METHODS OF PROMOTION ON OUR LEADING ROADS.
In the method of promotion of firemen, considerable diversity of practice is followed by the different railroads. On certain roads, with well-established business, and little fluctuation of traffic, firemen begin work on switch engines, and are promoted by seniority, or by selection through the various grades of freight trains, thence to passenger service, from whence they emerge as incipient engineers. A more common practice, and one almost invariably followed in the West, is for firemen to begin as extra men, in place of firemen who are sick or lying off. From firing extra, they get advanced, if found competent and deserving, to regular engines. Then, step by step, they go ahead to the best paying runs, till their turn for being “set up” comes round. Passenger engines are not fired by any but experienced men, but the oldest firemen do not always claim passenger-runs. For learning the business of engine-running, freight service is considered most valuable; and many ambitious firemen prefer the hard work of a freight engine on this account.
NATURE OF EXAMINATION TO BE PASSED.
When a fireman has obtained the experience that recommends him for promotion, on nearly all well-regulated roads he is subjected to some form of examination before being put in charge of an engine. In some cases this examination is quite thorough. The tendency to require firemen to pass such an ordeal is extending, and its beneficial effect upon the men is unquestioned. The usual form of examination is, for officers connected with the locomotive department to question the candidate for promotion on matters relating to the management of the locomotive, and how he would proceed in the event of certain mishaps befalling the engine. Parties belonging to the traffic department propound questions relating to road-rules, train-rights, understanding of time-card, and so on.
MASTER MECHANICS ON THE BEST METHOD OF EDUCATING YOUNG MEN FOR ENGINEERS.
The Master Mechanics’ Association appointed a committee to investigate the “best manner of educating young men for locomotive engineers,” and the following report was made:—
“Considering this subject to be of vital importance to the Association, and to the public in general, and that proper care and attention have not been given to it in the past, the committee have spared no pains to get all the information they possibly could on this subject, knowing and feeling that men selected to fill the responsible position of locomotive engineers must possess faculties, that, as a general thing, do not belong to all the human race; and, as locomotive engineers have to be selected from the ranks of firemen, they feel that due care and caution should be exercised in selecting young men for firemen. Now, to arrive at a proper conclusion,—one that would be satisfactory to the Association and to the railways of the country,—your committee sent circulars to all the master mechanics in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We sent out five hundred and thirty-two circulars, to which we received seventy-six replies; being an average of one answer to every seven sent. Many of these replies contain very valuable information, and were from many of the leading roads of this country, Canada, and Mexico. Your committee beg leave to return thanks for the answers to their circular.
“The opinions given us by the different master mechanics who replied, were as follows: Five recommended that none but machinists should be locomotive engineers; nineteen thought that nothing more was needed than to have a young man fire from three to four years with good, competent engineers, to make him a good runner; fifty-two thought that one year in the shop and round-house, with two to three years’ firing, was necessary to make a competent engineer; many recommended that young men, while firing, read and study books that would give them a general knowledge of the locomotive, such as Forney’s Catechism of the Locomotive, and several other works of that kind. Many of the replies admitted that machinists would make the best runners if they would consent to fire one year after having learned their trade, as they would then have the advantage of knowing all about the construction of the locomotive. Of course, when speaking of that class of men, they meant bright, intelligent young machinists, men with nerve and energy, and quick to act in cases of emergency. Of course, there are some who would never make engineers, no matter what opportunities were given them. If young men of this kind would consent to run one year or more as firemen, we could select our locomotive engineers from among that class; but they will not do it, from the belief that they are just as competent to run a locomotive as the best engineer on the road for which they are working: and, if they are given an opportunity to run an engine, they are certain to make a failure. This being the fact, we are compelled to select our engineers from among the ranks of the firemen, as the best and safest runners. Now, this being the class of men from which we have to select our engineers, some uniform mode of instructing them for the responsible position that many of them will have to fill in the future, will have to be adopted by the different railroads in America. Your committee would therefore recommend the following:—
“All master mechanics should have full control of the engineers and firemen in the employ of their respective roads, with full power to hire and discharge the same,—of course, recognizing the rights that the general managers or superintendents have to order the discharge of any engineer or fireman for neglect of duty.