The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-02

| drifts at Reed street had beon broken. AT
| 6 o'clock last night the officials of the
road were of the opinion that they should
have no further trouble from the storm.
ON THE GRAND TRUNK.
Train From Montreal Reached Here Nine
Hours Late.
The first train into Portland over the
Grand Trunk arrived yesterday afternoon
at five O'Clock. This was made up of two
big mogul engines with snow plow
hitched on ahead and two Hangers pulled
along behind This train came in over
the road from Gorham, N. H., ahead Of
the regular passenger train No. 4. The
gines were covered with ice from one end
to the other. The big drivers were
sheathed with ice while the snow and ice
was piled up around the tops of the cabs
and on to the tenders, There was little to
be seen of the engines themselves SO
heavily were they coated with ice and
snow. AS this train pulled into the
Grand Trunk station about five o'clock
its approach was announced by the
mournful banging of the bell on one en-
CINE which sounded more like cracked
| tin pan than anything else. The bell of
the engine on front was so heavily coated
with ice that it could not be used. The
engineer of one of the engines said that
the train left Gorham, N. H., at twenty
five minutes to eleven O'Clock. 1t came
right through to Portland as quickly as
possible, but it was impossible to make
any time. The snow drifts were so high
| in places along the way that the snow
rolled into the cab windows as the plows
went through the drifts. The engineer
| said that some of the drifts were higher
than the engine. Both of the big moguls
were run at full speed, but they barely
crawled along on the up grades. 1t was
cold and tedious work, but they had the
honor Of opening the track and being the
first train to reach Portland since Mon
day n'a IT at nine o'clock,
| A h,tle while after the arrival of the
snow pillow with the two engines and
Hangers, the regular passenger train from
Montreal got in. This was train con-
sisting of Pullman coach, a baggage
and mail car, an express car and four
passenger coaches. ALL the cars were
badly iced up and covered with snow.
/ The train left Montreal Monday night
and should have reached Island Pond at
three O'Clock yesterday morning. 1t
/ didn't get there until five O'Clock and
from Island Pond to- Portland it was
twelve hours on the way. There were five
passengers for the English steamers on
this tr ain, some passengers who hoped to
get through to Boston and about twenty
five who were bound to Portland. The
passengers had very comfortable time
of it on the long trip. Several times the
train was held up by immense drifts and
| ii was with difficulty that it could be got
along. 1t was stalled in Gorham two
hours before it could be dug out During
all this time the train men did all they
could for the passengers and as the cars
we're nice and warm aud the porter of the
pullman had the courtesy to invite any
who were hungry to come into the Pull
man and get something to eat they did
NOT suffer any Conductor Pickett was
in charge of this train from Island Pond
TO Portland, and he said that the drifts
through which the train passed on it's
way here from Island Pond were the
largest he had ever seen.
All the way along the freight trains were
passed buried in the snow banks. There
were three freights at Danvil.e Junction,
one at umberland, one or two more at
Gorham and many more scattered all the
way along AS soon as the passengers got
into Portland they made haste to get out
of the train where they had been confined
so long. They were weary looking lot,
but seemed disposed to make the best OF
everything Most them wanted to get
to hotel as soon as possible, but they
found that if they got there it must be
by means of fShank's mare.'
The street car tracks were covered with
three or four feet of snow on India
street and no attempt had been made to
run cars through on this line Nor was
there hack to be had and so the weary
ones started out through the snow drifts
on foot.
The energy displayed by the Grand
Trunk officials here in clearing the yard
of snow and opening their line was to say
the least very oommendable. They had
oil of their available plows at work and
big crews of men were constantly being
sent out along the lire to dig away at
the drifts. At two-forty five O'Clock in
the afternoon the regular train for Island
Pond and way stations was sent out and
this was the first train Of the day to leave