The Washington bee., 1896-01-11
A RUNAWAY TRAIN.

AR Old Railroad Engineer Tells or Start.
ling Experience i'm New England.
'T lived then in a small Massachusetts,
city, and managed a road where every
employe. from the section men up, was
personally known to me, and railroad
ing was more Of a pleasure than 1t is
here where the roads are SO vast and
long that one hardly knows the MEM
bers of his own office staff. My Office
windows, I remember, looked out di-
rectly upon the principal business street
of the place and the entrance to the
Union depot, the street crossing the
tracks at right angles not twenty feet
from the great arched station entrance.
Every hour or two New York and Bos-
ton express trains were arriving and
departing, and it was always an inter
esting sight the day before Thanksgiv-
ing, when every train was running in
two or three sections, and each one
drawn by two locomotives, loaded down
with passengers anxious to get to the
old farm in time for the Thanksgiving
dinner
Zone snowy, clustering day I sat
waiting to see the 11:25 train pull in
from Boston, for somehow I kind of
smelt danger, as railroad man often
does. / knew the train was a heavy
one, the rails slippery and that before
it struck the crossing it came down a
heavy grade four miles long Out at
the other end OF the depot was great
long bridge carrying the train off to the
west, and also the tracks branching
south to New York. On both these
tracks stood huge locomotives blowing
of steam and seemingly in haste to
couple off to the coming train. which
was destined for both the South and
the West, and hurry it off to its des-
tination. Well, to make a long story
short, that train got the best Of the
engineer that day, owing to some defect
In the air brakes, and there was one
OF the most hair-raising train runa-
ways / guess will ever witness A
mile up the grade heard old Seth
Mayor, the engineer, making old 104
whistle for brakes in a way that made
me turn cold. Almost at the same time
the train came tearing down over the
street crossing and int the depot go.
ing sixty miles an hour, and ! remem-
har TO this day and always will how
COOL men about that place that day, and
blowing his whistle for dear life as
warning to give him a clear track,
THAT they would even get those en-
gines at the other end Of the station
out of the way I thought was an inn
possibility, but they did. There were
cool Mayor looked as he dashed by,
No. 104's great Crawford whistle had
given the warning. The switches were
hastily set straight on to the bridge
and away dashed the waiting engine
in a race to get out Of the way of the
runaway train. 1t was a close shave,
and it unnerved me for a week. but
luck saved the day. That runaway ran
four miles before it stopped, and the
engineer with the light engine tearing
along ahead of it was beginning to
wonder if the tracks were clear way
cut to Buffalo, when the brakes worked
and the runaway was brought to a
stop. For years j have been wondering
how that train ever dashed down that
grade and through the crowded depot,
following the switches in and out. with
out most frightful smash-up.
''Old Seth Mayor, when he stepped
down from the cab after backing back,
regarded IL as huge joke. but it scared
everybody else within a mile of the sta
ton out Of weeks growth.-Chicago
Chronicle.