Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-09-20
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,
BOX CAR NO. l4l4.
BY M. QUAD.
COPYRIGHT. 1900, BY c. b. LEWIS.
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You have read of adventures and
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.
1t was 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 mid
die Of string of 80 cars. Fifteen miles
north of Petersburg was the crossing
Of the III. 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 cross
ing, but on this occasion No. 1414
broke away from the car ahead and be-
hind, jumped the tracks and ran dis
tance of so feet over the hard baked
earth, to bring up against switch
mans shanty and demolish 1t. No 9TH
er car left the tracks, The division SUI
perintendent and master mechanic
swore that it was utter nonsense to
talk Of a single car cutting itself out
of a train in that fashion, but they had
TO swallow their words. The only dam
age to No. 1414 was the broken coup
lings and when pulled back on the
tracks she was ready to move right
off. No reason could be given why she
had cut loose, and there was consider
able gossip over the incident.
The next affair In the history of the
box car occurred about a month later
and gave her 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 q gale, that car climbed
over tie with all her wheels, ran up
to the switch, jumped the track at the
frog, and after plowing along for 80
feet she took the rails Of the main
track and went scooting to the east
She had q clear road to Elmer, 30 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 of 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
was easy to trace the car from the frog
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 cents.
Railroad men like a mystery regard
ing car or locomotive, but railroad off,
cials detest one. When No. 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 keep hands off. Give
a car 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 over every mile of the road, and
employees were gossiping as to what
she would do next. The next thing
after jumping the culvert was trage-
dy. She had been loaded with shelled
corn In bulk at Romersville for Chica-
go, and before the doors were closed
four hoboes enseonced themselves
among the corn. 1t was "a hours ride,
and they had soft bed of ii. No. 1414
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
was a bit of uneasiness as she was
picked up, and special care was taken
to see II her brakes were in good order
and her journal boxes well packed
Away she went with the others. and
nothing happened until the train reach
ed Iron Hill. 1t had to side track
there for passenger train and to pick
up three or four cars. In backing down
the long siding No. 1414 suddenly left
the track, breaking loose from the car
ahead and the caboose behind and rum
ming Off at right angles. Fortunately,
she did not run over the main track,
but took the other direction and
brought up against the coal dump and
reared up on end. She stood up there
like ladder planted against house
and had to be reported as job for the
wrecking crew. Next day, when she
was hauled back on the track and In
spected the dead bodies of the hoboes
were discovered. They had been smoth-
cred under the corn.
The master mechanic set to work to
discover why No. 1414 was a track
jumper. This was her thru jump. and
1t was suspected that something must
be wrong with her wheels She was
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