The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1920-01-01

experiment trains-the Interstate
Commerce Commission hopes finally
to conquer the hill with airbrakes
alone-and they try it out every day
with these experiment trains. Two of
the steadiest engineers on the road
handle them-Ed. Gilbaugh in the
morning, and Prentis Shores at night.
But this was mid-afternoon train.
1t stopped at Wilson's Store at the
point where the descent begins. A big
lettered sign faces US, GAIL freight
trains and light engines stop and ex-
anime brakes before descending the
grade"
AS l clambered aboard, the chill
riders" were crossing the tops of the
coal cars with the peculiar bent kneed
shuttle of the brakeman. Three
"hill-riders" were setting the hand
brakes on those seventy cars-two
men each had % brakes to set and the
third had "a. They were clubbing them
down, sticking their stout clubs in the
brake wheels and Juggling with all
their weight and power, for the brakes
had to be tight.
We started gently. almost imper-
ceptibly. 1t was scarcely start. The
engineer touched the throttle, the big
Mallett gave gentle SILVER and stop
ped. Another gentle SILVER and a stop
| leaned out between the cab and the
tender and back along the train the
fat coal cars were humping and sway
ing as though they had gotten a terri
BILE jerk They have to start long trains
that way, by succession of shivers.
A sudden start would brea the COUP
lings at the rear end.
Engineer Nurses Airbrake.
But now we are rolling along. Just
ahead the track wound downward,
curving out of sight around nose of
the mountain, and down at my feet
the green-clad hillside fell away to
the river bed.
We were on our way riding an ava
lanche.
The engineers hand was off the
throttle now. 1t was on the airbrake
caressing it tenderly, making it sob
and sigh. Beneath US and behind US
the wheels crunched and screeched on
and against the rails. Over the sway
ing coal heaps the "hill-rider" was
again vending his weary way to tight
en- some brakes that were too loose
and loosen others that were too tight
Suddenly we stopped. "Air hose
burst" said the engineer shortly.
They fixed it in five minutes and
again we started with the succession
of shivers, and there came the chill
riders" again, clubbing them down."
One of them came all the way up to
the cab, lurched over the coal like
man dead tired. He was a lean young
ster, with a skin like brown leather.
He wanted a drink of water-you'd
have thought to look at him that he
was all in. But he got his drink and
sprang back over the coal tender like
an acrobat. He wasn't as tired as
he looked.
Runaway Switches Automatic.
We're comm to the first runaway
switch now" shouted the fireman.
About 300 yards down the track
switch ran off from the main track up
the hill. We've got to take 60 seconds
or more to make that switch, from
back there" he said with a jerk of his
thumb. eff we make it in less than
that we'll automatically go up the
switch"
"And what them" l roared in his
ear.
Were out of luck" grinned the
fireman.
| had heard about the runaway
switches. They halt runaways. If the
train is going so fast that it gets to
the switch before 60 seconds are up,
track mechanism automatically
throws it from the main track to the
switch and the train runs uphill un-
til it stops itself 1t has saved the
lives of many crew and preserved
many car. but it was the bane of the
wreck trains existence, for when a
train got up the switch it was usu-
ally up to the wreck crew to get it
down again. All of Tom Stanley's men
in Keyser remember the cold Christ
mas eve few years ago when train
of GO loads" came plunging down
the grade-running away and hit
the switch at such speed that the en-
tire train cleared the main track and
the engine stopped way up in the
woods.
They were 25 days clearing up that
mess and in those rs days there were
33 more wrecks on the Seventeen Mile
Grade.