The Lamar register., 1894-03-10
CHASED BY DYNAMITE.
AN ENGINEERS RACE TO AVOID
eEINO BLOWN UP.
Cars Loaded with the Deadly Explosive
wer~ Running wild On the Dovs ssreAe.
and nss Enxiae was In Their rraek-
Raining Pig.

edly in his cab and lit his pipe The
express was thirty minutes late and
that meant . very acceptable rest
for the crew OF The local freight.
which took the siding at this point
to permi; the passenger train to pass
THE air-brakes on freight cars
are great things. Bill. he calculated.
as he watched the fireman rake down
the ashes; beats all what . help
they are in holdin' hesvy train on
given a pile of money IL there had
been such a thing then. and twas
right on this division. too"
Lets hear about it. Pete" said
the fireman, putting the poker away
and chipping of some hard tobacco
for his oorncob.
..It's good while ago now" the
engineer answered meditatively. Il
was runnin' pusher between Cone
maugh and Cresson. helpin' freight
and coal trains up the hill II was
just after the strike in u when the
boys raised Cain. and the cause of
the strike II you'll remember. WAS
partly on account of tbe company
cuttin' down the crews and doublin
the runs Nowadays. with box and
coal cars fitted with air. u brakeman
more or less don't make much differ
ence. but then every man counted.
and when they dropped a chap OF on
these mountain runs it made the rest
feel shasy, for there wasn't enough
men left TO tend the brakes.
lone night it WAS our turn to as
sist what was known as the Pan
Handle freight up the mountain
We started -out from ConemAugh
about lI;20 pushin' the train. which
was made up OF about ten cars OF
hogs. two box cars and fifteen or
twenty four wheel coal czrs-.lim
mics. we call them The box cars
were at the rear; that is. right in
front OF US We made pretty fair
time UP to South Fork. where the
Hood broke afterwards. you know.
Then the engine in front began to
steam bad, and what with US ppshin'
hard and IL pullin' by fits. 'twasn't
long before tho cars were bumpin'
and ,erkin' pretty rough. Then
saw the conductor comm back hard
as be could. When he got within
hearin' he yelled: For Gods sake
stop that bumpin'. We have two
cars o! dynamite on the train
Ibid / stop it' You better believe
/ did. and mighty quick. too. l
blowed for brakes and the engineer
in front answered. and rs the grade
there is about eighty feet to the
mile, we soon stopped. | sent my
fireman forward to tell the other
engineer to try and get his steam
gauge up and that wasn't goin' to
bump myself into eternity IL knew
it After he Was gone discovered
my water vas low and concluded to
run back 10 stand pipe about half
& mile down the track 10 NIL tho
tank So. cuttin' the couplin' my
self. dropped down. found after
ward the crew didn't know l had
gone and had failed to put the
brakes on the last cars. thinkin' my
engine would hold 'em
Il hadn't more than got alongside
the pipe than l caught glimpse Of
the tail lamps of the train coming
lickcty split toward me knew At
once what had happened. The srain
had broken in two and part OF il
was runnin' wild down the hill That
often happens. you know. and there
amt much danger in stoppin' the
wild cars; all that's necessary bein'
for the engineer OF the pusher to
run backward slowly. SO as TO mako
the bump when it comes easier than
il the engine was stopped.
But you can bet wasn't hanker-