The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-04-11
ON A RUNAWAY TRAIN
THE ENGINEERS WILD RIDE AROUND
HORSESHOE CURVE.

Forty Coal Cars and Ten Cripples Pushed
Him Down the Hill at Lightning Speed.
Lively Sprint of the Train and Two Emp
ty Engines Ahead.
"The worst scare ever had" said the
old engineer as he puffed meditatively
upon his pipe, WAS on one raw Novem-
Der night comm down the mountain of
Gallitzin to Altoona.
I II wasn't no greenhorn, neither, at the
time the thing happened, for I'd fired
three years right on that division and had
run an engine 18 months, SO as far as ex-
perience went 1 had plenty, and besides /
knew the track like book, which is sayin
good deal, since the horseshoe curve or
Kittanning point Is right In the middle
of 1t.
"a man has to be mighty we'll posted
before tho company'll trust him to pull a
freight up the mountain, much less bring
one down. 1t requires skill to haul a
string Of empties up that hill with dou-
bic header and q pusher behind but that's
child's play compared to bringin down a
train of loaded cars with only one engine
"The sensation of bein In front of so or
60 box cars on 90 foot grade and wet
rail where the brakes won't hold Is some
thin like them dreams feller has occa-
sionally Of being showed over bluff 1000
feet high.
sits skatin on mighty thin ice I tell
you, and IL you lose control of the train
nine times out Of ten you'd better say
your Now lay mo- Well, that night we
pulled out of Johnstown with 40 coal cars
and 10 cripples for the Altoona shop.
"a cripple Is a car needin repairs, you
know-maybe q Drawbacks broke, the
roof leaks, or, what's commoner than any
thing else, the brakes are busted. 1t SO
happened that every one of them ten cars
that night had no brakes, so they were all
put behind next the cab
"Along about 2:15 In the mornin we
passed Cresson, and after creepin through
the tunnel began to hustle down tho hill.
AS said, 1t was an ugly night. all damp
and foggy, maxim the track slippy and
hidin the signals till you were right up
agin them.
"In them days there was no such thing
as airbrakes on freight cars or engines,
and we had to depend on the hand brakes
bein set by the brakemen to check the
speed, aided, OF course, by what the engine
could do by holdin back.
"Well, when We got on the grade II
wasn't long till the wheels began to hum,
and the old freight was bumpin along at a
mighty lively gait. let her go, thinkin
10 would DO an easy matter to slow down
when We reached Allegrippus, which, as
you know, Is just around the bend above
the horseshoe.
"All at once tower shot out Of the fog
right ahead, and there was a red light
dead against me. You bet was scared,
for to run past red light means 30 days
vacation. blowed for brakes, turned on
the sand and motioned for Billy to twist
tho tender brake. Instead of stoppin, II
seemed as II we were goin faster, and 1t
didn't take a second for me to realize we
were runnin away.
"Say, talk about being chased by herd
OF Texas steersl That's a picnic compared
to bein showed down the side OF noun
tain In front Of string of wabbly coal
cars with the alternative Of jumpi-l the
track and plungin into the valley hun
dreds of feet below or stiokin TO the rails
and runnin into the train ahead, for all
the time, you SEQ, was thinkin OF that
red light we run past, which was positive
proof there Tas- freiRhtlp fEopt.