The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26
CARS IN QUEER PLACES.
MYsTERTEs OF THE RAILS THAT TIE
LOsT-CAR AGENT SOLVES.

ore n1tnstnr Rretght Car Found In nm hohns
aoued hfiniIE shaft and Another In . Dea.
ert. whore II was Occupied by . Pluto
Esnnr-hccidsutnl Change OF Identity.
To those unacauainted with the intricacies OF
car accounting It might seem easy to keep track
Of tho rolling stock; but when IL Is considered
that no matter how small tho road owning IL, q
car may DO sent from the Atlantic to the Pacific
and DO handled by fifteen or twenty different
train crews and perhaps as mtny switching
crews, at all hours Of tho day and night. IL will
DO seen that there Is plenty Of room for mis-
takes. Passenger, express, and baggage cars
are rarely lost tack Of, but the freight car do.
partment is less Fortunate and every road OF any
Importance has its ~lost-car agent, who Ia always
on tho wing, hunting mp astray cars. His trips
often cover thousands OF miles and take him
into all sections of tho country, from the busy
yards In the large cities to some out-of.the.way
switch in n desolate region, where the railroad
station stands alone.
"while I was ~lost.car agent for tho Alabama
Great Southern said a railroad man, a" had
Home queer experiences. While out on n hunt
for box car No. s73 once. o telegram reached
me Mt Aberdeen. Miss, that as soon as my re.
port was turned in regarding its whereabouts l
was to 60 10 Terre Haute. Ind. in search OF n
gondola. or coal car. of our line. No. 10 7s1. The
latter had been sent to indianapolis with q load
OF machinery for the Nordyke Marmon Machine
Company from Tuscaloosa, Ala. and having ar
rived and been unloaded. instead OF being sent
home It had been loaded with car trucks and
sent to Terre Haute via vandalia. they being
short Of cars. and It being the unwritten rule to
usc anything In sight when q car must be had.
From Terre Haute It was sent to Brazil for q
load Of conl. Il was the plan to load It there
and send It on the way home as far rs Indianap-
oils with block coal, for which the Brazil mines
are famous the world over. Upon its arrival at
Brazil the mines were closed. owing to n strike.
and the car was side-tracked on q G. and E. I.
spur track. owned Jointly by tho latter road and
tho Vandalia. Here the car dropped out of ex-
istence. no further trace Of It being obtainable.
AGAR is a pretty big picco Of property to lose.
yet It seemed lost, at least officially. The books
OF the agents and switching crews showed it's
arrival, but no trace OF its departure. Upon my
arrival at Brazil I carefully inspected every
side track and coal switch In the town, but no
sign Of No. 1871 was visible.
Many other cars of other roads. built at the
same shops, the Birmingham (Ala.) Car Works,
and Of the same description as the lost car. wero
there. but no A. G. s., 1871. I was about to
give up the hunt there and try some other near
by town to sec IL 1t might not have boon showed
cut there for want of room at Brazil. when l
CHANGED to go down the c. and z. !. tracks
toward the station north Of the roundhouee. and
q game Of ball on the common near by attracted
my attention. Being a lover of the sport I
found. upon consulting my watch. that l had
nearly an hour till the first train. Going over to
where the two clubs were deeply engaged in
hammering the little inoffensivc ball. sat down
on n convenient knoll and was soon oblivious to
all but the game.
Tho catcher was the weak point in one club,
and many NUTS of his allo we'd the tally of the
other side to run up, nothing but the backstop
preventing the ball from landing in n pool of
water near by. Tho usefulness Of the backslop,
which was both high and heavy. drew my at
.%tention to it. 1t looked strangely familiar. and
sideboards of n gondola car nailed to upright
posts. This fact Interested me more. and going
greeted with the sight Of the letters a. 6. s. in
white: Pvt neSrly eftaced. md ON the end Of the
t SSstd tha ' Soasds l u" " b ysTy p IsM %in%'f sy ! e dSnna
siastic lovers Of baseball from an old smashed.
gR car near 3y: Getting my informant TO- &C.
from the spur track another spur had been built
ct one time TO q nearby coal shaft. now aban
."By questioning the track foreman found TINT
the old shaft had caved in one night. taking with
II rll sGvs %itb r %a,e OF so tine s tWe I f Tss d hS1e W Nna
was perhaps n hundred feet In diameter. Close
inhlH ied VIII tt'e cars! t the isSt n anns b ShS track soGG d h1a been sn
1t was thought. whom the end sank in the
Ssaye'ip. Thinkins difrorently. ! got a pump
/, ,aeS 70 n w0fk at aro e% niSIys IT, sSys;in as
Of steady. pumping with a million. gallon
Gordon pump tho bottom began to show and
were visible. When the water had been SUN.
GENTLY lowered u was soon seen that it was our
IN iSss ts snf SlS' p 5fslhsli fr ron"f fgin nsdi in G 'Ss mud up and AMID
water for nearly two years. A derrick WAS at
once rugged up; the wrecking car Of the c. and
labor the car was Brought to the solid ground
again and temporary rails soon got It back on
Its original position. the car was temporarily
repaired and sent, home for oyerhauling, tho
"A few months after this was sent TO st.
Louis to locate n car, No. 3,002. A. G., s. 1t was
Francisco loaded with OAK oaknm ny for shin ali caikine.
From San Francisco. where 1t had been unload
Consigned 10 the big hotel there and loaded Win
furniture: From there. after unloading. it had
der works, a branch Of the Dnponts, is located;
Herr Il wa %Ss loaded with powder and billed d
& ss%'S rs r9ssto II cSnnsstIoR viii
and y was traced to East ST., Louis with
but little trouble, Here 1t dropped out Of exist.
s sasss xs h. is Il T So f ssl? ss shs sd H g ii , resd 5!f G pf IT
was concerned. Persistent inquiry failed to 10.
S e. sh Il and a%snt w shdw TO t, tSat ths p THsTs the bsd pS Sosn
received; but In {. 5. lmeaning Canada South.
ern, car Nc. 300, and that the car had been emp.
tied and despatched to Port Huron. Mich. as
standing orders were to return to that point all
. empty cars Of that line. The namo and number
heing somewhat similar, I concluded to go to
Port Huron. Arriving there l found the car had
been sent to Shingleton. Mich. just n few days
before where It was to load i with shingles.
Taking the first train there I found a saw.
mill and lumber yard in the midst OF a primeval
forest, Going at once to the single side track
there ] inspected the cars, half a dozen in mum
her, and half loaded with shingles. at the side
1the mill, ! found G. S. car No. 300, as expected,
A. close inspection, however. revealed that or
The trucks and other iron work underneath was
our companys name. AS nearly all companies dc
mark their cars. II was Gnsy to see that the
sides OF the car had been newly made and paint
Cd. The ends. however, were badly scorched. and
the original boards had been regaintcd. The stills
~ our cnr. In reply to n telegram 1t was asccr
tanned that at tho time Of tho great oil refinery
fire In the yards in East st. Louis in tho previon.
fall q number OF ears were burned. some beinr
totally consumed and others dnmaged. Our cal
had been injured. evidently. and in the process,
Of repairing it had been. wrongly relctterct
After the usual routine of correspondence tn,
car was turned over to us by tho Canada South
ern people along with n bill for $3G. go, which
they had Maid for rpnnir5 and myStery No q M,