I Heard That Lonesome Whistle

      It was a warm October night when I heard that whistle blow. I had my window open to enjoy the cool night air, and I was sleeping soundly when I was awoken by the sound of a passing train. I normally sleep soundly through such noise because having  lived near the railroad nearly my entire life, I am used to it. But on this dark, moonless night something had shaken me from my usual sound slumber. My father and I share the love of the railroads and we go down to the depot quite often to watch the freight trains pass by. On one of these occasions my dad told me a story that his father had told him when he was a child. It was the story of an engineer named 'Big ' John Johnson. At the time that Big John worked on the Santa Fe, Streator (my hometown) was the end of the SantaFe Railroad. In fact in the early 1900's Streator played host to seven railroads which hauled a lot of coal from the twelve working coal mines and glass from its three glass factories. Because of its importance to the SantaFe, Streator had a roundhouse and turntable, which turned the steam locomotives for the return trip to Chicago. It also featured a repair shop and service facilities for both cars and locomotives.  Big John was well known in Streator for his engineering prowess as he had risen through the ranks of the railroad men, starting out as a fireman (shoveling coal) to a yard hostler( driving a switch engine) to eventually becoming a freight and passenger engineer. At that time as an engineer accrued senority, he got to choose and run his own engine. Those engines were driven and taken care of by one engineer/ fireman combination.One way that the engineersseperated themselves from each other was by the sounds of their whistles. Each one had a distinct sound, so everyone knew when a particular engineer was in town.Big John got his knickname because he volunteered to run the newest and biggest engine on the line, a 4-8-4. It was also the fastest engine of the time, and Big John was always on time. Just outside of town the track cruved to the East and then was straight as an arrow for over 60 miles, the longest straight stretch on the railroad at then time
     On one moonless, foggy night, the road foreman asked Big John if he would take the extra up to Chicago. The extra was composed of perishable freight which came into Streator on other railroads then taken on the SantaFe up to Chicago. Big John was not scheduled to work until the following night, but he agreed and his engine was readied for the trip. As was his custom, Big John gave three long blasts on his whistle as he started . He told the foreman that he would see him the next day as he climbed up the ladder into the cab. It was 2:30 am on the morning of October 20th, Big John's birthday. He was looking forward to spending the day in Chicago after the trip. After checking his gauges and reading his train orders, he blew his whistle and started off to Chicago. All of the trains on the line between Streator and Chicago had been ordered into sidings to clear the way for Big John and the extra. After taking on water and coal in Streator, the extra didn't need to stop during its trip. As the whistle faded into the night, the extra picked up speed and disappeared into the fog. Around 3 am, the sound of three long blasts of a whistle echoed through the depot. The dispatcher ran out of the depot to see what was wrong. Why was Big John back already? He waited and waited but no train came.Perplexed he returned to his desk just as the telegraph began to tick. Listening closely he deciphered the bad news. The extra had met an untimely end. On a lonely stretch of the line, a freight had stopped on a siding, but the fog was so thick the engineer couldn't see that the caboose and three cars were stillcars were still out on the main track.Thinking the line was clear Big John had his engine going full speed . When the red lanterns on the back of the caboose appeared in the fog, it was too late. The extra hit the stopped freight and derailedthe engine flipped onto its side and skidded down the track. Then it dug into the roadbed and broke the rails.As the following 15 cars, carried by momentum crushed the tender into the cab, one of the broken rails pierced the boiler filling the wreckage with live steam. As the crew of the stopped train approached the wreckage, the whistle began to blow.Three long shrill blasts, then silence. All that could be heard then was the fading roar of escaping steam as the boiler eventually emptied. It was 3am. The following morning they found the bodies of Big John and his fireman in the crushed cab. They had been killed instantly in the wreck. Big John was found with one hand scalded to the throttle and the other to the whistle cord. And so the legend of Big John was born. The dispatcher quit the following year after hearing three long blasts of a very unique whistle at 3am on a crystal clear October night. October20 to be exact. The SantaFe continued to expand westward and eventually Streator became just another stop along the main line of a very large railroad. It now sees around 30 freight trains a day come through town.I live three blocks from the Main Street crossing, so I hear them all, along with the sound of the wheels booming across the diamond where the 2 railroads left in Streator cross. All of the trains blow their whistles for the crossing 3 shorts, 2 longs, and 3 shorts as they pass. But they all sound the same anymore. Except one. The one that woke me up tonight. At 3 am.Three shrill blast of a steam whistle. If you hear it you will know the difference. It is after all, October 20th.  Wish Big John a happy birthday.