Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-04-13
History Of Transportation
April ID, 1911.
Name and Address.

(Copyrght, 1911, by Union Pacific Ry. co..
Compiled by Charles ]. Lane and d. c:
Buell. for the Union Pacific School OF
Railroading for Employes)
Continued from Yesterday
THE first passenger coaches carried
twelve PASSENGERS and were built like the
old stage coaches, and were hung on
leather springs The driver sat in the
boot and carried the mail We changed
horses at smiths and at Owego. Some
part of the train jumped off the track,
sometimes from one TO eight times, on
every trip When we met freight trains
we took our coaches off the track with the
aid of horses and passengers, who helped
us to put the coaches back on the track
when the freight cars had gone on their
way. Time was Of no account then to pas
sengers."
Mr.. Merrill relates a thrilling, but not
fatal accident to one of the trains on
the Ithaca & Owego line during this early
period. He says: zone thing ought to be
given to history l remember well a little
red car which the company purchased at
Syracuse. We called It peach. 1t had
a brake Of It's own and held twelve pas
sengers One day the driver let the horse
loose while the car was on the down
grade on the hill overlooking the inclined
plane above Ithaca. lie set the brake and
depended upon 1t, as an experiment He
didn't intend 70 go down the incline, but
expected to stop before he reached it at a
point where the village stage awaited the
car and passengers. The brake failed to
operate; the car ran away with It's twelve
passengers, all but one OF whom managed
to scramble off. The car kept on the rails
down that dreaded incline about three
quarters OF a mile, bounding like rubber
ball to the bottom OF the hill. An Irish
man put It this way: The biggest piece
OF that car when It was picked up where
it struck the level was that passenger,
badly injured but alive. His name was
Babcock and few years ago he came
back TO Ithaca TO look over once again
the place where he took the wild ride
In 1916 / was appointed repairer. MY
main duty was TO follow the locomotive
and spike down 'snake-h heads and put in
new ribbons wherever needed. Snake
heads were the ends Of three-quarter-inch
thick iron strap-Tais; the ribbons were
made OF oak. fastened with wooden plug,
three feet apart, one on tie.
our first locomotive came BY canal
from the north, weighed seven tons and
was drawn 10 the summit OF the nil by
the company's horses. After three tons
had been added to her weight with other
changes, the machine was finally made
serviceable for a time; then It's use was
suspended for a period OF three months
and we returned 10 horsepower. There
was no netting In the smoke stack, and
when we started out. the fire flew up TO
the sky, a sight for the country people.
Their horses quit their grazing as we
passed through forest and field, and ran
like mad animals, with heads up and tails
flying. Cattle, beloved and paved the
earth and took TO their heels as fast as
they could 90 until ge had parted sight
OF one another There were no fences
along the railroad. Horses became accus-
TONED 20 the smoke and fire Of our mon
Steg ARd were soon too. familiar with Va.