The Anaconda standard., 1899-03-26
CHASD FLYING DYNAMITE
A Locomotives Thrilling Run
Down Mountain.
IT MADE A HERO OF HIM
The Rnaway Cars Were Ahead and
Wee Threatening Destruction to
N Excursion Train-An En-
gineer's Carelessness.

A social correspondent of the New
Yorksun from Salt Lake says: John
S. Hilton made his last trip as an en-
gineeI last week, after more than 10
years service on half dozen railways
of tn East and West. The last trip
was iade at the throttle of a locomo-
tive ulling the through flyer between
NewYork, Chicago Denver, Salt Lake
and Ian Francisco, and when the en-
gine Vas run into the roundhouse Hin
ton ompleted one of the most remark
able 'ecords ever made by an engineer
in tk United states-43 years in To-
comtive cab without having been in
railMy wreck that cost a life.
What was my most thrilling expert
enceiuring the 4S years I have been on
the oad?" repeated Hinton as the
queston was asked him. well, that
is no hard question to answer, as the
expeience resulted in giving me pos
sessin of the snug little ranch up near
Greeey where I intend to spend the
rest of my days"
Hetold the story, but suppressed the
nam of the railroad, saying that the
company had stood by him many years
and e did not wish to give it a black
eye
III the '70s," said Hinton, II was
running an engine on the old Southern
Minnesota road, now a part of the Chi
cago Milwaukee & ST. Paul system.
The ne had been built from La Crosse,
Wis west 40 miles through the south
ern ter of counties in Minnesota by the
late rol. c. w. Thompson as land
gran road. After Colonel Thompson
had eceived several hundred thousand
acresof the finest lands in the west for
the obstruction of the line, the COM
panypassed into the receivership stage.
the eceiver being w. c. McIlrath of
st. hul McIlrath undertook to meet
the equirements of the court in the
payment of claims, and in exercising
the ecessary economy failed to pay
the 7ages of employees for four or five
monhs. The result was an agreement
to srike. and one morning not an en-
ginewas run out of a roundhouse the
entin length. of the line. l was at
Ramsey junction when a message came
signd by the receiver. asking where
my engine was. 1 was pert in those
day; and sent what I thought was a
funny answer: In the roundhouse
waiing for back pay McIlrath did not
appreciate the humor of the answer,
andthe next day when he had scraped
together money enough to pay off the
boy my envelope contained the amount
dueme to date, and another man went
out on my run. But that is another
stoy. and this is only intended to show
hoy i happened to come west and get
talgled up with running on these west
err roads.
When I came west I got job firing
on the H. L. & X. road, and if you
kn,w anything about mountain roads
vol know that it is the roughest road
in the country-not 10 rods of straight
track in the whole 900 miles of right of
way, and not a foot that has not a
gr:de and a stiff one at that. Well, I
ke,t an old fashioned camelback warm
ontthat road for three years, and then
got freight run. I held this down
unil transferred to a pusher on Big
Hill. Big Hill is only 12 miles long, but
it las grade averaging 140 feet to the
mih and the principal part of the
grade is in spots. Six loaded cars made
a tain up this hill, and this train of
six ears was hauled and pushed up the
grade by two engines. My engine was
stationed permanently on the hill and
it's duty was to couple to the back end
of one of these trains and help it up
the grade. About three round trips
made days work, so you see it was
good deal of a snap.
AT the top of the hill was a side
tract called Acton, but no telegraph
operator was stationed there. At the
foot of the grade was Buckley, a tele-
grarh office in the center of a big side
track system used for breaking up
trains before sending them up the grade
in sections. Eight miles below Buckley
was an abandoned mining town named
Canpton. Here was a set of tracks and
switches and dozen unoccupied min
ers shanties, while the disused tele-
graIh Office was occupied by one-leg
ged pensioner of the company. flag
man. and his 19-year-old daughter.
Twelve miles further down the line was
Mountain Springs, now one of the fore
most summer resorts in the mountains.
and even 20 years ago much frequented
by eastern health seekers. ! explain
all this so that you will readily under
stand what happened.
Il had been showing trains up Big
Hill two years without a mishap when
/ had an experience that turned my
hair white in 10 minutes and gave me
a life job and the best run on the road.
And it came about through a disobedi-
ence of orders. too.
"The management of the road was al
ways afraid of an accident on the hill
through a train becoming unmanage-
able, and in my cab. directly over the
steam gauge, hung this warning in big
black type:
WARNING.
Engineers of PuSherS Are
Warned That Under No Condi-
tions Must an Engine Be Uncoup-
led from a Ira in That NOT in