The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-03-30

sdry. STOUT men craWled through the mar
row transoms, the broken glass literally
Scraping the skin and flesh of their bodies.
The baggage car and engine remained or
the track, most fortunate occurrence Or
there might not have been one left to tell
the tale Of death from freezing, or the
worse fate OF burning alive. No one was
at fault for the terrible catastrophe. 1t
was one OF those occurrences for which
nature alone was responsible. When the
engine approached the spot at which the
sleeping car jumped the track, the head
light showed both rails intact. and the en-
glneer little thought Of danger. Even the
track walker who a few hours previously
had braved the frigid temperature in the
faithful performance of mis- duty, said the
track was all right when he passed over it.
The intense cold had contracted the rails
until they were drawn to a tension on the
connection plates, what are usually
called angle bars" So tightly were they
drawn that the spikes were In some places
started out of the ties. The rails were like
fiddle string for miles, and at the spot
where the derailment occurred, they were
raised from the ties nearly an inch. When
the heavy locomotive rolled over the place.
Its great weight depressed the contracted
frosty rails, and they snapped like pipe
stems. The wheels of the baggage car re-
NAMED on, but the forward trucks of the
sleeper dropped off the track, and the
coupling between the cars broke.
A PECULIAR COLLISION.
The regular Winnipeg passenger train on
the Great Northern road pulled out of the
Union depot at Minneapolis one evening not
! two years ago, and sitting on the right side
or the engine cab was jack Needham. a
! trusty engineer and a capital fellow. He
was anxious to be off on his run, and as
soon as the conductor gave the signal the
drivers began to reSolve, and soon the train
was beyond the limits of Minneapolis. The
| tracks of the Great Northern ard Northern
junction to St.rCloud and when the Great
Northern flyer had left the former place.
jack noticed the headlight of an APP
preaching train on the Northern Pacific
track. 1t was no unusual thing. He had
| become schooled by long experience to hold
his nerve. There was no possibility that the
approaching train could be on his track
Nor was it, for the two trains rapidly
neared each other, and Jack saw that his
track was clear. and that he would soon
PASS the rumbnS freight train. just then
an accident happened which could not have
been foretold by any living person. A
/ freight car in the middle of the train broke
down and the trucks left the track, piling
the cars in great heap on the opposite
track ana right in front of the swiftly ap-
preaching passenger train. There was no
! time for action. The collision with the
| wreck occurred in twinkling, and the
Wrecking crew a few hours later picked out
| fl ON the ruined and demolished mass OF
engineer No one was responsible for his
| death, but why did the break down occur
| just iE front of his engine?
CAUGHT ON A LAND SLIDE.
~ heavy passenger train on the Canadian
| Pacific road was once running on the
| track which was laid around the side of
| the mountain. The track was level hut
| the curve was so sharp, that the engineer
| could hardly see the last car of his long
| train. A freight train had proceeded but a
| few minutes, and the engineer of the pas
/ senger train was cautious about the speed
! Of his train, lest he might suddenly come
upon fiaginan or Waterman, who fol-
lows each train on his little hand car
| through the cuts and around the curves to
see that the rumble of the heavy train has
not Jared some boulder loose from the
| place where nature put it thousands of
| years ago, to descend and stop upon the
| track, making a most formidable obstruc-
ton. The engineer saw neither a fiagman
or the Waterman, and was about to in
crease the speed of his engine when he
| suddenly felt the track slipping from be-
| meath hi. steed and looking out, saw to
his horror that he was land slide, and
| the whole side of the mountain was NOV
| ing. Down. down, slipped the earth in
| such a huge mass that the engine kept
| upright. Upon looking back, the engineer
| noticed that the train had parted and a
| portion. Of it was being left on the usual
| grade above There was no chance for es-
| cape, and soon the slide acquired memen-
| tum and began to crumble, and the en-
sine and four cars went down into the
almost bottomless abyss. Destruction and
| death followed, and weeks We're required
! to rebuild the track. No one was to blame
| and no one could have foretold the ac-
! cident.
| ed out of the west yards at Chicago over
| the tracks of the Erie road. After passing
| the railroad crossings. the speed was in
| creased to nearly 40 miles per hour. The
| train was heavily landed, and the engine
| was a and powerful one. 1t had just
| come out of the shops after z through in
| spection and overhauling, and was report
! ed in excellent condition. The man in
| charge entirely competent. the en-
| gine's bol.er was full of water, and tile
| steam guage showed the right figure. Sud-
| denly, without a seconds warning, there
| was terrific explosion, which shook the
| earth for miles, and broke the windows in
| factories and buildings long distances
| away. There was not enough left of the
| engine to sell for scrap, and the bodies of
| the fireman and engineer were blown to
| atoms. AS the explosion was straight up,
| the train was damaged but little. The
| responsibility was fixed on no one. No pos
! sible cause for the terrible accident could
| be given. Old mechanics said it must have
| been defect undiscovered, and not the
! negligence of the engineer.
| BREAKING.OF SIDE RODS.
! The breaking Of side rod Of an engine
| during the high! speed is not an unusual
occurrence andsit is danger that places
| the lives of the Eenginemen in jeopardy
| every minute "A few years ago. on the
| Wisconsin Central line passenger train
| wa; running at-good speed down slight in
cline, when the. side rod on the engineers
side of the engine broke in two, and be-
| fore there was time for realization, the
| end which wasiattached to the rear driver
| came smashing Hn through the cab, and
| struck the engineer dead on his seat box.
The breaking of the road one side
! caused such a strain to fall upon the rod
on the other side that at the next revolu-
| ton ii also broke, and the short end went
whirling around and crashed into the fire.
mans side of the cab, stunning him, and
leaving the engine practically helpless.
Neither the passengers or crew the
| train realized what had happened until the
| train had reached the bottom of the grade
and began ascending hill. The momen-
tum carried it but a short distance, and
there being no connection with the whee,t,
| the working parts of the engine had no
effect on the speed of the train. Realizing
| that something was wrong, the conductor
was Mortified to find, upon examination,
that his engineer was dead the fireman
dying. and the train was left stranded
absolutely helpless many miles from