The Open Switch - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Grace Lane, the daughter of the operator at Ferndale, is in love with Billy Warren, the engineer on a local train. Jim West, a rough character employed as section foreman in the yards, endeavors to force his attentions on Grace and is ...See moreGrace Lane, the daughter of the operator at Ferndale, is in love with Billy Warren, the engineer on a local train. Jim West, a rough character employed as section foreman in the yards, endeavors to force his attentions on Grace and is roundly thrashed by Billy. West plans to ditch Billy's train. Grace discovers him tampering with the switch and runs for help, but he overtakes her and ties her near the tracks. During the struggle his revolver slips from his pocket unnoticed and when he leaves to watch Billy's train dash to destruction, Grace, struggling with her bonds, secures the revolver and fires at the telegraph wires. She succeeds in breaking one of the glass insulators and a broken wire falls within her reach. With her hands still tied, she taps the end of the wire on the rail, crossing the circuit which operates the telegraph instrument in her father's station. Grace's father, receiving the warning, flags Bill's train in the nick of time and releases the girl, none the worse for her harrowing experience. After a desperate struggle with West, Billy leads him off to jail. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less