…and Otis the Gnu, too
Ooooh! The 100th post! Yay!
The Doclopedia #100
The Middle Of Nowhere: Dead End Junction
Some will tell you it’s down Arizona way, east of Tombstone. Other’s figure it’s nearer to Death Valley and then there’s people that swear it’s in west Texas or New Mexico. Whatever the case, they all agree it’s somewhere along the Texas & Pacific rail line that runs from Dallas to Los Angeles. After that, all we’ve got is stories.
It’s generally agreed that only every 13th train passing through the town will stop there…except for the folks who say it’s every 9th train. Generally, only one person gets off the train, except when more than one get off. Mostly, the folks who get off never seemed to make much of an impression on their fellow passengers. Almost nobody can tell you exactly what they looked like or anything they might have said. An exception to that would be the time Kansas Jack Ordway jumped clean through an open window before the train even stopped completely. The folks sitting in his car remembered really well that he was screaming “Luke Skinner, I told you I’d kill you!” as he made his exit. Unfortunately, it being dark and all, nobody could see this Luke fellow or much else. That’s another thing…everyone agrees that the trains never stop there during the day and you can barely see the town, kinda like there’s a light fog between you and it.
Now as for people getting on the train, well, everybody who’s seen it happen can remember it clearly. Most well known case was when a young lady and a young fellow got on one night back in 1905. Gave their names as Ellen Andrews and Henry Tallent. Said they were heading for Dallas to get married and start a new life. Kept talking about being given a second chance at life. Folks said they were a real friendly young couple about 20 years old or so. Got off at Dallas and were never seen again, though a check at the Hall of Records does show they got married the next day.
Funny thing is, a search through various newspapers showed that an Ellen Andrews went missing from Amarillo back in 1860 after apparently stabbing her abusive husband to death and a young cowhand named Henry Tallent went on the lam after gunning down another cowpoke back in 1858. Both of those people were 25 years old when last seen. Kind of funny, eh?
Oh, and about the train stopping at that station that maybe only exists sometimes? Seems that no matter what the engineer or anyone else does, that train stops. But then, three minutes later, it starts right back up and heads on down the line. Happens enough that the railroad just tells the crew to relax and not ever get off the train. Not too surprisingly, the crews all follow that rule really well.
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