Page:George Collins - A Strange Railroad Wreck.pdf/43

Rh 471 hauling Forty-nine that night. Leaving "WB" junction on time, he had orders to meet No. 40 at Allenburg passing siding, which was two miles north of Lewistown. The run of eight miles from "WB" junction to Lewistown was made in about twenty minutes, and as he neared the latter place he saw that his train would be right on time, and care had to be taken that they did not pass this siding ahead of their scheduled time. While yet within a mile of the telegraph office, he shut off steam and "drifted" slowly through the town.

"White," called Fireman McDonald, as the semaphore signal came in view, before the engineer had time to whistle.

It was a dark night, and a dense fog had settled in the valley, making signals hard to see and railroading generally very ugly. Slowly the train crept down the track, making very little noise. Being just one minute ahead of time was the cause of this. The north end of the passing siding was a quarter of a mile below the telegraph office, and it was here that freight trains had to wait for their time to leave. As the short train was passing the station, every member of the crew looked through the bay-window of the telegraph office and saw the tired girl as she leaned upon the table.

"I believe for once we've caught our pretty operator