Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland. Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland. Struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, showing rare courage in the face of disaster, in the air, on horseback, or in a screaming squad car. Ranger Bill, his mind alert, a ready smile, unswerving, loyal to his mission. And all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Let's hold up a minute pal. Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, girl. Whoa, Storm. Easy boy. What's up? What's rare? You see something Bill? Yeah, I did. You see that fire lane over there? Yeah, the one with all that shrubbery in it? Right, Henry. Now fire that lane would be no help at all. Fire would just burn right through it. Yeah, that sure wouldn't be much help. I'll get a crew out here first thing in the morning to clean it out. Hey, Bill. Yes pal? Aren't we somewhere near the old railway route? What was your first clue Henry, those tracks over there? Oh, I didn't even see them, really. I guess that answers my question though. The old bridge is about a half mile from here. That seems funny. Stuck out here in the middle of the mountains. How'd they ever build it? Well, as I understand it Henry, they built the railroad tracks as far as they could over and through these mountains. And when they just couldn't find a way across the shady river, they put up that bridge. I guess the materials for it were brought into this area on the tracks that had already been built. Say, have we got time to go over and see it, do you think? Oh sure, I'm in no real rush. Just so we're back by lunch time. Ha ha, now have you ever had trouble getting me anywhere for lunch? Can't say as I have Henry, or for any meal for that matter. Come on, let's go. Alright, get in boy, get in. I'm surprised that the railroad company didn't break up that old bridge when they changed the route. Oh no need to pal, the bridge was still plenty strong and no one ever used it anyhow. I was just thinking that it might be a dangerous place to fool around on, you know, for kids. Yeah, probably true, Henry. There aren't too many children who get this far into the forest. And there aren't any who get this far without some adult accompanying them, and not even you. Ha ha ha, I never thought of that. Hey, there it is. Oh boy, closed arm. Boy, what a sight. Those two slopes stretching up on both sides and the shady river way down below. Yeah, it's one of the seven wonders of this area pal. Ah, it sure is. Must be a terrific view from out in the middle of it. Why don't you walk out there and see, huh? You're kidding. Must be a thousand feet straight down from there. Besides, I got that sore ankle from yesterday when I twisted it. I'm sorry to hear your ankle is still sore, Henry. But it's not quite that far. It is a long drop though. It really does look like there'd be a view from out there. I don't know if it'd hold me though. I had realized that you'd put on so much weight, Henry. Huh? That bridge was built for trains, pal. And even the smallest of them pretty well outweighs you. I guess I forgot. Well, it just looks so, you know... Yeah, I know, shaky. Yeah. Well, you don't have to go out there if you don't want to. That wasn't a dare or anything, you know. I'd really like to if you think it'd hold me. Okay, I'll wait here with the horses. Maybe I'll get some ideas for a few pictures to take later on. Oh, boy, an eagle. I sure hope his ankle gets better soon. Boy, the view sure must have been a thrill to the passengers on the old line. I'm sure it was, pal. Boy, oh boy. You should see this, Bell. It's kind of like I was hovering in the air between these two mountains with that big, shady river down below. It looks like there's a big tree that's fallen into some of the beams down there. I guess it's okay, though. The bridge isn't shaky. You'll have to bring your camera back here sometime soon, Henry. Probably aren't too many who've ever taken a scene like that one. Maybe we can... Henry, the bridge! Run! Run! It's falling, Bell! Bell, no! Henry? Henry! Henry! Well, what do you say? Simple as pie. Neither we sit here until the main line is repaired, nor we take the old route through the mountains. The old route? I didn't know it was still there. Oh, yeah, yeah. They've been saving it for a time like now. What's wrong up ahead? Landslide. These mountains are hard to predict. Well, what do you think we ought to do? Wait, or take the old route? I don't know. I got fifty cars full of stuff that ought to get through. Besides, a train our size can do a lot of tying up things. Yeah, but that old route, I mean, is pretty messy. Well, it winds a lot. That's why they put in the new line. But they seem to think it's in pretty good shape otherwise. How do they know? The yard man I was just talking to says they inspect it regularly to make sure it qualifies as an alternate route. Hey, uh, isn't that the line with the bridge between two mountains? Oh, yeah, yeah. I forgot about that. Well, they say that they inspect it. I guess it must be all right. That old bridge never did seem too steady. Remember how it swings as you go over it? Yeah, that's just the way it was built. Well, what do you say? Shall we take it? I guess so. I don't like the idea of sitting around here for who knows when, but, but what? Well, I just hope that line isn't as good a shape as they say it is. Especially that old bridge. So there they are. The old train just can't go any faster. And all the passengers are getting pretty upset as to how slow it's moving. Oh, I get picture, old timer. Well, finally one lady calls the conductor over and says to him, can't you go any faster than this? Well, what did he say? He says to her, sure I can, lady, but I have to stay on the train. Don't you get it? You see, he said he could go faster, but he had to stay on the train. I understand, Bill. Well, I must say you show a great deal of self-control. Catch that, will you, Gray Wolf? I get it. Ranger station, Gray Wolf speaking. Gray Wolf, listen, listen fast. Oh, yes, Bill, go ahead. You know the old railroad bridge out here near tower eight? Oh, I know. It's collapsed with Henry on it. Oh, no. What do we do? You and Stumpy get out here as soon as you can with ropes and climbing equipment and the first aid disaster kit. Any sign of Henry? No. It looked as though he fell into the shady river. But with all that wreckage of the bridge and the shrubbery along the banks, I can't tell a thing, Gray Wolf. I can't tell a thing. We hurry, Bill. Good. I'm at tower eight now. But I'll meet you at the bridge site as soon as you can make it. Right, Bill. I just think of one good thing. Huh? What's that? A good thing track not used anymore. Finding Henry be hard enough without having to look through train wreck. Sure is slow going along this track. Yeah. I'd forgotten just how slow. Yeah, you can understand why they put in the new line. Now, there's one thing the new line hasn't got. Yeah? What's that? Just look around. Look at all this scenery. And that new route just sort of skips over the top of everything. This one drops you right in the middle. Yeah? Nice, all right. At least we can pick up a little speed, though. Yeah, me too. About ten more miles an hour would be about enough to really drop us into the middle. Yeah, boy, it's the tightest current I've ever seen. Anyone ever drop off these tracks? Not that I know of. There's always stories, you know. But whether anyone ever did or not, I don't know. Well, as far as we have to go this slow, it's nice to have all these beautiful sights to look at. Yeah. And we get to that old bridge. There's a sight that'll knock your eyes out. You're going across, I mean. It's just a narrow bridge anyway. Yeah, I know. And once you're on it, you can't see it at all. You just see the old shady river stretching out and winding away on either side, way down below you. And the mountains all around. Ah! Well, if it's so great, why don't we just stop on the bridge and enjoy the view for a while? Yeah, very funny. The only thing that kind of limits your appreciation of the whole scene is the way the bridge sways and sounds while you're on it. I know. If it weren't for that little straight stretch just ahead of it, it'd be worse. We'd have to creep over. I think that's probably why the bridge holds up. Trains used to hit it at a pretty fair clip. They were over it before it had a chance to break up. I hope that isn't true. Why is that? I'm afraid we won't be able to take much advantage of the straight spot. We're pulling 50 cars. Most of them will still be winding when we start going straight. That's true, all right. I guess this isn't the day to play crack the whip. It sure is. What's the matter? I was just thinking about that old bridge. It hasn't been used for a long time. It never did look as though it would hold anything. That bridge never did look like it would hold anything. Henry said something about a tree that had fallen into some of the beams, but he didn't seem to think that it had hurt it any. I'm not telling you a bad experience, Bill. You try to take it easy. Easy? It won't be easy until we find Henry. You're right. The way I figure it, we can ride a good part of the way down, and then we'll have to go on foot. Come on, Storm. Come on, King. Come on, girl. I hope Henry's all right, somehow. He's a good swimmer. If he hit water right, we know he'll handle himself. I couldn't see him the whole way down, because I was too far back from the edge. It all happened so quickly. I ran over and looked down as fast as I could. It was just all that wreckage, and no sign of Henry at all. If he's all right, we find him. But it's been so long already. A couple of hours at least. No telling what condition he's in. Try to keep hold of yourself, Bill. Yes, honey. Ain't doing Henry any good. You're getting all upset. We're all worried, but God ain't dead, you know. You're right, old timer. Maybe we begin to practice what we preach about trust. You just begin to think you've learned what it means to trust God, and you find out that you don't know the first thing about it. That's the way it has to be, sonny. What do you mean, Stumpy? Well, figure it this way. How do you ever really learn to trust God? All by doing it, I guess. Yeah, that's right. So, when you're doing it, you've learned. And when you're not, you haven't. It's not just a lesson to remember. It's a lesson to do, all the time. Thanks, Stumpy. Things look as black as they do now. It takes a strong Christian to think as straight as you're doing. Ain't growth of trees and shrubs getting too thick to go much farther on horses. Yeah, so it is. Best we go from here on foot. Whoa, boy. Whoa, girl. Now, where do you figure we are from the river? Oh, hard to tell. Can't hear a sound of water yet. Look over there. There's a piece of the bridge. We can't be too far from the wreckage. Come on, let's get moving. Ah, I think we're done climbing at last. Here on, it's downhill all the way. You think it'll straighten out any? Nope. This line was built, they didn't try much in the way of blasting and building their own track beds. They just followed the contour of the mountains and scraped the path. This railway doesn't predate dynamite, does it? Oh, no, no. They had dynamite in those days. Been around a long time. I thought so. Yeah, but haven't it, knowing exactly what to do with it, are two different things. I think they probably did use some of it, but nothing like on the new line. Hang on, this looks like a sharp one. Another sharp one, you should say. They were right back at the junction about it being in good repair. Yeah, except for covering the rust over the tracks. They've held up fine. It only takes one day of no use to get that rust covering. I know. Well, we should be that old bridge in about 15 minutes, if I remember rightly. How do you know that? See that bluff over there? That one, the one that looks like a mast of a ship. Oh, yeah. I remember that that's about 15 minutes from the bridge. Boy, some memory, huh? It hasn't been that long since we rode this line. I guess not, but it just seems long. I can't help thinking that that bridge is too old to hold us. Now stop worrying, Tim. That old bridge has seen plenty of trains this size. Not for a few years it hasn't. Probably missed it. It'll be so glad to see some action, it'll sway with happiness. I hope that's all it's waiting for. This is a nice day and all that, but I'd rather do my diving off aboard. It looked like a clearing out again. Said we'd leave horses up there. No time to find a clearer way through this brush. I'm glad it's thinning out, though. We should be able to make better time. There's a couple more pieces of the bridge. Must be getting closer. Must have been some crash to bounce pieces so far. Sure was. I only hope that Henry wasn't bounced along with it. Well, we'll soon know, sonny. Look, you can make out the river through those trees. There are big pieces of bridge scattered all over. Hey, what's that? What's what? I think I hear a sound. Sound like a train whistle. That's impossible, Grey Wolf. That line isn't used anymore. Hey, maybe it was Henry calling. We'll listen closely to be sure. I don't hear a thing except water and those birds. Hey! Yeah, I do hear something. And it does sound like a train. What do you think, Bill? Sounded like a train whistle all right to me. Could it be just the sound traveling this far from the other route? Too far away. It's on the Bromicket this far. I think there are train on tracks up there. I agree with you, Grey Wolf. And if it's on those tracks, that means it has to use the bridge. Stumpy, where you go? You keep looking for Henry. Somebody's got to get back up there and stop that train before it drops down here and completely messes itself and everything else up. Hey, lay off that whistle, Tim. No need for it this far away from civilization. I was just trying to spare up a few animals. And look, it worked. What a terrific sight. Look at those deer run. Almost as fast as a train. Hey, hey, look out. That deer is running right in front of us. What? I thought that deer had had it. Me too. Jumped all the way just in time. Maybe we'd better slow down a little, huh? I don't know. I thought I'd make a little time here while I could, but if we run into any more tight spots like that deer, maybe we'd better just creep along. I don't see any more animals around. We can be sure I won't toot the whistle to scare them off. I hope not. It seems so close to running that deer down that it... Hey, what's the matter? What's the matter? Look, look, coming down the tracks at us. Now, what kind of animal is that? That's a big one, all right. Hey, no, that's a horse and rider. I wonder what anybody is doing all the way out here. Well, he's coming this way. It's about as fast as we're going toward him. Yeah. Look, he's waving at us. Wave back. Here he comes. Hello! There he goes. He looks like a pretty old fella, maybe in Prospect or something. I don't know. He looked kind of like he was wearing a uniform. Think he wanted us for anything? I doubt it. How could he? Very few people know we're using this route. He's probably just friendly. Eh, I guess so. Probably using the tracks as a trail rather than fighting all the underbrush. Yeah, yeah. Sure was moving in a hurry, though. I think I'm going to look back and see if I can see him. I doubt that. The rate he was going, he's probably near the end of the train by now. And, eh, he... Mike! Mike! And what? He's turned around. He's chasing us. Well, some game. No horse can match this pace for long. And no old man can match that pace for long either. You think we ought to stop? No, I don't think so. This far away from anyone or anything, you never know what somebody might try. Maybe he thinks he's Jesse James or something. Oh, oh, no! What? He started losing ground, sweetie. He throwed over close to the cars and he's stranded. No, he just did jump on his horse under the train. Why, he's crazy. What's he doing now? Looks like he just hold on. Look! He's starting to climb to the top of the car. Are you sure he was such an old man? Yeah, he looks old. Must be in pretty good shape. There he is. Hey! He's coming his way! How far back is he? Oh, by six or seven cars. He's almost running. Oh, shoot! There he made it. Made what? He's jumping between the cars. He isn't even climbing down water up the next. Oh, he'll kill himself. What's he after anyhow? I've never seen anyone pull anything like this before in all my life. Here he comes. Stop the train! Stop the train! Stop the train! The bridge has collapsed! The bridge has collapsed! You hear that? Hang on. I don't know if we can, but we're going to try to stop this thing in time. Damn! The train hit brakes. I hope it can stop in time. Look, there come trains. See sparks shooting from wheels. The wheels are stopped. The train skids along as though they were still moving. They have about two more curves than would be on the bridge. And what used to be the bridge? Maybe those curves will help slow it down. That long train might not see end. That's why it's so hard to stop. All that momentum. Maybe it passed first curve. It looks slower. Yeah. I think it's working. Coming around last curve. Slowing. Just about a thousand feet between it and the edge. A drag of curves on rest of train, slowing it down. Gravel! Keep stopping! Oh, phew. Look at the tracks. Tires burning all the way back along train. Well, they'll go out. Look how close that train came to the edge. It may not have five feet to spare. I'll never forget that sound as long as I live. Hey, Bill, listen. I heard it. I heard it, Gravel. Henry! Where are you, pal? It came from over this way, Gravel. Come on. Henry! Henry, where are you? Well, the bridge is falling. I can see him. Henry! Henry! Well, the bridge is falling. Why is everybody screaming? No bleeding. I can't tell about the inside. Let's put a stretcher together and get him to a hospital. Well, they look OK to me. Come on in, gang. Hey. What, Stumpy? We got company. So we have. How are you, Henry? Now, the doctor says we mustn't stay long, but we thought we'd stop in and see how the two heroes were doing. Heroes? How do you like that, Henry? They're calling us heroes. You're the heroes, Stumpy. Stopping that train and all. Hadn't it been for you, that whole train, to be piled up at the bottom of the valley? Well, if it not for both of you, that'd be true. How do you figure that? Well, Tim and I figured it out on the way over. Now, if you hadn't gone out on that bridge and collapsed with it, none of the Rangers would have been up in that area. If we'd have come along, that bridge would have gone down with us on it. Huh? I never thought of that. So, you see, you're both heroes. How about that, Henry? The thing I can't figure out, though, is how you did all that, Stumpy. I never saw anyone, let alone an older man, do the kind of things you did, jumping from your horse to the train across those cars. Well, Sonny, I admit I was a bit winded by the whole thing. But you see, I come from good stock. My uncle was a stagecoach driver. Is that so? That's right. He used to drive a stagecoach without any wheels. Oh, here we go again. Stagecoach without any wheels. What held it up? Uh, bandits. Oh, no. Well, there you have it, boys and girls. Never a dull moment for any of us around here. Well, see you next week for more Adventure with... Ranger Bill! Ranger Bill was produced in the radio studios at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. This has been a presentation from our Moody Broadcasting Network archives. MBN has been producing radio drama for over 60 years. To learn more about MBN, go to our website at mbn.org.
