The conductor waved his hand. A moment later, as Ralph eased the heavy quartette of cars into motion, he saw two brakemen climb aboard—one at the head and one at the tail of the four. He knew that, properly governed by the hand brakes, those two brakemen could place the gondolas just right on number four siding.
It was a short piece of track. It opened at the lower end right out onto the eastbound main track. The switcher dragged the heavy cars up and out into the clear and then “kicked” them off onto the short siding.
The coupling pin was tripped and the switcher came to a stop. Ralph leaned far out to watch the rolling stock slow down.
“Looks to me as though that far brakie is taking his time winding up,” the fireman shouted.
“Who is that fellow? Hi! Make the switch on the fly, Jimmy, and we’ll run down——”
“Here comes Twenty-eight, sir!” said Jimmy quickly. “If that fellow hasn’t stopped her in the clear——”
They just then got the high sign from down the yard. The long freight then due was steaming in. Ralph had a feeling that all was not right with those heavy gondolas. They had been stopped, and of course were braked. Yet the fellow on the tail-end seemed to have been very slow about the work. He was the only person who knew whether or not the four cars of pigiron were too near the main track.
The switcher had to answer the far signal. Ralph ran her ahead and then backed onto the cross-over and so upon the long siding where he was to pick up the next batch of cars. The whistle of Twenty-eight’s locomotive suddenly emitted a signal.
“Something’s the matter, boss!” yelled Jimmy, swinging himself up to the deck again.
And on the heels of what he said, and before the switcher carried them within sight of the tail-end of the four gondolas, there sounded a ripping crash that awoke the echoes over half of Rockton! On the instant the head-end of Twenty-eight, save her locomotive, was scattered over both main tracks. The yard was blocked!