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again involved in a desperate situation . . Luckily ballast to the point of derailment. To his amaze-
he fell into Crumpley's outstretched arms, and ment, the dim rays of his lantern outlined a wrench
they both staggered to the ties in one of the few and spike puller where the big SP-3 had first hit
amusing incidents associated with this terrible the ties. The proof was now positive . . . here lay
disaster. the tools used to . turn the Limited into the em-
Fowler surveyed the accident scene. In the bankment at the side of the mainline. The alarm
dim glow of the coach lights he could see that the was broadcast, and a rather bizarre case of simple
baggage car, smoker and one coach were in the train derailment projected the sleepy little town
ditch; the first two over on their sides. The rest of of Saugus into prominence as the locale of a pre-
the stricken train remained upright by some miracu- meditated train wrecking. Further examination of
lous stroke of luck, even though the locomotive had the track structure indicated to Conductor French
destroyed nearly 160 feet of track. The men hurried that the bolts had been removed from the angle
to the crushed cab with rescue in mind, but the bars that secured the end of the rails together.
searing clouds of superheated steam made rescue The bond wires that actuated the block signals had
problematical. The piercing screams of the tor- been undisturbed, which proved that the train
tured engineer drove them to overcome their dis- wrecker knew exactly what he was doing. If he
couragmen t, and after the heat of the roaring steam had broken the bond wires, the block signals would
eased a bit, two waiters from No. 59's dining car have automatically displayed a red aspect, thereby
used their flashlights to locate Engineer Ball. Fow- prompting Engineer Ball to stop the Limited before
ler and several men who were on the immediate it hit the altered rails.
scene then plucked the courageous engineer from Subsequent investigation showed that the
the jaws of a horribly painful death. As they track had been tampered with prior to the passage
emerged from the crumbled vapor-filled cab with of the Owl, a Los Angeles-San Francisco overnight
the scalded engineer, they were met by Dr. F. H. all Pullman train which preceeded the West Coast
Campbell of Williams, California who was a Limited by about 15 minutes. This fact was borne
passenger on the West Coast Limited. out by sectionmen who testified that removal of
The doctor helped remove Ball from the the spikes would take considerably more time than
wreckage, and then proceeded to administer first existed between the schedule time of the two
aid to his extensive burns. A local Southern Pacific passenger trains. It is rather hard to realize, but
Company surgeon was summoned from Newhall, No. 25 had evidently negotiated the loosened rails
California and the engine crew was removed to a with its 15 car train of Pullmans, without anyone
hospital at Newhall for emergency treatment. Bob knowing how close to disaster they had actually
was to spend two weeks in the hospital, recuper- been. The Owl was powered by a 4300 series 4-8-2
ating at home during the following three weeks. Mountain Class locomotive, which was not quite
Thorough examination disclosed that Fowler was so rigid or heavy as the big 5000 engine. This fact
suffering from a badly burned leg and several alone saved No. 25 from being wrecked, and from
dislocated vertebrae. The plucky fireman credited suffering a fate which could quite possibly have
the suction at the fire-door of the wide open throt- been worse than that besetting the West Coast
tled 4-10-2 with drawing most of the deadly hot Limited.
steam from his side of the locomotive. Engineer Almost before the smoke and dust had cleared,
Ball was not so fortunate. Because the seriousness Southern Pacific officials at Los Angeles had word
of his burns required that he again be moved; he of the wreck. Deputy Sheriff Pember reported
was transferred to the White Memorial Hospital that he was an eye-witness to the disastrous ac-
in Los Angeles where he was placed under intensive cident. The deputy was on a motorcycle on the
care. Richard Ball started a pain-wracked re- highway near Saugus, and he was watching the
covery that cost him ten months of confinement train when it suddenly swerved into the embank-
while undergoing treatment for his critically burned ment. He obtained aid, and was one of the persons
body. It is the author's considered opinion that who reached the locomotive in time to assist in
if the throttle rigging on 5042 had not been torn the removal of the engineer. Jose Pablo, an em-
wide open, Ball would have been cooked from his ployee from a nearby ranch, was asleep in the bunk
frame before the pressure of the boiler was reduced house at this time, and he was awakened by the
by the relatively small opening formed by the rending crash of the derailment. His frantic calls
boiler blow-off valve. over the telephone brought deputies speeding from
Prior to the arrival of any law enforcement the Sheriff's Substation at Newhall.
officers, Conductor 0. C. French checked his pas- The frightened passengers spilled from the
sengers for injuries, and having found none of cars and were shivering in the gloomy darkness
them hurt, hurried back along the crushed rock alongside the wrecked train. After the initial shock

39 THREE BARRELS OF STEAM