Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-10-18
Forgot the Extra Train.

4 was working what We called the
third trick from midnight to s
o'clock in the morning. Our Office
controlled nearly 500 miles of track
We had three mountain ranges on our
division, and every railroad man
knows WHAT means to dispatcher.
It was necessary to split all our freight
trains into several sections to cross
these mountains, and as we had only
a few telegraph offices, and those we
did have were far apart, we had to do
some pretty close figuring to prevent
delay of trains. This sort of work is
sufficiently trying in a cool climate; in
a land where everyone was constantly
on the verge Of collapse it was rend-
cred doubly hard.
One night in August l went on
duty as usual at midnight and received
the transfer of everything on the d.
vision. We opened a new train sheet
at II o'clock, and, after checking off
with blue pencil all the trains that
had reached their destination, I placed
this new sheet over that used the pre-
yious day. There was an order on the
book to run regular westbound water
train ahead of time for point at
about the middle Of the division. and
at 1 o'clock l started it out. l must
have been half asleep when l gave
that order to the operator, for I neg
lected to do what every dispatcher
does, what l had done always before
issuing running orders-I failed to
look at the old train sheet. Had l
done so I might still be a train dis
patcher instead of general manager.
Now all of you know that train run
ming ahead Of time has the rights of
an extra only. Ten minutes after re-
ceiving the report of the departure of
that water train l glanced at the old
my head with rush, for away up in
one corner of the sheet I saw that an
extra was coming east. | had sense
enough left to call up that station
from which the water train had just
departed, in the hope that it might
have fingered in the yard and might
still be stopped by the switchmen. But
it was too late. What could l 10?
There was not another night Office on
that part of the division andtwo trains
nothing to warn them Of the wreck
that I knew must occur.
Il have heard of mems hair turning
white in single night and I have
read of others being driven mad under
conditions more favorable than those
through which I lived for two hours
that August night"
1t was becoming interesting. Sew
eral outsiders moved their chairs
closer to that of the speaker and the
clerk so far forgot his dignity as to
join the group.
A Dramatic Recital.
For 120 miuntes," continued the ex-
dispatcher, II lived over every small
lest detail of my life I followed those
trains, mentally, over every inch of
the division. l knew just about where
they must come together. 1t would
occur on a sharp curve where neither
would see the other until it would be
impossible to stop. l could see the
agony on the faces Of the engineers
and the fremen as they caught one
fash Of the headlights; and then came
the crash, the escaping steam, the
grinding and creaking of broken tim
bers. But over all 1 heard the cries
and groans of injured men, and every
one of them was a friend of mine.
For two hours I was obliged to con-
tinue sending orders to forty or fifty
trains on other parts OF the road and
all the time I was waiting for the mes