Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-08
ENGINE 1129'S SUICIDE.
Pumped Air I'm e. Runaway Down II
Mountain Until She nIexY LIN.

Mountain Until She Blew Up.
| Mr. Henry Alquist, a prominent railroad
| man. relates in the Memphis Scimitar the
story of curious wreck, the facts in which
| he will vouch for.
1T is such remarkable thing" says Mr..
Alquist that / fear many will be inclined
to brand 1t as pipe / have been railroad
ing now for over twenty years and never
in all my varied experience have | seen
such unique and complete wreck as the
one l speak of-that of engine 1929 of the
Rio Grande Western. Railroad men will tell
you that locomotives seldom explode nova
days but 1929 did, and in very peculiar
way.
"At the time this wreck occurred | was
holding down the job of train dispatcher
at Soldier Summit, Utah, and a tough od
job it was. Never been there, l suppose !?
Well, Soldier Summit is a station on the
top of one Of the Wasatch divides a bleak
and lonely place where the Rio Grande
Western has a roundhouse and coal chute
located At the summit are long snow sheds
covering the tracks These sheds protect
the line from the heavy SHOWS which fall
continually there in the winter. And il Is
only due to this method that train ever
gets over the mountain. On both sides OF
the mountain the line winds down in a
succession of winding curves to lessen the
grade Running off from the railway are
switches, which, diverging from the grade,
run up into the hills and gradually come
to a dead level. These switchbacks, as they
are called, are so constructed that they can
be thrown from any poin. on tie grade.
And If train breaks in two while ascending
the steep grade, the track can be switched
on to one of these spurs, where 1t finally
stops after it has run up the spur as far as
the momentum attained in its descent VIII
take T..
"All heavy trains have an extra locomotive
before the grade is tackled. These are caled
helper engines and are kept in roundhouses
at each side Of the mountain with steam up
Zone night got word from Clear Creek,
town in the Western valley, that the 9:20
freight would be thirty minutes late on ac-
count of having to pull out crippled engine
1929. 1t had burnt out its iues and had to
be hauled to Grand Junction for repairs.
That night about 10 o'clock, after | had
passed down the Salt Lake express, heard
the freight coughing up the long grade from
Clear Creek. There was a snow storm raging
and the wind howlcd around the station like
fury. When the overdue 9:20 pulled into the
shelter Of the big snow sheds on the wind
Where's the dead engine?
4" Behind the doghouse, shouted the con,
but as held my lamp above my head | failed
to see it. | was just about to call his atten-
4 n to wlCn, du ing ull in the o m, We
plainly heard the familiar rattle of the rails
as the runaway engine flew at lightning
speed down tho mountain, No. 1929 had
broken loose and was tearing down the grade
TO destruction
II jumped and pulled the lever which
opened the sDur switches, This / knew
would prevent a smashup, as the engine
would run up on the switch back and come
to a stop. But | was too late. Almost at the
same instant threw the lever terrific ex-
plosion was heard from far down the noun
tain. The runaway had exploded"
II thought you said moment ago, Mr.
Alquist, interrupted the scimtar man, that
the locomotive was a dead one If It had no
fire under its boiler how could It explode?"
That was the only thing couldn't under
stand myself" the railroad man replied II
could easily see how the dead engine could |
break loose on that grade and could under !