The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1902-04-19
DANGERS or RAIlROAOING.
Thrilling Experience Of a Missouri
River Valley Engineer.

and says it is predicated upon truth;
During my long experience as an
engineer l have been on the road
many dark and stormy nights, but
the night Of May 2, 1881, l shall
always remember as the worst that /
have ever seen. My run took me
for a distance of twenty-five miles
through a deep but narrow valley. A
river runs serpent. like through this
valley, finally emptying into the Mis-
souri,. 1t is a treacherous stream,
rising very rapidly after a heavy rain,
and, like the Missouri, changes its
channel frequently, and in those days
it was not an uncommon occurrence
for it to wash the roadbed out at
certain points. On the night of the
incident l am about to relate we
entered the valley about three O'Clock
in the morning. 1t had been raining
very hard all night, and now seemed
like a veritable cloudburst; the rain
beat against the cab windows so hard
l feared they would be beaten in
The headlight gave no light as is the
case in stormy weather. l could see
no distance ahead, not wen the front
end Of the engine The road crosses
the river several times in the run
through the valley, and as we crossed
the first bridge ] could hear the water
roar savagely, and knew that 1t must
be nearly up to tile track. The storm
was still raging; / had never seen it
rain harder. The second bridge was
eight miles distant from the first; it
was the longest and highest n Of
them all. | do not believe that / I'M
a coward, but / certainly was afraid
that night. l thought of the large
number of passengers on the train, and
something seemed to say: "Stop.
Stopl Stop!" Could | have used my
own Judgment, / would have gone on a
sidetrack and remained there until
the storm was over, or until daylight,
but engineers are not always per-
mitted to use discretion in such
matters; people travelling are anxious
to reach their destination and the
trains must run if possible, regardless
of the storms.
How frequent are the accidents of
late; we read of them nearly every
day. This does not surprise me. The
wonder is that they do not happen
still more frequently. Running a
fast rain in the night is like taking a
leap in the dark. A headlight is Of
about as much use to the engineer in
the dark as a lantern would be to a
blind man. How many chances are
taken, none but the men on the
engine know. The officials know that
both the danger and the expense Of
3 running very fast trains are great,
: and they do not like to run them,
blt in these days of competition they
/ are obliged to do so. But l am
. drifting from my story. We kept
moving onward. / looked at my
watch; it was twelve minutes since
; we crossed the first bridge; we must
be nearing the second. | put my
head out Of the cab window and tried
to peer into the darkness, but all was
black. i had about made up my mind
, to stop and take a lantern and walk
ahead to the bridge before advancing
! further with the train, when suddenly
} a vivid flash of lightning, accompanied
J by a terrific crash of thunder, lit up
! the track for a long distance, and
! there, about eight hundred feet ahead,
! l saw what seemed to be a stack Of
. hay in the center Of the track. /
[ thought / knew what it meant.
{ shut off the steam, applied the ali
I brake and reversed the engine. eve
I did not have the driver brake In those
days. The engine groaned and
J trembled as the wheels spun around
J in the backward motion, and my
7 heart beat quick as l thought how
} much depended on making a quick
! stop. We soon came to a standstill
/ and as we did SO ] picked up a lantern
! and, pushing open the cab window.
{ went out on the running board anC
{ down to the pilot; then holding the
( lantern close to the track | saw thai
: we were at the river. The bridge
was gone, and the front pair Of The
engine trucks wheels was within ter
inches of the end Of the rails, and
q