Read Online The Trainmasters by Jesse Taylor Croft - Free Book Online Page B

Pennsylvania. The engineering of the brakes was troublesome.
     The brakes on each train car were operated by members of the train crew. When it was time for the train to come to a stop,
     the engineer would make a signal, and the crew would man the large brake wheels at the end of the car and apply the brakes.
     Because this took quite some time to accomplish, the current system was responsible for more than a few bad wrecks. John knew
     that, ideally, the entire train should be under the control of the engineer in the locomotive cab; he should be able to brake
     the train with no assistance from his crew. He had an idea or two about how to accomplish this. And he hoped he could put
     his ideas to the service of the Pennsylvania.
    At that moment, John’s meditation was shattered by loud, excited screams and the sound of feet pounding on the gravel and
     ties near the place where he had stationed himself. The noise turned out to be coming from Alex and David. “Father! Father!
     Father! Come look! Quick!” they yelled with one voice.
    “David. Alex,” he said. “Calm down and tell me quietly what you have to say.”
    “No! No! Look!”
    The two boys were pointing up at the sky in the direction of the park. Floating there was an enormous air balloon. The colorfully
     painted American eagles and the red, white, and blue banners lifted serenely into the air and then dropped as silently as
     a handkerchief falling out of its owner’s hand. There were three or four people occupying the basket that hung below the sphere
     of the balloon.
    John Carlysle grew excited at the sight. Even more wondrous than the railroad was the ability to sail through the sky.
    “See, Father?” Alex implored.
    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” John asked.
    “Do you see the people in it?” Alex asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Can we fly in it like them?” David beseeched his father.
    “Fly?” John asked, wanting to give his assent. “How is that possible?”
    “It’s the Frenchman, sir,” said another, older voice. It belonged to the watchman Delancey, who had discreetly followed the
     boys at a distant and had now reached the place where the Carlysles were standing.
    “Hello, Mr. Delancey, I didn’t see you,” John said. “These are my sons,” he added so as to explain the boys’ presence.
    “Pleased,” Delancey said in greeting.
    “And so you know about that balloon up there?” John asked, pointing. “You heard us talking about it?”
    “Yes, sir. I did hear you; and I do know what it’s doing there. Like I was saying, it’s that Frenchman. His name is Goddard.
     And he takes people up in it for rides.”
    “Can we go?” the boys both shouted.
    John thought about that for half a second. “Let’s go have a look,” he said. “I’d like to fly in that balloon.”
    As soon as the words were spoken, the two boys were dashing in the direction of Callowhill Street and the park.
    “Thanks for your information, Mr. Delancey,” John said as he was leaving the yard.
    “Glad to help,” Delancey said.
    John Carlysle changed his thoughts to the present. The excited cries of his boys had continued through his reverie.
    “And
I
can see
Ireland,
” David was saying, pointing off into the distance. He was actually staring west, toward the hills of eastern Pennsylvania.
    “Well
I
can see the dome of St. Paul’s,” Alex said, not to be outdone.
    “And then I can see the Tower!” David said.
    John looked at the neat grid of streets that made up the city of Philadelphia. Most of the buildings were three or four stories
     high. But every few blocks or so there were the taller punctuations of churches, with the exclamation marks of their spires.
    “We must now descend,” Goddard said, staring pointedly at the large, gold watch he had removed from his pocket.
    “So soon?” John asked. He was enjoying himself immensely and did not want to stop.
    “I’m afraid it is time.” As he said this, he signaled to a colleague on the ground