The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-08-06
chine, as it is called, which consists OF

against the rail until it is brought tt
the required shape.
After much tugging, pulling ano
twisting, all hands working until TIL,
perspiration was running freely from
their faces, they succeeded in getting
it bent, and in a few moments they
were ready to take up the old rail.
Before starting. however, Mike pulled
out his watch and a copy of the month
ly time card, which is necessary par
of every section foreman's outfit, anc
after looking it over carefully and thei
comparing it with his watch he turned
to one of the men, remarking as he
did so:
We'll. Jim, I guess you can go bach
and do the tagging. Forty-nine is the
first train due. and she won't lie along
for an hour. We will be all done before
then. but YOU know the rules. Wher
she does come along you can stop hei
and got on. and have them run dowr
through here on the lookout for u.s. ant
then come on into town, for you know
the boss said when we were through
here we should come up to help him
out"
The Jim" spoken to was a rather
sleepy-looking sort of felow-a good
enough worker if he had some one
along with him all the time to tell him
just what to do. but who. as events soon
proved. lacked the first requisite of a
good railroader-quiclt Judgment.
He was not naturally careless, nor
was he lazy; he simply always did the
very best he knew how, and as he had
worked in the gang for number of
years and had Gagged" before Mike
thought he was the best man present
for the work.
AS Mike finished speaking Jim mere
ly said "All right" and, picking up a
rcd and green flag ard a handful OF
torpedocs from the hand car, he start cd
across the trestle and was soon lost to
view around the curve.
Before he had disappeared Mike and
the other two men began to remove the
old rail, while Teddy proceeded to gath
cr together the necessary bars, chisels
needed before they finished the job.
When the men had succeeded in re-
moving the bolts from the ends Of the
rail, they began to pull the spikes froul
the ties, being governed as they did SO
by a rule which section men every
where must observe at all times-i. G.,
when removing a rail from the main
track. to be replaced Immediately. the
outside spikes must be left in the ties.
They soon had all the inside spikes
removed, and. after working the rail
loose from the outside ones with pinch
bars, they rolled it over and dumped
it off at one side of the track. and
turned to pick up the new one to place
it in position.
just at this moment Teddy, who had
not been doing much for the past few
minutes, except looking on, imag-
ined he heard a familiar far-off noise
that sounded like the whistle of an en-
gine, but as none of the men noticed
anything, and he did not hear it again,
he concluded he had been mistaken.
and thought no more about it.
When they tried the new rail in posi-
ton, they found that large "bur." as
it is called, which is really ragged end
on the rail. would have to be cut off be-
fore it would fit properly. "a few blows
with a sledge-hammer by one of the
men on a chisel held by another soon
removed the difficulty, and they pro-
cecdcd to try it again.
Just as they picked it up, and began
to move with that slow. careful step
that section men invariably use when
carrying heavy rail, a sound suddenly
burst upon their ears that first startled
and surprised, then frightened and al
most paralyzed them.
It was unmistakably the rumble of
an approaching train, and their we'll
trained ears, so long accustomed to the
sound, told them all too plainly that it
was very near, and that it was running
at high rate of speed.
But before they had time to even
pass an opinion or express any doubt,
they heard it whistle for the trestle,
and in another instant it appeared in
sight, coming around the curve on the
other side of the gully.
As was afterward brought out nt the
investigation, it was an extra freight
or "turn around" as they are often
called, that runs only on orders from
the dispatchers at headquarters, and
pays no attention to the regular time
card. except for the meeting points
with regular trains.
Jim had not tagged it, because, as
he reasoned out by some method known
only to himself, it was not 40
which was the regular daily passenger
and as there was still half an hour be-
fore it was due, it was not yet time to do
any tagging; so he let it go by, the fire.
man afterward telling how he saw him
standing there by the side of the track,
with his flags rolled up under his arm.
AS they were only q few minutes
ahead of their limit-for every freight
train must keep ten minutes ahead of a
passenger train following 1.-THE en-
ginecr wanted to keep ahead as far as
possible, and thus finish his run with
out having to pull in on a side track, and
let 40 go by him, and he was coming
down the hill at least so miles an hour.
Imagine then, if you can fully. the
seriousness of the situation.
Here was very heavy freight train
running with the speed of the wind, all
of the fact that there was
n 3O-foot rail out on the outside of a
curve not half mile distant, and which
they would reach in q few seconds at
the farthest.