Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-10-13
ONE CAR VANISHES
LEAVES THE MIDDLE OF A TRAIN, AND
THE CONDUCTOR is BAFFLED.

Its Journey Without Leaving It's
Loss Observation-Disclosures BragneIl
Ii Conductor Tells the story.
The most remarkable of all railroad
accidents occurred on the Chicago Il
Alton railroad near Atlanta, ILL.,, when
a loaded car jumped out of a freight
train and lodged in n ditch and the
train coupled up and reached its des-
tination without the crew either know
ing that an accident had occurred or
missing the car from the train.
Charles Bragnell. of R~Oodhouse, H.,
the conductor the train, tells the story.
He says:
WHEN | delivered my train | was
told ] was a car short. l thought a
mistake must have been made in
checking me up. l was called up for
al explanation. The clerical records
showed plainly enough that had TAX
ell out of East st. Louis a car of hard
coal that l had never delivered. | had
lost it some place between East st.
Louis and Bloomington. couldn't OK.
plain it. We had made up a heavy
train, put two engines in front of il
and a caboose behind it, and when |
delivered 1t would have sworn that X
ENVbNi IAl1N 40 wv Lt' "a i llbs dllN
that every car left or added along the
line was accounted for.
"Thc next morning one of the passen-
ger crews reported a coal car wrecked
in the ditch near atlanta. When it
was looked up It proved to be the car
! had lost. Ii superintendent asked
me why had not reported the wreck.
1t was news to me and it was news to
the whole crew. We knew nothing
about it. 1t seemed Impossible that it
could have occurred and not have been
seen. but it did. If | had read of such
a thing happened upon another road l
would not have believed it.
"Tlc car that jumped ont of my train
was the eleventh behind the engine. 1t
was loaded with hard coal and | SUD
pose we were running something over
twenty miles al hour when the car
jumped out. The train ws coupled up
with automatic couplers. and when the
car left its place the twelfth car. Just
behind it, came up and coupled on at
the rear of the tenth car"
The Chicago & Alton experts have
agreed that this remarkable loss of "A
car out of the middle of II rapidly-run-
ming train of tWenty-one loaded cars
can he explained III but one way. The
flange of Il front truck wheel upon the
car wrecked is broken. and just below
where the car lodged the ties are
marked as though by a car off the
track The cOuplers catch with what
is commonly known as the indian
! grip" catching automatically. When
the tian@c of the coal car broke. it is
reasoned. the car left the track at that
end and %uncoupled itself from the car
ahead by pulling one of the couplers,
or hands. below the plane of the other.
At the same time the coupler at the
other end sank below the plane of its
mate and %uncoupled the car there, and,
by some peculiar wrench, the uncou
pied car was shot out of the train an1
fell fifty feet from the track. while the
trainmen were all unconscious how
near they had beel to Il bad wreck
and death.
1t is related among railroad men that
an occurrence very like that ut Atlanta
happened years ago on the Lehigh Val
ley. where Il car left its train and rolled
down a long e~mbankment and into q
thick underbrush just leafing in early
summer. The trainmen did not see the
car go and ii was not known that they
had lost it until the train was checked
up and Il car proven missing. In Il lit.
tie while the grcCning vegetation en-
tircly hid it and the disappearance OF
the car of valuable merchandise be
cane the chief mystery of the road
When The leaves fell in the autumn the
car was found and the freight which
filled il was recovered wiz very little
loss. The lost car of the Lchigh was
not. though, rs remarkably lost as the
. Chicago n Alton car. for the Lehigl.
car was the last upon the train and
could easily escape. while the Chicag,
x Alton car left the middle of thu
train.