Quoting from a letter received from Elmer Bair:
“The year the company purchased the electric snowplow Bus Long was the motorman and he was afraid to come off the hill with the big plow so it was left standing on the side track until mid-winter and the road was snowed in. The company asked Pop Sampson to open the road. He took the car crew and 12 other men with shovels to go get it out. I was one of the 12. When we got there and shoveled out the plow and side track, Pop asked me if I would run the fan on the plow. Everyone was tense and excited. The motorman most of all. The plow had never been tried out and no one knew whether the brakes would hold or not; and the road between the quarry and the town was known to be the ‘steepest, slickest, smoothest railroad in the world.’ Captain Bill Hafner showed me an article in a magazine called Rock of Ages, published somewhere in the east, making that assertion.
“We got along pretty well until we got on top of the hill at the rotary station, the motors were warmed up, the brakes were hot, and everything in excellent shape if we had only kept coming down. But the hill looked pretty steep and the motorman welcomed a chance to relax; so we all went into the station, ate our lunch, and rested about an hour. The plow was chained to the rail and the brakes were set, so we were sure everything was alright. We stayed just long enough for those hot brakes and wheels to form ice and freeze hard. I started the fan and Long unchained the plow and started releasing the air a little at a time until the air was all gone or released, and there we stood on the brow of that steep hill. The grade immediately ahead was 17 per cent.
“Bus next applied one notch of electricity, or juice, as we called it. It just stood there and hummed. Then he gave it two notches, and it still hummed. He then applied three notches and it broke loose—all at once! And we were over the hill at a fast speed. Being excited the motorman applied all the brakes we had, and set all the wheels. We were in a dangerous runaway; the outfit completely out of control.
“There was only one door and that was on the uphill side. Pop gave orders to jump to save our lives, and he led the way. As one would get ready to jump—a tree, or a trolley pole, or a ledge would show up right in the face of the one trying to find a space wide enough to make a safe landing. The snow was deep and jumping at that rate of speed made some comical sights; some landing on others and rolling down the hill together. I, having a greater sense of humor than good common sense, was having the laugh of my life until only two of us remained.
