The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-28
A RUNAWAY ENGINE.

How the First Heavy Engine on the
 Boston and Albany Railway Made its
 Trial Trip to Springfield.
 It was a proud day for Reuben Finch when he was selected aslengineer of the big, eight-wheeled freighter Massachu- sets. Back in the forties, when rail- roading was young and innovations were regarded with an interest not | jaded with the many inventions and l contrivances of modern science the news that the Western railroad, which now forms a part of the Boston and Albany system, had put on mann moth freight engine, larger than any yet tried, excited a widespread curiosi- | ty, not limited to the circle of railroad men, which was then much smaller | than it is now. Among the engineers | and firemen, however, the curiosity had something of excitement mingled with | it. born of the desire to be put in charge of the great engine, And so | Finch was an envied man the day his appointment was made known. Not less fortunate than Finch, in the esti- mate of the brotherhood, was James Marcey, who was selected to run with him as fireman on the Massachusetts. It was something to be placed in charge of mighty monster, which made all the other engines on the road look like children's toys.
 Early in December the Massachusetts was brought up from the shops at Lowell, and was sent up and down the road, while Finch adjusted every little part till she was ifi good working trim. The test pf the engine was agaited with great interest as fabulous tales were told of the number of cars she could haul The test was to be a severe one. but there was one thing that interfered; there were not cars enough around to make 1t interesting In those days the freight traffic was very limited. Each road kept it's own cars on its own iron as the railroad men say. and the varie- ty from every road 4 in the country could not be seen on each track, as it Is to-day. So, to get enough cars, a tribute was levied on each passing freight train, It delayed the traffic a few days, of course, but goods sent by freight in the forties were not perisha ble
 
 track from Worcester to Springfield and on December IS. 1S40, thirty-five cars had been collected enough, it was thought, to give the engine most thor ough test, for thirty-flve cars made a tremendous load, as loads were then, In the afternoon Finch and Marcey oiled up the parts anew and made eve rything ready for the triumphal trip to Springfield.
 couple of toots on the whistle, a changing of the bell and Finch, opening the throttle, felt the great engine roll out on to the main track with seeming ly as little effort as though there were not string of freight cars behind her nearly quarter of a mile long. There were two or three men in the cab with Finch and Marcey among them Will son Eddy, known the country over in later years as the veteran master me chanic of the Boston and Albany rail- road Majestically the Massachusetts swung along and there was nothing to mar the smoothness of the machnerys motion. It was brisk winter day and the rails were covered with frost, but the great wheels did not slip. Railroad accidents were a new thing then and it was as yet an undiscovered fact that an engine could run away, with it's en- gineer powerless to control it. There were but two brakes on the train but this caused no uneasiness, particularly as there was that great engine to de- pend upon.
 In those days the railroad had not 11I cut river at Springfield, but the abut- ments for a bridge were being built Before the handsome Boston and Alba ny station was built at Springfield there was a steep grade which swept down into the city from the east Be- ginning about a mile back from the city the track dropped quickly down past the station and came to an end at the river bank three hundred yards be- low This was the jumping-off place. for the tracks had not yet been built out on the bridge. To the right, di- verging slightly from the main track, a spur led to the round-house, which stood on the river bank, not far away It was here that the engines were faced about for the return trips.
 As the Massachusetts, coming in tri- umphantlv from it's fiftv-mile run. ap- preached the brink of the hill a mile back from the river, Finch began to slow down, and as he did so he began to realize that the heavy train had considerable impetus. He was afraid to risk going down the grade with so few brakes and decided to stop and block the wheels, seeing that the track wae very slippery So he shut off the steam and applied the brakes. To his surprise they seemed to have no effect on the heavy train.
 Watch out, Finch" said Marcey, Cor you'll have us on the grade. It's pret- ty slippery to-day"
 Finch made no reply, but nervously reversed the throttle, sending the wheels spinning backward over the greasy rails in spite of the weight of