The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-11-08
Stopping Runaway Locomotive.

On October 25, 1911, writes A. A.
Cheek, in the November Wide World
Magazine, while agent and operator
ID. A. Allen, station agent for the /. NJ
and S. Railway at Amity. Arkansas
was waiting for northbound through
freight train to pass his station just
before closing up the place for the
night, the train-dispatcher at Feriday,
Louisiana, began frantically calling
his station. When Mr.. Allen answer.
ed he was told, for Heavens stake, to
stop in some way a wild" (runaway)
engine coming south. 1t had just a
few minutes before got away from
those in charge of it, and was now
coming south wide open" at a ter
rife rate of speed, with no one Oh
it.
On receiving this alarming informa.
ton Operator Allen immediately
dropped hisrsignal board and at once
ran to the north switch to his side
track and threw it SO as to direct
the runaway into this track, where
stooa a string Of loaded coalcars, If
by chance the wild" engine arrived
first or he was unable to stop it in any
other way. He then induced two men
he happened to find-Messrs. A. j.
Johnson and ALI Widner-to assist
MIN In quickly throwing q hand-car
on the track. While they were doing
this they heard the freight train about
a mile and half off, coming to what
then seemed certain destruction as the
wild" engine could also be heard in
thu distance, with the reports Of the
exhaust so.lclose together that they
made almost one continuous sound ---
conclusive proof that it was still work
ing steam and coming at a high rate
Of speed.
With only the thought Of saving
lives in their minds, and with full
sense of their duty before them,
these three men clambered on the car
and began veritable race against
death to meet the wild" engine and,
if possible, stop it in some way before
1t crashed into the oncoming freight,
the crew Of which were entirely ig-
norant Of the terrible menace so rep
idIv a opnrOoobip,y xl,a,x, Tbo Aood ,,o =,
was run north at the utmost speed
the three men could produce urtil
the runaway engine came in sight
through the darkness. There were
no lights of any kind on it, and in
the hurry of getting away none Of the
men on the hand-car had secured even
a lantern, so that everything had to
be done in the dark. Directly they
sighted tho engine looming vaguely
through the gloom, the hand-car was
quickly thrown from the rails, and
had hardly reached the ground when
the runaway was upon them. Dashing
alongside, Mr.. Allen made a snatch
at what he took, in the darkness, to
be the grab-iron on the back of the
tender. 1t was then discovered, how
ever, that the engine was backing up
running tender first. What Allen
took for n handhold proved to be a
loose hose lying on the woodwork
surrounding Tho nj n1a a
this hose gave way, throwing Mr.. AL
len just outside the rails, the massive
wheels barely missing him as the
tender thundcrcd on. Realizing that
the lives OF those on the freight train,
now drawing near, were at stake, and
regardless Of the risk to himself, AL
len recovered his balance and caught
the pilot as 1t passed him. Running
like a monkey along the footboard of
the swaying engine. he reached the
throttle. shut off steam, reversed tho
engine, and started 1t back north
ahead of the freight train, the engi.
neer OF which had in the meantime
noticed the board and had begun to
slow down. But for the timely stop
ping of the wild" engine, however,
nothing could have prevented dis
astrous collision, which would, no
doubt, have cost the engineer and
fireman of the freight train their lives,
.f not those Of the whole train crew,
In addition to several thousand dollars
worth of property