The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-02-15
ONE CAR VANIsHEsY
" LEAVES YES TIL E MIDDLE OF TRAN. .Atip
52ssST e CONDUCTOR 3ls BAFFLEc. i;sg /,

5SArain 5A'''l Conples Again, and Completes
Ats Journey With Out Leaving IT'S
iss A.nas :ssTaaaS:s
Tho Conductor Tells tho story. III r,
The most remarkable Of all railroad
accldents a,en occurred on the Chicago &
Alton railroad near Atlanta. lit ,whaI,
loaued car Jumped out Of freipht
tram ana lodged In ditch and the
traln coupled up and reached its des-
tlnation without tho crew either know.
ing that an accident had occurred on,
missing the car from the train. 81
Charles Bragnell, OF Roodhouse. ILL.,:
the conductor the train, tells the story.
He says: jg. 49,
When I delivered my train I was
toid ! was a cur short. I thought a
mistake must have been mado in
cnecking mefup. I was called up for
IN explanation. Tho clerical records
en- out Of East st. Louis n car Of hard
coal that had never delivered had
lost 1t some place between East st,
Louis and bloomington. couldn't ex.
pain It, We ind made up heavy
train, put two engines in front Of IL
and caboose behind It, and when I
delivered 1t would have sworn that It
stood Just as we had made 1t up, and
That every car left or added along tie
line was accounted for. es4
"The next morning one Of the passen.
ger crews reported a coal car wrecked
III tho ditch near Atlanta. When It
was looked up 1t proved to be the car
had lost. The superintendent asked
me why had not reported the wreck.
1t was news to me and 1t was news to
the whole crew. We knew nothing
about 1t. 1t seemed impossible that It
could have occurred and not have beer
seen, hut 1t did. If Ind read Of such
thing happened upon another road I
would not have believed 1t.
THE car TINT jumped out Of my train
was the eleventh behind the engine. It
was loaded with hard coal and sun.
pose VIC were running something over
twenty miles M hour when tho car
jumped out. Tho train ws coupled I'D
with automatic coNplers, and when the
car left It's place the twelfth car, just
behind 1t, came up and coupled on ct
the renr Of the tenth car"
The Chicago a. Alton experts have
agreed that this remarkable loss Of n
car out of the middle Of n rapidly-run-
ming train Of twenty-one loaded cars
can be explained in but one way. The
flange OF n front truck wheel upon the
ldr wrecked is broken, aiid just below
where the car lodged the ties are
marked ns though by chr or the
track. The cOuplers catch with whot
Is commonly known ms "tha Indian
grip" catching automatically. When
the flange Of the coal car broke, 1t is
reasoned, the car left the track mt that
end and uncoupled itself from tho car
ahead by pulling one Of the couplers,
f1,0 MI 80 AL
AT. the same time the coupler Mt the
other end sank below the plane Of its
mate and uncoupled the car there, md,
by ONE peculiar wrench, the unGon.
pied car was shot out Of the train ,tr,d
fell fifty feet from the track, while the
trainmcn were all unconscious how
near they had been to bad wreck
and death
1t Is related among railrond men that
an occurrence very like that ut Atlanta
happened years ago on the Lehigh Val
ley. where n car left its train and rolled
down long embankment and into a
thick underbrush just leafing III early
summer. The trainmen did not see the
car go and 1t was not known TINT they
had lost 1t until the train was checked
up md n car proven missing. IN lit
tie while the greenlng yegetationl3ei Ell!
tlrely hid it and the disappearance be
the car OF valuable merchandise !, be-
came the chief mystery OF the rond
When t Ies leaves fell In the autJsaiIi ~ Il
chr was found and the frei iglit N iiic.i
filled 1t was recovered with very little
loss. The lost car Of the Lchigf was
not, though, rs remarkably lost as tie
Chicago & Alton car, for the Iehigh
car was the last upon the train md
could easily escape, while the Chicago
& Alton car left the middle Of tho
train. at e.