The National tribune., 1902-08-07
CHASED BY A WILD ENGINE.
A Thrilling Adventure Related By essern
Locomotive Engineer.

A Thrilling Adventure Reiateo DJ a esserH
Locomotive Engineer.
One of our freight engineers was 4
man named George Roby, said an old ell
gineer. relating his early railroad expert
enccs in the West. He came TO or road
from some line in New England and gave
good satisfaction for about three months
Then whisky get the better of him and he
went to the dogs. One day, after his ire
| man had brought the train into Columbus
with Roby drunk and. asleep on the iloOr
| of the cab he got his blue envelope. The
idea somehow lodged in his head that the
officials were down OIL him. and be sworc
he would have revenge for being DIS
charged. One afternoon he turned up
down the road. and WAS nCticcd to ir
drinking heavily and to have the bearing
of a man bent on some desperate deed.
This was at a station IS miles from Co
lumbus and on a gloom: April evening.
| | was due there at T:2S, and it was Il two
minute stop. A mixed freight always
sidc-tlacEed there for us to pass, and then
followed us down the line.
Well. was there on this special even
ing on time, as usual, having baggage. ex-
press and three Coaches. 1t began to
drizzle just before, we reached the station,
and saw that We were in for dark
night and Il slippery track. l did not see
Roby. nor did inyehe tell me that h had
shown up there. ] noticed that that
freight train was Unusually long and that
it was pulled by one Of the biggest en-
gines on the road Three or four people
got off and perhaps as many got on ana we
were off on the SECOND. 1t was a run Of
seven miles to, the next stop, and my
schedule was 81 mIles an hour. We had
not yet come TO a standstill at the next
stop when the telegraph operator. whose
| face was as white as snow. ran alongside
| and. called to me: y.
| There's wild engine behind yolI-for
| heay'-
He ran back to the conductor, and in
| 10 seconds that official rushed up and
shouted to me:
Its runaway engine-pull out at
oncer' He yelled "Al aboard" sprang
| for the steps Of a car. and away we went.
some of the people getting off or on being
Hung down as they iostled each other.
After we left the station where the freight
was side-tracked brakeman ran down
| the track to open the switch. As he did
so Roby mounted the engine, with cooked
revolver in hand, and drove the engineer
and fireman off. He had previously un-
coupled her from the train without being
| detected. He ran the engine out on the
main line and a half mile beyond. Then
| he filed up the fire-box. saw that she had
plenty of water pulled the throttle wide
| open, and jumped off. That was how we
came to have runaway engine behind
us. AS soon as the engineer was driven
| from the cab he ran into the station and
| informed the operator, and about the time
| the runaway started we got the news.
We We're about six miles ahead Of her.
| That meant about six minutes.
When L pulled out l supposed the pro
gram was for some of the station folks
to run down and open the switch so that
the runaway would be ditched, but it ap-
peared that the agent was so dreadfu!ly
ratified that he did not attempt this step
until too late. The switch was 40 rods
from the station; and just as the en-
pioyee reached it the runaway came roar
| ing past. My next was 10 miles distant.
/ reasoned it out in about q minute that
| il the runaway was ditched the fact
would be telegraphed ahead. If she
wasn't. that fact would also be clicked
over the wires, and / would get some sign
or signal as we passed. If she was fol-
lowing us there would be no time to
switch in, and my hair stood up Mt the
idea of trying to outrun her. / made the
10 miles in 12H minutes. A mile away
l began footing the whistle, and as We
neared the station, still flying, l leaned
| out to look for the agent. He was on
the platform. If he held up his hand l
was to stop. But he did not. On the con-
trary, he waved his arm down the line for
me to keep on, and l knew that we were
in for it.. The runaway could not be over
three minutes behind, and there would
not be time to turn her in on the siding
here.
The next stop was II miles away, and
it was good piece of track. Little by
little | gave her more steam, and after
the first mile | knew that we were reel
ing off a mile every minute. There was
train enough to hold us steady and the
roar it would have been easy to imagine
we were flying, The agent ahead would
let us know BY signal, as the other had
done. He was on: the platform, with n
great crowd behind him, and he mOtioned
me on. The runaway was still after us.
She must have gained some, but how
much | could not say. 1t was eight miles
and n half to the next station, and could
not do better than ~ or 4S miles an hour
on an up grade. 1.-The runaway must
catch us In the next six or seven miles.
| We had gone about, FIVE miles when l got
the signal on the bell-rope to stop, and as
soon as l hadi slowed down little Il
brakeman came over the tender with in
structiOns to stop af the station
The conductor. knowing that we could
not outrun the wild engine, and that there
was no show to ditch her, could think of
but one plan to save the train He called
the passengers from the rear coach and
cast it off. This was on the 11-mile run.
and the coach had about two minutes to
| lcse its momentum before the RUNAWAY
struck it. The pilot ran under the plat
form, the end of the coach was lifted mn.
and, next moment, engine and car were
in the ditch. Neither one of them was
ever repaired, the wreck being too COM
plete, nor did the officers of the law ever
| succeed in laying hands on Rohr