Held for Orders: Being Stories of Railroad Life

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Spearman Frank Hamilton. Held for Orders: Being Stories of Railroad Life

The Switchman's Story. SHOCKLEY

The Wiper's Story. HOW McGRATH GOT AN ENGINE

The Roadmaster's Story. THE SPIDER WATER

The Striker's Story. McTERZA

The Despatcher's Story. THE LAST ORDER

The Nightman's Story. BULLHEAD

The Master Mechanic's Story. DELAROO

The Operator's Story. DE MOLAY FOUR

The Trainmaster's Story. OF THE OLD GUARD

The Yellow Mail Story. JIMMIE THE WIND

Отрывок из книги

This came about through there being whiskers on the rails. It may not be generally understood that whiskers grow on steel rails; curious as it seems, they do. Moreover, on steel rails they are dangerous, and, at times, exceedingly dangerous.

Do not infer that all steel rails grow whiskers; nor is it, as one might suppose, only the old rails that sport them. The youngest rail on the curve may boast as stout a beard as the oldest rail on the tangent, and one just as gray. They flourish, too, in spite of orders; for while whiskers are permitted on engineers and tolerated on conductors, they are never encouraged on rails. Nature, however, provides the whiskers, regardless of discipline, and, what is more, shaves them herself.

.....

At the second bend below the Goose, Aloysius made a stop, and began again to breathe. A box was blazing on the tender truck, and, with his handy fireman, he got down at once to doctor it. The whole thing shifted so mortally quick from danger to safety that the two never stopped to inventory their fears; they seemed to have vanished with the frost that lured them to destruction. They jumped together into the cab; and whistling at the laborers strung back along the right of way Extra 240 West began backing pluckily up hill to Soda Springs. The first man who approached the cab as they slowed down for the platform – in fact, people rather stood back for him – was Bucks, Superintendent of the Division; his car had come in attached to Number Sixteen.

"How did your train get away from you?" he asked of Aloysius; there was neither speculation nor sympathy in his manner and his words were bitten with frost.

.....