Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-09-05

which makes the ChicagO-St. Paul run
in ten hours, carries no passengers.
To ride on it is a privilege acquired
by few. Yet journey on This train,
which carries none but government
mail clerks and it's crew, is an expert
ence. especially if the journey be made
on the "fireman's side of the huge
locomotive which pulls it. 1t is
revelation of what fast passenger SER
vice means and a liberal education in
appreciation of the cool nerve and alb
solute competency of the men who run
fast trains.
The fast mail over the Chicago, Mil
waukee and St. Paul railway leaves
Chicago every night of the year with
from twenty to fifty tons OF mail
aboard and reaches st. Paul every
morning with it's burden of letters and
packages in time for transfer to other
trains to the Pacific coast to connect
with the mail boats, north into the do
minion, east and west into adjoining
states and radiating over a dozen lines
of railway into every nook and Granny
of the northwest.
Ten-hOur service means speed. On
a glorious night not long ago the fast
mail pulled out of Milwaukee on time,
swinging along at an easy gait through
the maze of green white and red
switchlights until the last tall soma
phore arm signaled all clear then
Engineer Sullivan's long right arm
shot forward through the dark sudden
ly, the hoarse syncopation OF the ex-
haust changed suddenly to long wall
ing roar, and the tremendous locomo-
tive seemed to timber up in every joint
as she swung forward into the night.
Mile posts began to fade in regular
succession and telegraph poles flew
by so fast it was hardly possible to
count. The track ahead took on an
uncanny grayish haze, but the speed
constantly increased. The big loco
motive slowed down for nothing. She
took sharp curves like a race horse
and lunged into the long tangents like
a singed cat. Engineer Sullivan
didn't talk much He was pretty busy
watching the track. When he did
talk it was to the point.
"Forty-five miles out of Milwaukee
including the trip through the yards
and suburbs, where we had to slow
down, in forty-six minutes he said.
He dropped to the ground and oiled
up almost on the run. Two minutes
elapsed, the big machine was ready to
go again, but the conductor appeared
out of the gloom and remarked that a
journal on mail car had run hot.
Hot journls are not serious in them
selves, but six minutes clipped from
the schedule of train which must run
while in motion at a rate OF slightly
more than 55 miles an hour for 4OS
miles. is a very important matter.
Engineer Sullivan swore softly and
drowned his wrath in copious applica-
tons of more oil to the big engines
stufing boxes. Then he mounted
the towering cab again and the race
was on for the second time.
Woodland grinned.
We'll run like a pup with tin can
tied to his tail now," he confided.
We did Mile posts and telegraph
poles became one long procession,
with scarcely preceptible distances be-
tween them. The air rushed through
the open cab windows like cyclone,
and the mail cars, trailing along be-
hind, rocked and swung on their
springs like so many drunken men.
The pace was tremendous.
Ones sensations were much like
those when the horses enter the last
eighth on a fast track and 10000 PEG
pie in the grand stand begin to cheer.
The speed gradually increased from 81
to So, then to 81, sc, II, "A and 76
miles On hour; then, on the crest OF
hill" the summit of an up and down
grade, it suddenly jumped to "a and
then to 92 miles an hour-a mile and
half minute, and one felt an insane
desire to yank the throttle away out
and see if it were not possible to make
three miles a minute.
At Rio the pace suddenly fell off.
Engineer Sullivan looked at his watch.
ION time" he said briefly. The
fast mail covered the remaining few
miles at a handy clip, stopped for a
minute at crossing and swung into
Watertown, 93.1 miles from MilWau-
kee, on time to a second.
Ninety-three miles in trifie more
than 100 minutes actual running time!
Keeling off the miles at speed OF
practically a mile minute, Engineer
Sullivan passed the yard limits at
Sparta on time, only to find the sig
which had the right of way because
it was a sOuthbound train, losing time
and late. The heavy mail train pulled
into clear on a siding and twelve
minutes lapsed before the bright, white
headlight of the southbound passenger
showed around a curve.