Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-23
HEY, DAEIS.

1 never passed water plug; and the plump
vision of my Christmas turkey faded in
inverse geometrlca1 ratio to my progress.
Daylight showed US a white Christmas
with vengeance. The storm was still
raging with undiminished fury, the sand
like snow continuing its endless horizontal
drive.
Seventeen would be due in half an hour.
There wasn't time to get to the next sid
ing ahead OF her. but there was cross
over switch a mile ahead, where l decided
to back over, and let her pass. My flag
the head brakeman-had gone back to the
caboose; trip over the top of that train
that would not have taken for controll-
ing interest in the road. l commenced
whtstling for the switch soon l got
TO IT. Ten minutes after II was due, Davis
emerged from the whirling snow, seeking
information. His faculties seemed to have
become benumbed: had to go into all the
details before he could understand that l
wanted to carry the brakeman out ahead
10 protect US when crossed over.
carried the man out half a mile, gave
him a bucket of fire, and told him TO burn
fence rails or anything he could get hold
of to keep himself warm, but under no cir
cumstances desert his post until called in.
After q lot more whiStling, Tuning and
fussing, l got the train backed over, we
closed the cab tight, and ate our lunches.
While gnawing at the kiln-dried boarding
house sandwiches and laughing at Harry 5
nonsense about white or dark meat II
came pulling along, almost noiseessly, like
"a polar bear towing string of icebergs.
had lost nearly a gauge of water
through the leaky flues while laying there.
A brOOmStick inspection showed less than
six inches in the tank, and the nearest
water plug was five miles away. Again l
worked the whistle cord. After awhile
Davis came ahead. He was muffled up in
all the old rags the cabOose lockers could
furnish, and was a perambulating noun
tain of snow and ice. He was mad, at last
as mad as l had been all night
Gosh almighty he roared, so loud that
l heard him above the noise of the gale;
couldn't the fireman get down an open
the switch thout calm a man all the way
up from the hind end? Mebbe you think
its fun to waller round in this snow"
told him to cut the engine off and hold
everything on the eastbound track till
got back from Selden water plug. As we
pulled over the switch Harry shouted:
Hey, Davisi''
Davis looked up, squirting comically into
the teeth of the storm. Harry threw him a
kiss and yelled: Turkey
The conductors reply was inaudibIe, but
we know what it was-the most common
| expression in railroad use.
When We got back from the water plug
u Cthe maiD was waiting. We followe
1 her, getting good wheeling until she got
| so Iar ahead that the snow drifted in be-
/ hind her again. We loaded the tender al
Bolton coal platform, piling big Jumps that
| couldn't blow away top. My watch
| dropped out of my pocket on TO the shovel
| | threw it into the tender, and Harry tossed
a heavy lump on top OF it. After we had
| found it and stepped back on the engine
,, he asked, looking at the clock:
is that all tbs, 1O:15?'
| l looked at my watch; 11:37 We had
| LETT the curtain up, while coaling and the
| engine clock, less than TWO feet above the
| boiler, had frC-sn up and stopped
| During the next hour we nearly stalled
in big drifts twice This set me to thinking
| about train 10; she must be nearly due
| looked at my watch, IL 81. 1t hadn't turned
! a wheel since that lump of coal hit it, ant
| now l had no time the engine
seeing me looking at my watch HARRY
| asked me if 1t was broken. / told him il
| was. That's nothing" said he, SOS tn,
record. l tried TO grin, but just then she
| pumped into cut, at the foot of a Sigh
| grade, that was filled twenty feet deep will
| the beautiful. / had no longer any need I,
| worry about following trains. 1 was an
| chored good and solid. 1 had a full tanl
| OF coal; We wouldn't freeze and there wa,
| water enough for d long siege-only 10,
| those leaky fiues.
Engineers. when snowbound must keer
| their engines alive. that trains NAV pro
| coed Immediately the road is opened, other
| wise expensive delays will occur from
| thawing out, watering and firing I'D deat
| engines In most inconvenient places. NJ,
great problem was, how to get water int,
me boiier- The pumps worked only wheI
| the engine ran. l gave her steam If tn,
wheels would slip on the rails and turn.
could pump that way. She might have bee,
| solid. 1ointleSs casting, for all the effec
the steam had on her
Something had to be done and quickly
| for the water was leaking out of her ever,
minute. and l had only two gauges in he