The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-12
THE STORY OF A LOST CAR.
oys or THE s1RdNoEsr INCIDENTS
or UESIERN RAILRoA DINO,
A nuriinctoa Car, LOADED with y Fortuna, IN
siih- Di-nppehr- hetwesn Two station.
Found In Good Condition ~ . Co,vbov

SuL. ,Diunppenrr Retween Two st.,,on.
Found In Good Condition ~ = Covboy.
irom the ST. Louts Globe Democrat.
er. JosErH. Mo. April 3.-The Burlington
oalcial. at this point have just closed up a yo-
,nninous correspondence and effected a re,tle-
mont Of all claims growing out OF one OF tho
mo.t remarkable Incidents In the history of rail-
,oadlng. This WAS an accident on the noun
tain division Of the Union Pacific in the year
NJ iss7. when n car loaded with merchandise Of
,hc value OF over $4,000 wa lost between
Green River and Laramie, Wy, and Its where.
abouts for over n year was n mystery that bAf-
e,d trnlnmcn, officials. and directors until they
uprc at their wits ends.
the lost car" ms II came TO DO called, was
one N the old box cars OF about ten tons capacity,
belonging TO the Burlington road. such a one rs
was In use on that limo twenty-five years ago,
md already out Of date at the time this ndvcn-
ture befeil 1t 80 far away from home. 1t was
i,.intcd n duh slate color. and numbered ooT.
il had In some manner found It's way to the
Pacific coast. and OH its return trip WAS utilized
10 carry East q portion OF tho cargo of q steam
chip Just arrived from the Orient, consisting of
,lks. together with n lot OF California wine,
thee two commodities being commonly shipped
together So as to secure to the shipper the adj
vantage Of both bulk and weight. for rates were
very high. even as late as ten years ago.
It was customary on the arrival OF one Of the
Pacific Coast Steamship Company's big vessels
from China to make up a train. and sometimes
two or three trains, from the silks included in
her cargo. with wine for ballast, and send them
through from San Francisco to Omaha as silk
specials" which were scheduled on passenger
time. and not infrequcntly. made better speed
THAN the express trains. A "sixty-mile order"
s,ik special on leaving Ogden or Green River,
where time had been lost on the Central Pacific
through, n snow blockade. which means they
limits designated by the order. say from one
division terminus to the next, and they made II.
Ard took pride in having to '.killtime'' besides.
Sow tho steamship which brought the cargo,
Of which the oO7 received a portion, was five
DAYS overdue when she made port. ana the silk
elvctal lost forty eight hours up among the SHOWS
OF the sierra Nevadas. go that, the consignces
.o I+i, *. IN mere a s psns fpom o hgs5y for ,o o tSsis f deH 1t.
'"rmrdiate division terinint to expedite that
cargo by sending 1t over the line on a sixty-mile
is hctule. "A. train order conforming to these
Instructions was issued Mt Ogden. and the special
ninde hurried time in safety to Evanston and
passes through Is thoroughly inspected. the car
numbers entered In a book kept for that pur-
taken 10 insure safety TO both train and cargo
on It's long run through the Bitter Creek coun-
whole desolato mountain country encountered
tefoIe the Laramie plains are reached. The
Trxs sh h nn5 z. up and ,nspestiNn l. done at
with hut sixteen cars. 1t Is not much OF a job to
give them the closest attention as to every detail.
From Green to Bitter Greek station. u mere
side track and water tank. stopping about 100
mile east Of the former place. the main line OF
Of that famous and most fcarfully and wonder
fully constructed stream known as Bitter Creek.
,fd, tine track FL hk ims the the bank Idn SO closely
window gains a fair idea of the worst fluid on
enrth bearing the name of water. On either
height Of from one to several hundred feet.
are rocky spurs whose sides have been
of trains. In places there are curves so
.harp, and with surroundings 30 perilons
out a feeling OF profound thank fulness when
they have left them behind, 1t is much tho
tween which point and Green River lies tho
Rec Desert" Tipton is the third, stopping
trt the fourth. either being nothing more than
~ telegraph Office. a station gangs headquarters.
md a water tank. tho necessity of using one Of
these three convenlences being all the call q
The special, which included the oo77, passed
way. and was in a fair way to have time to kin
Hhen. in going over a hill. the train broke in
all his engine is worth, or. rather. the engineers
10. for all trims of this sort are run a. double
zion, which is left without safeguard OF air
brakes, from running into the section In front
ana smashing the draw heads. Well. this is
what the engineers did on this occasion. for it
was about o'clock at night. dark As pitch. and
on the detached section always Know what tto5tIMo
"n such occasions, They SET the hand brakes
TN. IT, jog as slsSWly a,o" f.. un inot the Of train ,ns sqsG
where they well know this rest OF the crew will
be waiting for them: The engineers ran like
grade when the train broke in two. running at
the rate Of sixty miles an hour. and didn't know
and set the brakes at once or not. Around
harp curves. across ugly gulches. Swimming
with the speed Of the wind. until the safe halt.
Ing place was reached. and there they stopped.
The detached section came leisurely along; for
accident instantly. The trains were once more
coupled up and made the remainder of the jour
When the number snatcher" at Laramie
made his rounds to check up the train he
counted but fifteen care. He examined his way
bills. and found they called for the usual num-
tcr-sixteen He took another look over the
srain. with the same result. Then he examined
Them with those on the cars. Meantime engines
aud crews had been changed, and everythinG
Hills, They were losing time every minute,
and the engineers and conductor were furious
when he was Informed, sad the number
over the train again and lost more time without
tolving the mystery. There was no doubt of It.
Matters were liked up with the train despatcher.
and the silk special went over the sherman
tii ~ one car short, 1t was supposed that car
Q, a hot box. q fiat wheel, or a broken axle, and
that the conductor had forgotten to make q
minute of 1t. so the subject was dropped until
the next day.
When the conductor appeared the next day at
the administers office he was called "on tho
carpet" and requested to explain. He couldn't
explain. He swore he brought the train in just
e. he received it from the other district. Green
River was called up. and reported that oo7 left
there all right. Every station from there TO
Laramie was ~queried, but no one had seen or
heard OF the lost car. Omaha WAS notified, and
for the next twenty-four hours the wires were
kent red hot with messages relating TO the old
I'LL oar and O. nFnRtnla cargo In n |
month its whereabouts was rs much or a mys-
terry as ever. Fine weather came on. and the
track walkers had reported no wreckage along
the line, and, to make n long story short. the
com pany simply went down In its pockets, ana
advanced a portion of the losses; they couldn't
90 otherwise. In six months the, incident had
become n tradition to be referred 70 nov, and
then IN spinning yarns while on n side track,
In June OF the year following the disappear
ance OF 007. a cowboy, who had been out on q
ronna was riding across the Red Desert IN
search of a missing steer. IL was Intensely hot,
and he was Disguised with the world in general,
Smn stray steers In particular; ne was } 4
from the "three-bar ranch" when he con.