1) Locomotives of that day were often lit by oil / kerosene lamps which gave off a poorer light than the electric lamp. 2) You could very easily be suprised at how quiet a steam engine running (coasting) down-grade can be, almost a whisper. My mother tells stories of how, as children, they would swim the New Rail Dam in Glendale near Moosic. They would often sit on the wall embankment formed by the tracks of the Wilkes-Barre & Eastern railroad to dry off after their dip. Often the only warning of a train coming was the vibration carried by the rail. 3) At night, or in the daytime, when in a busy and noisy industrial environment such as the Valley was in those days, even a working train might not have been heard above the other noise, or the noise of another train which had just passed on a different track. -----Original Message----- To: PALACKAW-L@rootsweb.com <PALACKAW-L@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [PA-LAC] The Providence Register, Sat., June 13, 1914 >Anne, I guess a lot of people walked the railroad tracks as a short cut. >They were well maintained so in bad weather it might seem logical. Why she >didn't hear the train is a mystery, tho. I really know nothing else about >her, it's just interesting to learn. Mary >