Henry H. Kurtz

The Runaway Train is a well-researched historical fiction novel chronicling James J. Andrews’s background as a spy and contraband agent. He conspired with union General Ormsby McKnight Mitchel to steal the confederate engine, “General’ in Kennesaw, Georgia. This courageous plot failed to dismantle the telegraph system, the vital transportation link, the Western & Atlantic railroad and prevented General Mitchel’s troops from taking Chattanooga and Eastern Tennessee. William A. Fuller, the conductor of the “general,” initiated with two of his fellow railroad associates, a two- and one-half-mile foot chase, utilizing a flat car and three locomotives during the 87-mile pursuit at speeds up to 65 miles per hour around treacherous amid rugged terrain. The twenty participating Andrews Raiders were soon imprisoned in deplorable conditions; some were hanged while others managed to escape to union lines.