The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-17
RAILROAD JUGGFRNAUTS.
Bloody Records of Locomotives Which Have Been Under
An Evil Spell.

man were killed and several passengers
hurt
six months after the second. acct
dent engine 107 ran into a land slide at
Blaek canyon and was again wrecked
I Inc engineer and fireman were both
Killed almost Instantly. After being
taken to the shops and repaired the Of
Meals thought they would have better
luck II the engine were transferred to
another part of the road, and sent it
TO the Rio Grande Western. Here it
was run for number of years, but
( something was almost constantly
wrong With the mechanism or it would
die out on the road, delaying a
train many hours, so il was finally sent
pack TO Denver and relegated to the
Done yard" where she is now stand
ing, Several other wrecks of 107 are
recalled by some Of the old employees,
IN one of which an engineer was
manned for life and several others
badly injured.
UNION PACIFIC HAS TWO.
On the Union Pacific there are two
"Jonahs." Engine No. So now run
{ hinS on the Cheyenne division, while
never in bad wreck, has killed several
persons A year or more ago q, little
girl named SUPPER was crossing the
tracks III the Denver yards when the
engine struck her and crushed the life
out of her. A short time after that a
Switchman was killed at Brighton. and
during the history Of the engine no
Tess than four trdmps or farmers have
been killed While walking or sleeping
on the track of the country.
another Jonah" on the Union Pa
cifie is engine No. 1876. She was in a
Dad wreck on the South Park narrow
gasue line The death list on this oc-
CASTOR was two or three. No. 1876 has
oeen IN a number of small wrecks and
MINOR accidents and four 11remen have
met their deaths either in one of these
wrecks or in some other way While in
the discharge of their duty.
"A no Grande engineer tells of an en-
Slne on the Louisville & Nashville rail-
road IN Kentucky which had the reDu-
| lalon OF hl!linS more employees in one
year than any other locomotive known.
ms engine had q. death-dealing record
OF 49, but seven of these were en-
pioyees, all killed within one wear. IT
was back in the los when the custom
was TO name the engines after the
engineer who ran them. This engine
was named Joe Davis. Joe seldom
missed a. trip on his iron namesalce and
ne Sot TO be as superstitious as the
negroes who stood in the tobacco
n
passed The first time that Davis WAS in
wreck was in the land slide. A mail
elerh' an express messenger, the fire.
man and three passengers were fatally
injured Joe himself was injured but
was out on his runs in q few weeks.
After taking the old run for about
three weeks the rails spread and Joe
ana his engine both went to the shops
Tor repairs again. This time the fire.
man r7.3
trdnpS were riding on the blind bag
gage Joe and his engine were out on
the road IN about a month, hut this
Tune on freight train One day in the
shops a wiper" was seated with his
legs across the rail under the engine
cleaning one of the drive wheels. when
a shorman, thinking no one was under
the engine, climbed into the cab and
backed the engine a few feet in order
20 get at some part of it which he
wished to repair. The Woper's legs
were cut off and he died two DAYS
later. Within two months after this
accident a track walker who had gone
TO sleep beside the rails, was struck by
the pilot of the engine and injured so
that he died a week later. Joe began
to get little shaky himself. For sew
eral months he had displayed come IN
easiness, but his fellow workmen only
laughed at him. He used to say, at
viii be my turn next" and some of the
boys would ridicUle the idea, but MANY
of them were really afraid of the "Old
Joe" themselves One night a storm
had been raging and the master me-
chanic had put Joe back on a passen-
ger run. As he left the station at
Louisville Joe remarked to a friend
that it was a very mean night to run
and that they were liable to have trou-
bic before reaching the end of the df-
vision. After they had been out of
Louisville for about three hours and
were nearing the west end Of the divi-
sion the train was pulled slowly over
long trestle that spans a creek Just
jas the first passenger coach got on the
trestle the whole thing save way. An
We're piled in a heap Is feet below.
Five passengers were fatally injured,
but strange to say not single en-
ployee was hurt beyond few bruises.
except Joe. This time the long dread
ed turn" he had so often spoken of
had come. but the poor fellow did not
know it he was impaled on the throt-
tie lever and died almost instantly.