The Colfax chronicle., 1900-08-18
WITHOUT THE ENGINE.
How an Express Train sGtartled the
Station Agent on = Aassoafls&
Railroad. . s~-t

less carriages, did you ever hear Of
the engineless train that came In over
the Santa Fe one night?"
The speaker, says the Kansas City
Star, was one of a. group of railroad
men exchanging "reminiscences in q
little circular flag shap.y out near the
suburban yard limits Gf a big Kansas
City railroad. The shanty was seven
feet in diameter and the mems knees
were very close to a little round rusty
stove that showed faint dash or red
in places. "A bunch of nickel-plated
lanterns shone mistily throughs the
smoke from several pipes--audy - the
smell Of seorched soveralls mingled
with the reek Of the tobacco The
subject of the conversation was
''freak" railroad wrecks. Some of tho
young members of the party looked
suspiciously at the veteran switch
man who had introduced the subject,
but were treasured by the expressive
mods of the old fiagman, who played
the part of host. He was willing to
be interested in the story again for
the benefit of the young fellows.
= 1T was in 1882 or 3, / don't know
which," said the veteran, "when the
land on the south side of the tracks
at Argentine was one vast swamp. Be
tween the swamp and the main line
there were half dozen sidetracks.
The ground has all been filled in since
and forms one of the biggest railway
yards in the west. The Argentine sta
tion then consisted Of one small build
ing and a great long platform. A
shrill whistle and cloud of dust were
all II got from through. passenger
trains in theiway Of recognition. - >
'Small wonder the agent was start
led, then, one nights when the south
ern Kansas express clattered Into the
station, and, with usual wheeling of
the air brakes, came to-a sudden. stop.
Yes, sir! Stopped with the forward
end of the blind baggage at the far
end of the platform, just as exact as
Bill Clayton himself, who never va.
ried an inch, would have stopped her.
But the surprising thing about itswas
that neither Bill nor his engine was
attached to the train, and at the
blind end Of the baggage car there
was complete blank The conduc-
tor, who had run forward to learn the
cause of the sudden and unexpected
stop, looked at the agent in amaze.
ment. An examination showed that
the couplings and air brake connec-
tions were torn out bodily.
'Ah,' said the conductor, with q
satisfied grunt, the engines broke
loose and shot ahead, but
"A1look Of perplexity came over his
face again, and peering anxiously into
the darkness ahead, he muttered: It's
time Bill found out he had no train
behind him and was making his way
back tttsfst
"The agent was q blamed sight more
puzzled than the conductor. He had
looked out of the window one minute
and seen the headlight flashing in his
eyes, and the next minute the train
had pulled up without anything in
the way of motive power fore or aft"
the switchman had been sailor in
his time-"and Ed, that was the agent,
was ready to swear by the Ten Com
mardments that no engine had passed
that station since the last train went
by. The forward end of the blind
baggage was badly splintered and
lot of coal from the tender was
spilled on the platform, but where
was the engine? Had it taken wings
and flown skyward or had the big
mass of iron and steel been dissolved
into air? rvsf fn q
"While they stood looking at one
another like a lot of mummies along
came Bill from the back end of the
train, dripping with mud and slime.
Several of the passengers had got out
and came trooping after him, all of
them with looks lof wonder on their
faces. / had followed the conductor
as soon as the train came to a stop.
was only a passenger brakeman
then, with long road between me
and the command of a switching
crew. s3 81
"'where's your engine, BinT says
the conductor.
"Up to her belly in the swamp back
there, outside the right of way.
"'Where's the fireman.
"'Sputterin' blue streak of cuss
words because he lit head first in
two feet of green water, when he
ought to be thanking his lucky stars
he wasn't killed. oufriChfs
"You see, it was this way" ex-
planned the narrator. ''Thc tracks in
them days ran on both sides of the
depot. Passenger trains ran on the
south side of the building. Eastlbound
trains were switched from the main
hne to the south track at a point
100 yards west of the end Of the de-