Year: 1876

not great. It is only thirty-seven miles

 "The old man. as the boys call him that is, Division Superintendent God dington-had ordered freight train t move up to the latter station, with fou locomotives to draw it. Nate Webb the champion snow bucker of the Sierras had just came up from Truckee, witt No. 8 snow blow to clear the track o the anow that had so long obstructe, the trans-continenta route, but had ar rived only when the work was done, all, had been ordered up to Toano on thi train to see what was the matter witt the blows that had proved themselves s, efficient on this division. A reporter O the San Francisco Chronicle was also passenger in the caboose attached t, the train, and gives the following ac count of an interview with Webb:

 Six miles out from Wells the conduc tor pointed out the drift and cut il which No. 2 passenger train stuck fol twenty-four hours a couple of week. ago. Nate looked at it 0 moment criti cally, and then with 8 disdainful expres sion remarked ....... -.

 "Do you fellows call that drift UT this way9 Why, men, that wouldn'i stop a handcart in the Sierras. Ou boys would laugh at such pile of snow as that. When we have nothing be. yond six or eight feet of snow down ir the mountains, we think nothing of it. That is drift2 Why can show you fifteen feet of snow on level now down our way" .....

 "Wnat do you call a good fall oi snow there ?" asked the reporter.

 "Well," replied Nate, CT suppose there is now fifteen feet of snow from Truckee over Emigrant gap. But then we don't have to buck against that snow, though we did when the road was first built, and before we had any snow sheds. But now the worst places are covered with sheds. But we wouldn't think of building shed where there was no worse trouble that you show here. Why, good eight wheel engine ought to buck through any drifts you have got here, and not make any fuss about it. p

 !" How deep have you seen the snow in the Sierras s' asked the reporter.

 "Forty feet," said Nate, gravely and when the reporter expressed incre ,lity, he added: I can show you twenty feet there now, and nobody pertends that we have got any snow so far this winter. The time hasn't come for that yet. :"

 The reporter mildly suggested that, in his opinion, twenty feet was very re- spectable depth of snow, though he ad- mitted that his experience had not been very great. .-. .....r. ,r,

 Nate looked at him with compassion ate expression, and, after moments re- fection, proceeded to relate some of his experiences. "I remember" he said, " in 1869 there came on heavy storm. It didn't blow any, but the snow just came down everlastingly. Is was not 8 dry snow either, nor yet wet, but just damp enough to be sticky. I was sent out with blow and seven engines to open the track. We got along pretty well until we reached the Blue canyon. Here the road skirts around the sides ot the mountains. On one side you look straight up, and on the other side straigh down. The track just forms 8 sort of a step in the rock. But when we got along there there was no track or step to be seen. reckon the snow was forty feet deep on the track. That is, ii was piled up on line with the face of the mountain, growing thinner toward the top. Well, I told the boys to go fo1 it, and they put on all steam and let her have it. But you had ought to have seen that snow fly You couldn't see no blow, nor engines, nor anything else for that matter but just snow. The ai1 was filled with snow, the whole canyon was filed with it. But the mass was too much for our power. The train gradually slackened, and when we had got about three hundred feet stopped altogether. I was just going to back out to get head way for another buck, when the snow on the face of the mountain along which we had passed began to slide. It came down on us before we could reverse the engines, and before we knew it the plow and the seven engines were buried out of sight. I had about one hundred Chinamen following us up with shovels to clear up the track behind us. These I ordered up as quick as possible, and set them at work digging the engines out. AS fast as we got one out l sent il back to stand on trestle that was about half 8 mile behind us, because was afraid to leave them where they would be exposed to another slide. We got the engines all out after while, though it was tough job, I tell you, and the engineers and firemen were nearly smothered. Just before we got the last engine out heard a prolonged whistle down the track. My first impression was that the trestle had given way under the weight on it, and started back to see what was the matter. wore snow shoes, and travelled on the outer bank for fear might be caught in slide. The whistle kept blowing long, continuous, muff1ed kind of sound that puzzled me good deal. .... .t

 When I got about half way back to the trestle it seemed to me that the sound didn't come from there. Then ] began to try to locate it, and was more puzzled than ever. couldn't make out whether the whistle was down in the bottom of the canyon, or where it was All of sudden I located the sound right beside me, and on the track Then knew what the matter was. One of the engines had got caught in slide and was buried right there in spot where the road made 8 cut through 6 little spur of the mountain. brought up gang of men as quick as could and went to work digging the engine out. There was more than twenty feet of snow on top of her, and before we got down to her the engineer and fire man were senseless. They were lying flat on their faces, and all the air they had to breathe was that in the cab and under the trucks. The snow in falling had pressed down the lever that worked the whistle and set that blowing, and by that accident called attention and help. If it hadn't been for that these boys would have smothered sure.

 Reporter-Then nobody was hurt se riouslys

 Nate-No; we got the men out, tool them into 8 caboose and gave them { little refreshment, and in couple ot hours started on again. Some folks would have given that up as bad joh but none of the boys there ever thought of giving up. We stuck to it all tha day and all night, and the next morning got up to Cisco all right.