The Train to Chicago

“I am so ready to be home,” daydreamed Henry, as he thought ahead to Chicago. He could almost smell the big lunch Sally would have ready for him. With the kids in school at midday, she’d be ready for him, too. He ached to reach her, to be home. But first, there was coal to shovel. And the train’s firebox to fill. The train stood in the station and waited. A bad omen.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad—the B&O—was the oldest and biggest passenger railroad in the country, known for its passenger lines linking east-coast interests to Midwest cities. This train was an express that connected D.C. to Chicago.

To keep their trains on time and running smoothly, the rail companies held stationmasters accountable for all issues in the depots. Once a train left the depot, the conductor was in charge of the train, making sure only paying customers were on board, that all baggage was safe, and that the train stayed on schedule. Conductors sent their orders to the engineer with a series of flags, giving instructions on when to leave the station, train speed, and cautions if problems arose. Today, the stationmaster had not yet signaled the train to leave the station. The U.S. Mail cart with its bags was late. The conductor, Teddy, waited. The engineer, Sam, waited. And Henry, the coal stoker, waited, as he’d already pre-filled the hot engine firebox.

As Sam and Henry stood waiting in the cab, Henry knew that speed was Sam’s job to manage. But the fuel to push the big train’s speed was solely in Henry’s big stoker hands. Henry was ready, but Sam looked edgy. Just a lowly stoker but an observant one, Henry knew edgy was a two-edged sword. Sam had been cautioned for excessive speed twice last month. He had had to make up time, given mail loading delays, but that was not mentioned in the official cautions. That damn mail cart was delaying things again.

Looking back at the station, Henry could see the mail cart in the distance, just coming on to the platform. Teddy, the conductor, was on the ball, and the mailbags were loaded quickly. That all important schedule might be kept yet. The train was ready and awaited the station master’s signal to pull out. When it came, Teddy gave the signal for Sam to set the throttle and pull out of the station. Sam bellowed orders into Henry’s ear. “Keep it stoked full, Henry. We’ve got some time to make up.” Sam knew Henry would follow his directions.

The heat of the engine block rose. Leaning out and looking up the track, Sam pushed the throttle forward. They would make up for that late start and bring the big express to Chicago on schedule.

The engine pulling the train that day was B&O’s fastest in the Q-3 class—Sam’s favorite. The passenger and baggage loads were relatively light. The track was clear, and the weather was good. As the train pulled out, Sam said, “This’ll be a ride to remember!” And both Sam and Henry held on to this thought, but for very different reasons.

Henry had worked behind Sam on many runs to Chicago. Now, Henry sensed that something was up. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was different. By now, with the train on open track, Sam would usually sit down and throttle back a little, settling in for the last few hours of this leg of the journey to Chicago. But Henry felt something else was driving Sam today. Sam was tense. He continued to stand, leaning into the wind as he looked down the track. Henry watched as Sam grimaced. Too much speed too early in the run. It’d be a busy day keeping the engine fed if this speed was maintained. A very busy day.

Henry never thought about the cars behind him, carrying passengers with their baggage. That was not his domain. Somebody else would need to worry about that. Maybe Sam? Maybe not. Sam rarely even looked at any who boarded the train. Concern for the cargo—the passengers and their baggage—that was the business of the B&O Railroad. And they put docile, dependable conductors on their trains to keep passengers happy and calm. Officially, the conductor was in charge of the entire train. But, unofficially, Sam, as the engineer, knew he was in control.

Teddy, the conductor for this run, was a lazy, jolly old fellow who was nearing retirement. The sooner he got to Chicago the better. He’d go home, take off his silly uniform and boots and put his feet up. Read the paper. But first, he’d trundle down the coach aisle and punch all those tickets, hoping there’d be no need to argue or roust anyone out. His thoughts were optimistic about making up for the delayed start, especially after Sam held his speed through the first big bend in the track. The train swayed a little, but most passengers nodded their approval. Speed was good. That’s what they’d paid for. Speed.

Sam looked ahead, both down the track and in his mind. He could feel the rush of higher speeds and began to imagine the crowds that would praise him for breaking the speed record on the run to Chicago. Speed cautions would be blown away! The glory of it all was right there. He opened the throttle further.

Henry was busy shoveling more coal and shoveling it faster than usual. That was the engineer’s call. Henry was not about to complain. Still, it was odd. The water tank in the tender that powered the steam driven engine was full, meaning things were fine. The engineer knew his business. But after that first hour of speed, Henry began to have concerns. More than halfway out, Sam still was frozen in place, head hanging out the window, staring down the track.

Henry was a natural observer of human nature, and something was not quite right. Sam was still standing, focused ahead. The throttle was still wide open. There was something forced, a tension in Sam that was unusual. Still, it’d be nice to be home on time. Hot shower would feel good after all this shoveling.

After another half-hour at full-throttle, Henry began to look more closely at Sam. He hadn’t moved once since leaving the station. He still stood, his white-knuckled left hand on the wide-open throttle. He hadn’t looked around. He wouldn’t notice if the conductor might signal to pull back to normal cruising speed.

In the first passenger coach, the young bride smiled up at her beau, who also was suitably named Beau. The wedding had been lovely. Her mother had promised that the apartment her parents had rented for them would be ready for their arrival at their new home. Beau would start work the next day—a good, safe office job in Daddy’s firm. Her perfect life lay just ahead, around that next beautiful bend. Which was being taken a little faster than usual.

Teddy signaled ahead. The train was back on schedule. No need to rush things now. Sam should throttle back some on this next curve.

“Load her up, Henry! I can hold her! Going for the record today. Yep, today’s the day!”

There it was. Henry knew something was up but hadn’t pictured it in his mind. Yet, there it was. A record. And a risk he’d worried about on earlier runs. Sam was good. But he was also a prideful man, a man hungry for glory. And that’s what Henry had seen in Sam’s stiff back and his focus on the track. A prideful man. A dangerous man. Still, Henry was in charge of only one thing, and he continued to shovel the coal that stoked the firebox in front of him.

The train was coming up on the final leg of the journey now. He knew Sam would have to slow in the next few miles.

But Sam could feel it now. He was mesmerized by his power at the helm of this mighty engine. The glory would be his when he broke the record. He could see the crowds that would line up. He could hear the applause, the shouts. The admiration as the stationmaster beamed at him from the station office above the tracks. Then that stationmaster would blush, ashamed of the earlier caution reports meted out against this marvelous engineer. Yes, Sam’s the man! His imagination of the shouts was so real that they reverberated through his entire body! He would not let his adoring fans down. “Keep her stoked, Henry!” Sam shouted. Henry worried.

When the speed held through the next turn, Teddy grabbed the seatback as he reeled to the left. “The engineer sure likes his speed today!” he quipped to the young bride nearby. Teddy went to the window and put out the caution flag, meaning speed was excessive. Henry saw it, but Sam didn’t glance back even once. He was hell-bent now on one thing, his own personal glory.

Sam again ordered Henry to shovel more coal. Henry complied, but he slowed his pace. If he slowed enough, the boiler might cool just a bit. That was his only thought now. He could do just this one thing to slow the train. But it wasn’t much, and he knew it. His skin crawled. He could foresee disaster looming. He saw Teddy signal again, probably thinking Sam had just missed the earlier flag. But Sam was not looking back; he did not look anywhere but at the track ahead. Eyes glazed, white-knuckled hand on the throttle, his determined focus was on glory. His glory. Nothing else mattered.

The passengers were getting concerned. One businessman signaled the conductor. As Teddy approached, the man raised his voice, “See here, this speed is no longer safe. I want to get to Chicago as soon as possible, but not if it means having all the luggage stowed above landing on us paying passengers.” Teddy agreed. The passengers were always right. “I’ll signal the engineer to share your concern. He’s a good man. He’ll do right by you all!” Although Teddy signaled again, he was less confident that Sam would slow down.

Henry was in a state now. He tried to get Sam to look at him. They were on the final stretch toward the station now. The engine was so hot—too hot! Sam had to slow down. A track-side signal indicated the train should be slowing on final approach. Sam ignored it, keeping up his speed.

Things were past the danger point now. Henry grabbed for Sam’s left hand on the throttle, but Sam’s right cross caught Henry flush on the jaw. Staggered, Henry stepped back. Looking ahead, he saw a chance—maybe his best chance—was to save himself. As bad as it sounded, he thought he might jump. Without more coal, the train would eventually slow. He’d lose his job. He’d have to walk into town now as an unemployed bum. But he’d be alive to hug his wife and kids one more day.

Henry jumped and rolled roughly down a gentle embankment as the train sped by.

Sam hadn’t noticed. He was in his glory! No one to stop him now. The station was in sight. Even without more coal, he had enough to get the glory awaiting him in the station. No need to slow down now. He could see the glory, feel the praise that would come his way.

Teddy could see it now, too. He knew he couldn’t stop the madness. He did the only thing he knew he could do. Staggering down the aisle on unsteady feet, he cautioned, “Not to worry, but brace yourselves. Brace as we come into the station. Brace for impact.”

About the author

name: Suzanne Hequet

Suzanne Hequet is a church historian and Reformation scholar, faculty emerita as of 2020 at Concordia University Saint Paul, Minnesota. She earned her PhD from Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2005. She is the author of The 1541 Colloquy at Regensburg: In Pursuit of Church Unity, 2009.