The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-24

next siding ahead of her, but there was
a cross-over switch a mile ahead, where
! decided to back over, and let her pass.
My fiag-the head brakeman-had gone
| back to the caboose; a trip over the top
| of that train that l would not have
taken for a controlling interest in the
road. 1 commenced whistling for the
switch as soon as l got to it. Ten min
utes after No. IL was due Davis emery
ed from the whirling snow, seeking in7
formation. His faculties seemed to have
become benuinbed; / had to go into all
the details before he could understand
that l wanted to carry the brakeman
out ahead TO protect us when crossed
over.
L carried the man out half a mile,
gave him bucket of fire and told him
to burn fence rails or anything he could
get hold of to keep himself warm, but
under no circumstances desert his post
until called in.
After a lot more whistling, Tuning
and fussing, 1 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's nonsense about
white or dark meat" IL came putting
along. almost noiseiessly, like a polar
bear. towing a string of icebergs.
L naO lost nearly d gauge VI water
through the leaky fiues while laying
there A broornstick inspection showed
less than six inches in the tank, and
the nearest water plug was five miles
away. Again Iworked the whistle cord.
After awhile Davis came ahead. He
was muffied up in all the old rags the
caboose lockers could furnish, and was
a perambulating mountain of snow and
ice. He Mas mad, at last; as mad as 1
had been all might.
Gosh almighty he roared, Sc loud
that 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 it's 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. pavis,"-
Davis looked up, squirting comically
into the teeth of the storm. Harry
threw him kiss and yelled: Turkey
The conductors reply was inaudible.
but we know what it was-the most
common expression in railroad use.
When We got back from the water
plug II 1.-THE maid was waiting. We fol-
lowed her, getting good wheeling until
she got so far ahead that the snow
drifted in behind her again. We loaded
the tender at Bolton coal platform, pill
ing big Jumps that couldn't blow away
on top. My watch dropped out of my
pocket onto the shovel. I threw it into
the tender and Harry tossed a heavy
lump on top of it, After we had found
IL and stepped back on the engine he
asked, looking at the clock:
rs that all tbs, 1O:15?"
/ looked at my watch 1881. We had
left the curtain up while coaling and
the, engine clock, less than two feet
above the boiler. had frozen up and
stopped.
During the. next hour we nearly
stalled in bigsdrifts twice. This set me
to thinking about train 10; she must be
nearly due. looked at my watch, 1877.
Ii hadn't turned a wheel since that
lump of coal. hit it. and now / had no
time on the engine
Seeing me looking at my watch, Har-
~ asked me If 1t was broken. told him
1t was. That's nothing" said he, SOS
the record" 1 tried to grin. but lust
then she pumped into a cut. at the foot
of a slight grade. that was filed twenty
feet deep with the beautiful / had no
longer any need TO worry about follow
ing trains. / was anchored good and
solid 1 had a full tank of coal: we
wouldn't freeze, and there was water
enough for a long siege-only for those
leaky fiues.
Engineers. when snowbound. must
keep their engines alive. that trains
may proceed Immediately the road is
opened. otherwise expensive delays viii
occur from thawing out, watering and
firing up dead engines i'm most incon-
venient places. My great problem was,
how to get water into the boiler The
pumps worked only when the engine
ran. 1 gave. her steam. If the wheels
would slip on the rails and turn, I
could pump that way. She might have
been solid. jointless casting, for all
the effect of the steam had On her.
Something had to be done and quick
ly. for the water was leaking out of her
every minute. and / had only two
gauges in her when I stopped We got
the spare scoop shovel and sunk shaft
through the snow on the lee side of |
her Then we cleared the snow away
from under her and all about the wheels |
and machinery. 1t had drifted a ratu-
raj arch over her by this lime. So that |
il was quite warm down there Harry |
brought down the hammer. some |
wrenches and the torch AMI reported