The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25
WERE YOU EVER ON
A RUNAWAY TRAIN?
If Not, Read This and See How
You Think You Would
Like It.

utdlL, lOOklnS the grim monster IN the
eye at such close range that rather
than hold the gaze one will take as an
only chance something that seems to
put the end of things for this world
only q little farther away, is not an easy
thing to describe.
A good many persons have wonder
ed how it feels to go out into space
from the cab of a locomotive going at
rate anywhere from forty to fifty
miles up because of conviction that
the chances of life are greater by TAX
ing such a leap than by remaining on
the seat of the cab and taking chances
with the machine. To make such a leap
into level or grass grown right of
way is something that would make an
ordinary man hesitate somewhat but
great many have made it and made 1t
successfully To make such q leap out
of a runaway engine that is descend
ing stretch of track such as the Mid
land has down Ute pass, however, TAX
ing chances on landing against a gran
tie boulder or the side of a. ne<ntain,
against a rock-ribbed tunnel or over
the side, of a precipice over which no
one could go and live, it is even a little
more strenuous, but this is the feat
that Engineer Frank Watts and Fire.
man James Brandebery performed, at 5
O'Clock last Monday morning, and both
men are still alive to tell the tale.
The fact that the air brakes would
not stop the train dawned upon Engi-
neer Watts soon after crossing the
safety switch below Cascade. AS is
well known to persons familiar with the
operations if this road, every train that
comes down Ute pass, regardless of
now late 1T may be, stops at Cascade
Ior inspection. The running gear of the
train is inspected, the brakes are ex-
ahmed and tested, and four different
men have to sign a book that saws the
train is In shape to make the descent
or the pass safely before the engineer
is allowed to pull the throttle to start
his machine on its downward journey.
AS further safeguard against run
always the company has a safety switch
putt on the side of the mountain about
half mile below Cascade, and before
any train can have the main line to
make the descent the engineer must
whistle fer the track, when Uncle
Jimmy Taggart, one of the best known
characters of the mountain around this
vicinity, turns the switch and opens the
main line. If the engineer fails to
whistle for this switch his train runs
up the side of the mountain and "see-
saws back and forth on the switch
and the main track until it comes to a
stop In the bottom of the Sag"
Freight No. AZ last Monday evening
$4,000 tAtoPSObiOA at frSd0Cdlle anu Sc
cured the main track at the safety
switch: 1T was not long thereafter,
however, that Engineer Watts, in re-
charging his air brakes, made the hair
raising discovery that his train was
beyond his control. His brakes were
not of sufficient power to Withstand the
powerful weight of his sixteen cars of
gold ore and lead and silver bullion,
ana there was no reasonable eXpecta-
ton that the train would remain on the
tracks through the first tunnel of the
eight that lay between him and level
track. If it should by any. miracle pass.
the first tunnel, the next curve-and
there We're curves everywhere down
that stretch of track-would probably
preclpltate the train over the side Of
the embankment ito destruction.
? Fireman Brandebery, as he tells the
: story now, says: The train was in
: spected at Cascade by the regular in
spectors and everything appeared to
be in perfect trim. The last safety
switch Was passed with the train under
perfect CONTROL, stealing slowly and
safely down the mountain side. 1t ran
as usual until we had covered about
three-fourths of a mile, when the en-
glneer thought he'd better recharge his
air brakes. There is a certain amount
OF lPSs of air in running the train. and
1t is necessary from time to time to re-
charge the brakes.
If this is not done, the brakes will
lose their grip on the wheels. This re-
charging process requires nearly three
minutes, and, with the terrible weight
OF the train We were bringing down
this time, gave us a terrific impetus.
When the brakes had been recharged
the engineer applied them, but there
seemed to be little effect. He applied
them again and again, but it was Of
no perceptible effect whatever. You
may imagine that we were feeling
mighty uncomfortable just then, and
we had to decide pretty quick what we
were going to do. We simply sized up
the situation as best we might and de-
clded that we had a chance only by
jumping from the cab, and a small
chance at that, and that the rest OF the
boys on the train had only the same
chance that We had. When we made up
our minds to make the leap, we had
stayed with her for three-quarters of a
mile and knew that she was wild and
that every second lessened our chances.
Watts made the leap ahead of me.
When We jumped we were on straight
stretch of track, and he was fortunate
enough to strike the ground on a gravel
slide. He went at least TWENTY-FIVE
feet fiat on his stomach, and 1 thought
still less of my own chances when he
hdu mace the leap. l think it was
about twenty seconds later that fol-
lowed him. hit bank of disintegrat-
ed granite, on the upper side of the
track. rolled over and over for about
thirty feet, and how my head kept in
connection with my body is something
L Will never know. l realized that I
was rolling farther down the embank-
ment all the time, and that if 1 didn't
stop l was going under the wheels of
the train sure. I grasped and reached
for something to stop me, but caught
nothing. When I realized that 1 had
stopped sliding and rolling my head
was swimming and everything was
black as night before me.
Il couldn't tell until after the whole
train had passed whether 1 had been
ground up beneath it or not, but I
knew that l was not dead. In q few
seconds, although they seemed hours,
realized that the train had gone. and
sat up. There was Watts about sixty
feet behind me, also sitting up and
looking at me. / don't think 1 cried,
but it was not because didn't want
to. In moment we remembered that
the engine that had helped us down
from Leadyille was following and we
tagged it. From that point down to
Manitou we made slow run, expect
ing to find the train piled up in some
of the canons along the way and to