Teddy Roosevelt's Ride to the Presidency

On the night of September 13th, 1901, an interesting bit of history took place on the Adirondack Branch.  While President McKinley was recovering from an assasination attempt, Teddy Roosevelt was hiking in the High Peaks area of the Adirondack mountains.
  The president's condition suddenly took a turn for the worse and a message was sent to Roosevelt to come back quickly. The D&H sent a special train to North Creek and waited there for his arrival.  A local stage company had arranged for three relays to bring him by buckboard through the forty miles of rough roads to the station.
  They arrived in North Creek by 5:30 am where Roosevelt boarded the train and received the telegram that the President was dead!  Somewhere in the middle of the night, he had become the next President.
  All Delaware & Hudson personnel had been alerted to the passage of the special train bearing the new president.  The orders for Mike Burke, Stationmaster at Corinth, NY, had been to watch out for the train and to render any assistance necessary.  Mike's quarters at the time were upstairs over the station and he and his wife were having a cup of tea when they heard the train coming.
  Mike rushed down the stairs to the platform but the train had already whistled through Corinth and stopped down the tracks where the water tank was located. While the engine was taking on water, Mike walked down the tracks and when he got near the rear Pullman car, someone shouted, "Halt!" Mike stopped on the tracks then started again when he saw several men on the car with machine guns. He was told again to stop and asked what he wanted. Mike told them he was the stationmaster and wanted to know if they needed anything. The reply from the Secret Service was to turn around and go back. Desiring to stay alive, he did what he was told.
  From there, Roosevelt went on to Buffalo where he was sworn in as the new President.