198 The King of the Thundering Herd 



special car, which had been attached to the 

 Flyer for this special run, an event in the 

 history of the road, growled his disapproval 

 of the jolt that his car got. 



A few minutes later another locomotive, 

 the exact counterpart of the first, came hiss- 

 ing down the track and backed up to the 

 train. 



These mighty engines and this train of 

 cars were the best that money could buy, 

 and the trip for which they were making 

 up was to mark an epoch in railroading. It 

 was only three years before that the last 

 glittering rail of this great system had been 

 spiked down, and we had been the proud 

 owners of the first trans-continental railroad 

 in the world. America, the home of the 

 locomotive, was well in the lead in con- 

 struction of railroads. An attempt was 

 now to be made to lower the running time 

 from Chicago to Oakland by several hours. 

 Hence this new train, the pride of the road. 



