Ghost Engine

By "The Cowboy" Jim Gray

In the early morning hours of Aug. 3, 1882, the mail trail steamed along the rails of the Central Branch Railroad near the Great Spirit Spring west of Glen Elder, Kan.

As it rounded the bend, engineer Brit Craft was surprised by flames rising from the bridge just ahead. It was a small bridge spanning an insignificant wash. If he put steam to his engine the momentum would likely carry the engine and a car or two over the divide, but two passenger cars at the rear would surely plunge into the creek bed.

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