The Wrong Train Order (1915)

• 65%
• 1915
• Thriller
• J. Gunnis Davis
• Helen Gibson
• Robyn Adair
• Clarence Burton

Word that his son Jerry has been injured so upsets Torney that he delivers the wrong train orders to the engineer of the freight. Helen, having missed the Limited, accepts the invitation issued by the conductor of the freight and climbs aboard the caboose. Airbrake trouble develops while the train is speeding westward. In their effort to get at the seat of the trouble, both engineer and fireman are hurled to the ground. In the meantime, Torney has discovered his error. 'Phoning ahead, he frantically orders the operator at the Arling station to flag the freight. The runaway dashes past Arling, however, and Helen, seeing the operator vainly signaling, senses something amiss. Unable to operate the brake, the girl climbs to the roof of the train and fights her way forward atop the lurching cars. The Melius drawbridge is raised as the runaway approaches, but the tender, taking in the situation, lowers the structure barely in time to save the freight from plunging into the stream. Crossing the bridge, the runaway bears down upon a freight standing on the track ahead. As Helen climbs out on the pilot, a trackwalker throws open a siding switch, and thus averts a wreck. By this time, Helen has reached the emergency. Applying the air, the girl brings the runaway to a halt.