The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-20
SEVERAL RAILWAY MANAGERS
TELL STORIES ABOUT FAST
SPECIALS.
SCHEME WAS ABANDONED.
HOW A FIREMAN SHOWED HIS
NERVE AND THEREBY GAINED
PROMOTION.
QUICK WORK ON A DOWN GRADE.
One Dismal Failure in Connection
With a Special Train In
Jersey.

oCEsCys
Some three weeks since a group Of
about fifteen railroad officials, compris-
Ing presidents, general managers. su-
pertntendents and passenger agents,
assembled in Washington to arrange
the winter schedules, which went into
effect Nov. IA. says the st. Louis Globe
Democrat. They represented the rail-
roads Of the East, and are undoubt-
eoly the brightest men In the business.
After particularly hard days work
In the matter Of arranging q schedule
to suit all parties concerned, about a
dozen Of these gentlemen gathered
around a window at one Of the big up
town hotels and, of course, talked
shop" After going over the days
work and several minor subjects, the
group fell to discussing fast runs on the
different roads, and then took up the
subject Of special trains. This subject
Is favorite one with the heads Of the
dlfferent roads, as they generally figure
as the most important personages con-
nected with the runs. The special train
tnat carried the Vanderbilt party from
Cleveland to Buffalo recently In record
breaking time came under discussion.
and considerable of the glory connected
herewith melted away as the circum-
stances were dissected in the nature
or an ideal country and an almost per
rect roadbed. If the same locomotive
and cars were placed on the roads that
cross the Blue Ridge or Alleghanies.
1t is safe assertion to make that the
time per mile would be increased by
at least dozen or more seconds.
OF course l don't mean to detract
from the merits of that rum" said
prominent official from Philadelphia,
nodding to the representative of the
Globe-Democrat, but we frequently
make time equally as fast.as that when
we strike good sections of the road
and the engineer can let his locomotive
spread itself. 1 have been out on spe-
cial trains that have made time that
would make your eyes open wide with
astonishment, but it has frequently
happened that our advertising agent
was not along, and the world at large
heard nothing Of the performance.
ABOUT the most dismal failure that
L can recall in the way of a special
tram, continued the official from the
quiet city, was started from JERSEY
City some years back. At that time
there was considerable speculation as
to how far a train could run without
stopping for coal or water. The gov
eminent was DESTROYS of making con-
tracts for the transportation Of mail.
and we inaugurated the limited ex,
press trains for it's benefit. To deyelop
still bpttaY
Gus runs was discussed at great length
in railroad circles.
The tanks holding water In the MD
Ole OF the tracks had proved a great
success, and the matter Of stoDninp
Tor water had been done away with.
Inls permitted a run of hundred miles
continuously, but then came the change
OF engines and crews. Several of the
bright young men of our road. and we
had few, put their hands together
at That time and determined to try and
make a continuous run from Jersey
City to Pittsburg. An extra large ten
der was provided, and the car next to
1t was loaded with coal. Rubber tubing
was run from the floor of the cars to
the axle boxes carrying oil, and other
little contriVances provided to lessen
the chances Of stop as much as pos
sible.
Everything looked lovely for the run
on the morning that the train started
out of Jersey City, and as / saw the en-
gineer oilfng up the finest engine olr
company owned, l knew he would do
his part to make the experiment sue
cess. The plan was to have the en-
gineer go to the end of the division he
was familiar with, drop off, and an en-
gineer that knew the division they
were entering thoroughly take charge.
Everything passed off smoothly on the
New York division, and the time made
was something remarkable. AS we
passed through Philadelphia the wealth
er-beaten engineer left US and the new
man grasped the throttle for his race
against time to Harrisburg, the other
terminus of the division
"Out near Bryn Mawr, a pretty SUI
burb of Philadelphia, our special was
simply SCATTERING space, and everybody
was offering congratulations and pre-
dieting that records would be made
that would stand for years. little
defect then developed in the oil tube
running to the axle box of one of the
cars, and Charley Douglass, one of the
brightest young men in the employ of
our company, grasped the handle along
side the steps and, leaning far over, en-
deavored to repair the break At the
moment Douglass was deeply engross-
ed in his work the special dashed
around a short curve, and the next
instant poor Charley's head came in
contact with a milk stand alongside
the track He never knew what struck
him, as his death was instantaneous.
AS the body was dashed from the steps
I pulled the bell cord, and after run
ming a quarter of a mile the train stop
ped and backed up to where the re-
mains lay.
Everybody knew Douglass we'll, and
it took the heart out of every one on
that train. The object of the special
was lost, as stop had been made, but
for the rest of the run to Pittsburg the
different engineers made records that
stood for several years. That was the
most dismal failure of a special train
that has ever come to my notice, and
to this day the experiment of making
a continuous run from Jersey City to
Pittsburg has not been repeated. Yet
YOU fellows here would laugh at me
if / limited that officials as well as en-
pioyes of railroads are superstitious."
ST can recall a run made by special
train about three years ago." said a
member of the group, whose road
winds in and out of the Lehigh coal
region, chat comes into my mind with
out the least trouble to my thinking
apparatus. The special was made up
of an engine and two cars, and the