Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-06-29
BOX CAR NO. l4l4.
BIZ Nj. QUAD.

You have read or adventures n
mysteries connected with locomotives.
but on the B. and G.. road we had a
plain ordinary freight car which came
TO be talked about more than all the
rest Of the rolling stock put together.
It was a stoutly built box car, painted
a dark brown. and the number On sides
and ends was 1414. The first trip OF
the car was down TO Petersburg, to be
loaded with wheat. There were six
empty cars in all on the train, all wheat
cars, and they were in the middle of a
string of 80 cars. Fifteen miles north
of Petersburg was the crossing of the
NJ. p. road At the crossing all trains
had to slacken speed, and when this
particular train drew near steam was
shut off, and the speed of 20 miles an
hour was reduced to ten. No car had
ever jumped the track at the crossing,
but on this occasion No. 14l4 broke
away from the car ahead and behind,
jumped the tracks and ran a distance
of SO feet over the hard baked earth,
to bring up against a ~switchman's
shanty and demolish it. No other car
left the tracks. The division superin-
tendent and master mechanic swore
that it was utter nonsense to talk of a
single car getting itself out of a train
in that fashion hu+ rhav bad 60 euol
low their words. The only damage to
No. 14l4 was the broken couplings and
when pulled back on the tracks she
was ready to move right off. No rea-
son gould be given why she had cut
loose, and there was considerable go.-
sip over the incident.
The next affair in the history of the
box car occurred about a month later
and gave her a ghostly standing the
whole length of the line. She had been
unloaded at Beamer's Station and left
on the siding to be picked up. 1t hap
pened that she was the only car there,
and when the station agent closed for
the night he saw that her wheels were
securely blocked against the rising
wind. AT midnight, under the driving
influence of a gale, that car climbed
over a tie with all her wheels, ran UP
to the switch, jumped the track at the
frog, and after blowing along for fifty
feet she took the rails of the main
track and went scooting to the east.
She had a clear road to Elmer, 80 miles
away, but she didn't travel the whole
distance. If she had, she would have
smashed into the express. Five miles
from Elmer No. 1414 left the rails at
what was called the big Culvert, took
a header off the stone bridge into the
creek and next day was found a quar-
ter of a mile down stream. Charges
were made against the station agent
for carelessness, but he had had help
to block the wheels. The big cedar tie
was at hand with the marks of the
wheels as they had ground over 1t. 1t
"oD 1oSs " QNC N1lS Val liOh llS luz
to where she had gradually climbed up
On the main track. There had been no
carelessness, but there was mystery.
There was nothing wrong with the
rails where the car had left the main
track, and when the car itself was
found and ~overhauled she hadn't been
damaged to the amount of five cents.
Railroad men like mystery regard
ing car or locomotive, but railroad Off
Gals detest one. When 1414 was
hauled back on the track, the men were
for branding her with the title of
Ghost" but an order went up and
down the line to keeps hands off. Give
a a or an engine q bad name, and
you pave the way to somebody being
killed. While no one dared chalk mark
this car, her eccentricities became
known owe every mile Of the road, and
employees were gossiping as to what
she would do next. The next thing
after jumping the culvert was a trage-
dy. She had been loaded with shelled
corn in bulk ateRomersville for Chica-
go. and before the doors were closed
four hoboes ensconced themselves
among the corn. 1t was "a hours ride
and they had a soft bed OF it. No 14l4
was attached to a freight train about
7 O'Clock in the evening and was the
last car, or next to the caboose. No
one was really afraid Of her, but there