Of the five subdivisions of duties indicated above, the first four are usually confided to a general manager, who may also be a vice-president, and the fifth is in charge of a treasurer, reporting directly to the president.
The special departments under charge of the general manager are each officered by trained experts:
A superintendent of roadway or chief engineer has charge of the maintenance of the track, bridges, and buildings.
A superintendent of machinery has charge of the construction and maintenance of all rolling stock.
A superintendent of transportation makes all schedules, and has charge of all movements of trains.
A car accountant keeps record of the location, whereabout, and movements of all cars.
A traffic manager has charge of passenger and freight rates, and all advertising and soliciting for business.
A comptroller has charge of all the book-keeping by which the revenue of the company is collected and accounted for. All statistics are generally prepared in his office.
A paymaster receives money from the treasurer and disburses, under the direction of the comptroller, for all expenses of operation.