Just as Allan sat down, the operator at Harper’s called up and reported that Number Seven had passed there at 7.02. The dispatcher acknowledged the message and wrote “7.02” in the column devoted to Train No. 7, opposite Harper’s. A moment later, the operator at Madeira reported the passage of No. 70 at 6.04. This was also duly acknowledged and noted, and so on through the day, the columns of figures on the sheet were added to, showing the position, at that particular moment, of every train, freight or passenger, on the west end of the division. On the opposite side of the table sat the dispatcher in charge of the east end, recording, in a precisely similar manner, the progress of the trains on his end of the line.
When a conductor and engineer are called, they report at once at the dispatchers’ office, where there is a registry-book which they must sign. Passenger conductors and engineers, as well as passenger-engines, have regular runs, which they always make unless some accident prevents. Freight conductors and engineers are assigned to trains in the order in which they sign the book. There are in the employ of the road two men known as “callers,” whose sole business it is to notify the trainmen when they are wanted. For instance, three freight-trains are scheduled to leave, one at ten o’clock, another at 10.10, and a third at 10.20. It is the caller’s business to see that the crews for these trains are ready to take the trains out. A freight crew consists of engineer and fireman, conductor and two brakemen. The conductor and one brakeman, known as the rear-man, ride in the caboose. The other brakeman, known as the front-man, rides in the cab of the engine, and makes himself useful by ringing the bell, watching for signals, and so on, when he is not engaged in setting or releasing the brakes, or helping make up the train.
P. AND O. RAILWAY--Train Sheet | |||||||||||||||
| EAST BOUND | WEST BOUND | ||||||||||||||
| No. 70 | No. 14 | No. 22 | No. 102 | Train | No. 1 | No. 7 | No. 97 | No. 71 | |||||||
| Grace | Hawkes | Harris | Smith | Conductor | Brown | Jones | Hall | Hess | |||||||
| Hill | Curry | Rosland | Jackson | Engineer | Snyder | Hooker | Price | Roads | |||||||
| 906 | 1836 | 1430 | 1862 | Engine | 1473 | 1416 | 916 | 912 | |||||||
| 26 | 6 | 5 | 6 | Cars | 8 | 5 | 28 | 32 | |||||||
| A. M. | A. M. | A. M. | A. M. | ||||||||||||
| 5:15 | 6:15 | 2:40 | Cincinnati | ||||||||||||
| 5:50 | 6:45 | 3:00 | Norwood | ||||||||||||
| 3:12 | Madeira | ||||||||||||||
| 3:27 | Loveland | ||||||||||||||
| 4:35 | 4:06 | Midland City | 6:42 | ||||||||||||
| 5:07 | Highland | 6:15 | |||||||||||||
| 5:12 | Leesburg | 6:12 | |||||||||||||
| 5:18 | East Monroe | 6:07 | 6:59 | ||||||||||||
| 5:32 | Greenfield | 5:56 | 6:40 | ||||||||||||
| Thrifton | 7:00 | ||||||||||||||
| 5:48 | Lyndon | 5:48 | 6:24 | 6:50 | |||||||||||
| 5:54 | Harper’s | 5:43 | 6:18 | 6:40 | |||||||||||
| 6:03 | Roxabel | 5:34 | 6:54 | 6:03 | 6:25 | ||||||||||
| 6:07 | Musselman | 5:31 | 6:48 | 5:48 | 6:07 | ||||||||||
| 6:12 | Anderson | 5:25 | 6:42 | 5:40 | 5:50 | ||||||||||
| 6:25 | Wadsworth | 5:14 | 6:30 | 5:24 | 5:34 | ||||||||||
| A. M. | A. M. | A. M. | A. M. | A. M. | |||||||||||
For each train that goes out, then, five men must be in readiness. The caller looks through his book, sees whose turn it is, goes to the dwellings of the men to be called, and notifies them of the hour they must be on duty. If any of them are ill or absent, he goes on and calls some one else. The passenger-trainmen, having regular runs, know, of course, the hours they must report for duty and do not need to be called. They are also paid a monthly salary, whereas the earnings of the freight crews vary with the amount of business done by the road. For each man must wait his turn. When business is slack and few freight-trains are needed, that turn is often a long time coming; but when business is heavy it frequently happens that the road finds itself short of men and the same crew which has just brought in one train is compelled to take out another, and is sometimes on duty for sixteen, twenty-four, and even thirty-six hours at a stretch. It is then that nerves give way, that memories fail, that eyes which should be alert grow dim and weary,—orders are forgotten, signals are unseen, and a bad accident follows. Freight-men are paid by the trip, and not infrequently, in busy seasons, they make double time—that is, get in two days’ work in every twenty-four hours.
As has been said, the engineers and conductors register at once at the dispatchers’ office. Then the engineer goes on to the lower yards to look over his engine and see that it is in good shape, while the conductor waits for his orders. These are given to him in duplicate, one copy for himself and one for the engineer. He reads his copy aloud to the dispatcher, compares his watch with the big official clock, and then goes down to his train. As soon as the engine is coupled on, he gives the engineer his copy of the orders, which the engineer must read aloud to him. Then they compare watches, and the conductor goes off to show the orders to the rear brakeman, while the engineer shows his copy to the fireman and front brakeman. Thus every member of the crew knows under what orders the train is to proceed and its movement is not dependent upon the memory of one man alone. The dispatcher has also kept a copy of the orders, which he files away. At the time appointed in the orders, the conductor gives the word and the train starts on its journey.
The dispatcher has, meanwhile, entered the number of the train, the names of conductor and engineer, the number of the engine and the number of cars on the train-sheet, as well as the hour and minute of the train’s departure. When it passes the first station, the operator there calls up the dispatcher and reports the hour and minute at which it passed. This also is entered on the sheet, and as the train proceeds, the column of figures devoted to it grows. The record of east-bound trains starts at the top of the sheet and grows downward, while that of west-bound trains starts at the bottom of the sheet and grows upward. It should be remembered that east-bound trains always bear even numbers, and west-bound trains odd numbers.
By this method, the dispatcher keeps a record on the sheet before him of the progress of every train. He knows the exact position of every train, or, at least, he knows the last station passed by each, and the probable time of its arrival, barring accident, at the next station. His problem is to keep all the trains moving, to keep a clear track for the passengers so that they can run on time, and to arrange meeting-points for trains going in opposite directions so that there will be no unnecessary delays.
It should be understood that, while a few of the larger railroads are double-tracked, the great bulk of the railroad business of this country is done over single-track roads. On these roads, points of meeting or passing must be at sidings, upon which one train can run while the other passes on the main track. Such sidings are usually at stations, and the problem of making the trains meet there is a very delicate one.