and ". had "a depend on th'
hand brakes bein' set by the brakemeu
10 check the speed. sided, of course,
by What the engine could do by boldin
hack. =.
"well, when We got on the grade u
wasn't long ,ill IN. wheels begun u
hum. an the old freight Was bumpln
along nj a mighty lively gait. l LET he'
60, thlnkln' II would bs an easy mattel
Ia slow down when We reached Allr'
ytlppus, which, "a you know, 10 us'
around the hcnd above the horseshoe.
"NIl At once . tower shot NJ out o'
the fog right ahead, and there ~s :
red light dead against me. lou bet
va. scared. for to run past red ligh'
mean. 20 days vacation. blo~ed Tor
brakr.. turned on the sand, aud mo
toned Billy to twist the tender b'ake
Instead Of .toppln', IL seemed q. " ~'
were goin' faster. an II didn't take
second for me Ia realize We were run
min away.
"say, talk about helm chased by :
herd of Texas steers: that's q picnic
COMPARED To beln' showed down the
.Ide IL q mountain In front OF string oi
wabbly coal cars, With the alternative 81
iumpln IN. track and plungin' into the
the valley hundred. Of feet below, OF
.tlckIn' Ia the rail-. aud runnin' Into the
train ah-ad. for all the time you .ce
va. thlnkin' of that red light We run
past, which Was proof positive there
VA. = freight In front.
"yank the whistle, Billy" ! yelled.
Billy grabbed the rope and yanked,
Lord, how he yanked. You wouldn't
believe What expression there u Ia q
locomotive whistle till you hear ], on a
runaway engine 10 the middle OF the
night. =,
"a. luck or Providence would have
IL, the train In front MAS made NJ oi
empty .migrant trains pulled by q Sec
ond-class passenger engine. When th.
engineer heard our whistle he knowed
what II meant, an you bet your life he
got up an busted.
all. train helm fitted With air he
had n big advantage over u., but he
wasn't thinkin' of brakes just then.
4 caught n glimpse of his tall lamps NJ
they shot around bend an they were
dancin' a regular jig.
"All thi. time oar crew WAS hustlln
hard as they knew how putin on the
brakes, but IL had no more effect than
the Wind. I tell you thought II va.
all up With us when We turne,i,the bend
an begun TO rattle down the upper side
Of the Horseshoe.
"'Bllly,' yelled, I'm afraid were
goner.'
Never say die, Pete be shouted
hack, meanwhile keepin' up his solo an
the whistle. IL wasn't exactly q solo,
either. for the engine ahead was play
In pretty much the same tune. an ~
the fog lifted moment saw what the
trouble Wa; there were two empty en-
CINE. ahead of the emigrant train, each
about a quarter Of mile apart, an all
.cootin' down the slope like ~ u the
devil Was after 'em. Well, IL looked so
durn comical had to laugh In spite OF
myself, an while ] was chucklin' We
struck the curve.
"Jehoshaphst, how things shook an
schresched an strained. Way down Ia
the hollow I could zee the water In the
dam as the engine rocked. ! thought
she Was goin' to jump right out Into
the air an down into the reservoir, but
ia les. time than it takes To tell II the
old machine settled down on the tracks
again With a thud an' the 10 coal cars
an' 10 cripples groanin' an' twis,in' be
hind.
"The Horseshoe instead of bein' oui
death WAS our salvation, for on account
Of the csr~l,eels biniin' ON the curv'
We slowed do~n considerable, an ! wa'
quIck-witted enough to get the trsir
under control again, 50 that We slid
into Altoons at ,low decent gait lik'
as u nothiu' had hsppened.
THEN foo' eagineers ahead, though
didn't stop NH they got To Tyrone
mor.'n l5 miles beyond, goin' licket'
sulit all tie Nay an bloain' theil
whistles like as II they were crazy
maxim the farmers think it was old
Gabriel himself. Maybe they didn't ge
laughed at when they came sneAkin
bICk.
"rhe trackmen found next day tha
We had Knocked the horseshoe six Inch
e. out OF line. aud instead Of 10 cripple
there we're 80 damaged cars, to 81!
nothing Of an engine nearly racke'
apart.
go, I tell you" the veteran concluded
reaching for the hostler's plug, "i
didn't last long, but while IL Was goln
on IL MAS mighty iuterestin'.'-Chicag'
Tribune.
First Actor (pulliug the trigger OF
revolver six times)-"Die, you mlser
able ylllaln!" second Actor-"iou
pistol has missed nr, Sir Rudolph; bu
! am smltten ~lth remorse for my man.
crimes, aud will die, according to you
wish." Then he rolled on the stage Y
agony. while the curtain slowly descend