Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-08-15
rAwrJcKEr TRIBUNE. THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 1895
INTO FLAME.

cifo when our train was delayed at Mo-
taveACal. IL was evident that we would
have plenty Of time, and i made hasty
acquaintance with n citizen who soon In
troduced mo 10 nm old engineer, John Bar
thoomew, who had tho reputation Of hay
Ing tho most thrilling record In tho histo-
ry Of tho road / asked the old man To
tell mo his story:
at isn't much Of story" said tho
white haired old veteran, "but II you
want to hear IL I'll tell you. IL was In the
summer OF 1870. was running AN 'ex-
ira passenger engine on one Of the noun
tain. divisions OF the ". r., and, u young
engineer then. had u rather unenviable
record as "a wild and reckless runner.
"At that time tho government was max
ing lots of changes among tho army posts
on tho frontier, and almost every week we
had ono or more of what wo called gov
ernment specials, moving the soldiers and
their families and belongings from one
post to another. One morning .wns
called TO 20 out on one OF these runs,
and as coupled my engine to the train
the conductor handed me a message from
the superintendent telling us to rush tGAC
train through with all possible speed. 1t
just suited mo exactly. i had light trainv
-four baggage cars, three coaches and
'slecper'-and knew could make "a rec
ord for a fast run, something had been
waiting for for long time.
SIN the first hour made so miles, and
then--well, never had chance To better
II. We received an order to meet passen-
ger train and pass freight going In tho
same direction as ourselves at the noxt
station.
"There were two side tracks there, and
the freight train occupied one OF them, and
pulled In on the other. The station was
right at the top OF a very heavy grade, and
tho track down this hill was very crooked.
The passenger train camo a little late and
in my hurry to got out did not give the
brakeman time to open the switch, and
got the front truck of my engine of tho
track 1t did no damage to the engine,
but 1t gave the fire that left me as am
now good chance to get a-going.
SAT last we got started, and as l looked
back from my cab mt the first curve saw
| the freight train on the main track ready
| to follow us down the hill. My train was
running at full 30 miles an hour as l
turned tho last long curve at the foot OF the
| grade, and there in plain view was the
| mouth of Winnemucca tunnel chOkcd from
the rail To the roof with q mass of roaring
| flames 1t was nearly quarter OF mile
away, and knew could stop my train,
| but 1 looked back across the curve and
could see, hardly 1000 feet behind me,
that heavy freight train rushing along al
most as fast as was running. 1t was be-
fore the time Of airbrakes on freight
trains, and realized in less than a second
that no power then in use could stop that
train in time to save the lives Of the hun
dreds of soldiers and their wives and little
ones in the cars behind me. The very
force of the collision would drive my train
into the tunnel, where, without power tC
move they would surely perish.
II thought quick then. My fireman had
jumped the minute he saw the fire, and
was alone on the engine. / knew the tim
bers in tho tunnel were very heavy, ant
my only chance was that the fire had no
burned through them SO that they hat
dropped to the rail. 1 threw coal into th
1rebox until we reached the mouth of th
tunnel, and then 1 dropped the cab cur
tains, shut the windows and waited.
II was right in my guess. None Of th'
timbers was down, but one big one, burned
out at the top, was started by the jar o.
the train and fell just in time to catch th'
corner Of the cab. The speed Of the trair
threw the log lengthwise with the track
|
been all right until this happened, bu
then in the intense heat 1 commenced t.
roast. pulled out the throttle as far al
it would go and then crawled back int
the tender and lay down beside the iror
water space and prayed for death. jus
remember seeing the blue sky as we sho
out of tho mouth Of that living hell, ant
that was the last knew for over week.
was in the hospital for over year, and a.
no one else was hurt except my fireman
and he was at work again in about ,
month, have nothing to regret. When
could get out and get around, the genera
manager told me should draw engineer
pay as long as lived, work or not, as
pleased. try to do what can, but, as yol
soc, it's not much, but I always get IN.
pay just the same
Brave old John Bartholomew! He wa
made of the stuff Of which heroes are fash
ionod, and In these days of soulless corpo
rations 1t Is pleasant to know that the man
agement of one great railroad appreciate
his sacrifice and tries to make his declining
years pleasant. Exchange.
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