Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-09-01
RUNNI e A TIMETABLE

1 am certain however in all my cN-
ncrcncc | never saw a road that was
thr equal of the Valley Air Line upon
which | was, 1T the time of the III
cIdcnt about to be related, brake
man.
The engineer of our train-the Light
n.ng EXpress-was one of the most
SJDrr. careful. thoughtful and indus
trIuuS men that ever handled throt-
tie. He possessed more than the or
dluary snare of thoughtful prudence,
.: his class, and it was owing to this
fact that so great degree of good for
tune came tC lis.
y few moments before the train was
20 start one morning, Gardiner, the
engineer. called me to his cab He
appeared unusually downcast that
morning. though at the best he was
by no means gay" fellow.
Bob" said Gardiner, after a few
seconds talk about general matters,
bob, | want you to be very careful
Today. l know you're a good fellow,
and always do your duty well; but
to-day | want you to do more. l want
YOU to stand by your brake every
second of the trip-not to leave it for
n moment. and when l signal | want
YOU to set them up as You never did
before, and promptly, too. | know
you will do it for me, wont you,
Bob?"
was too astounded to speak for a
second. and then l asked:
why. what under the sun is the
matter with you, Gardiner? You
know the brakes are so nearly worn
out that it is impossible to set them
up and you know, too
Il know it all, Bob, and that is the
reason why l want you to be careful
am going to try and make the time
table to-day; and if possible. will do
50. | feel just as though something
was going to happen, and l am more
than half sorry that l promised; but
I'll do it. though. Now promise me,
Bob and off to your brakes
promised. and took my post, not a
little myAtitied ut Gardeners words,
Looks and actions.
We left the depot and went rattling
| on over the iron. Passengers looked
at each other in surprise, and Won
dercd what under the sun was the
matter with the Valley-if it had sud
denly awakened from its long sleep,
and now proposed to be railroad i'll
earnest.
When the conductor came through
the train and came along to me, l ask
cd:
What is the matter with Gardiner
thiS morning?"
oh" was the reply, che and the
old man have had a blowout this
morning. You see our train never
makes onncctioES-passenSer lay
over. and. of course, they growl. This
morning the old man called us into
the office and the whole thing was
out. Gardiner talked like Il father to
them. and as he grew excited. he said
that it was criminal running the road
in the condition it was. He told them
| the timetable as made up was fast
even for a tirst-class road, and if we
vpdcrtook to run it frightful acci-
| dent could not be avoided. When
Gardiner said it was criminal to run
the road as it was, Superintent ent
Brown was very hot. He fairly boil
ed. He declared that there was no
better road in the country, and that
Gardiner was a coward who ought to
., on to a gravel train. and if he
Didn't make time he'd have him there,
too. The road was losing its business,
ana there had got to be change.
Brown also said that in Valley Creek,
where he lived, he had noticed that
;hc train always slowed and lost rime
enough there to lose the connections.
Gardiner replied to this, that ut the
Creek there was a down grade. the
bridge was unsafe, and he was OBJ
Igpd to slack up for safety. More
than this. the track passed through
the playground of the Creek school.
which was not fenced in. and they
could not go through at rapid speed
without danger to the children.
Then Brown burst out with an oath
that if parents did not want their
children run over they must keep
them off the track. 1t would be Il
good thing to run over one or Two OF
them, as it would teach them 4 les
son. OF course, he didn't mean this,
but he was hot you see, and did not
know what he did say. He ached,
that Gardeners family lived near the
track. and that GARDENERS sola reason
for slowing was to have 4 chat with
them as he went through This set
Gardeners anger on fire, and ne then
and there declared that he would
make it, let the consequences be what
they might, and if disaster happened
Brown must assume the responsibility
! You see, he is keeping his word. but
the old fellow feels bad, though
We dashed over the frail iron at y
frghtful speed. You could almost
hear the bars crackle as we went
| The cars surged from east to west
forcing passengers to fairly cling tC
their seats Not for second did
leave my brake.
We were nearly down to Valley
Creek on time. AS we approached the
long stretch of down grade, l felt by
the shaking that Gardiner had slack
encd up as if the danger was reall!
too great and then, as if his promise
had come fully upon his mind, hat
again carefully opened his throttle
| Down the valley he went, our rapid
| speed startling the birds, the cattle
and even the staid old forest trees into
new and strange ideas. l grasped the
screamed, warning all to keep clear
of it. l held my breath, we'll knowing
that if we left the track it would be
to go to destruction.
Suddenly the whistle ceased, and
then there came three unearthly yells
from it; they pierced my ears and
brake. for l felt there was danger
ahead. | knew this when Gardiner
suddenly reversed his engine. The
shutting off, the reversing and the
brakes set up so tight that l feared
the chains would break, did not seen
TO have the slightest effect upon thu
n,, to, Il