The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1878-11-12

the main line, while other trains that are
entitled to il are running without the
knowledge that others are late. or they, too,
must be notified, and 30 ~ each moves on
il must not only be watched and
guarded, but Il by its tardine~s
disarranges the time Of others,
and Others ~ il meets them, until with its
own waiting and constant lo~s Of time. and
its effect upon ell other trains that il has
met, il has thrown out Of time perhaps .
half dozen or dozen trains on time ut
various points, and they in turn have had
. similar effect upon Others, until only the
clear head Of the cool dispatcher can bring
order out OF this confusion. Another and
more truthful cause Of this disarrangements
il the running of extras" The time card
u made out for such trains a. are run daily.
Many DAYS, however, these do not suffice for
the business, and excursion or extra freight
trains, or something Of the kind, ere con
stantly. almost daily, introduced. and thus
the orders and labor and changes are multi
piled. By general rule, ho~ever, all en-
ployes Of the road are notified whenever an
extra, Is put on the road, BY red dag or
red hight, put on in front OF the regular
train which next precedes the extra. This
SCu - = Sskuol W All COuuuCtOIS 0uI
others that an extra il following, and that
they mnst not run out on the track without
orders. Should, however, the extra be
some time behind. then the trains are run
out Ia The next station or two to gain time,
and 50 the work is again multiplied and
increased indefinitely. This necessita tes
the sending Of numerous dispatches to the
conductors and engineer Of the various
trains. These are sent to the operator NJ
the station where they are lay ing. or which
they will next reach. The operator makes
three copies. giving one to the engineer, one
10 the conductor, and keeps one himself,
which he ~ once repeats to the dispatch
ing office in order to be sure he understands
il. The dispatcher keeps copies Of all these
orders in his book and the repeated orders.
By these on the road in charge Of trains
AMI stations, these orders must be silently
and implicitly, even blindly oheyed, even
though the reasons are not understood. A
failure to obey them. or even fOrgetfulness
in single case, means an unqualified and
sure dismissal 0f the conductor and engin-
Ger who forgets. A single blunder of this
kind would endsngor hundreds Of lives.
Il never spent . more terrible hour"
said train dispatcher with whom the re-
porter conversed, "in al my experience than
once u coupe Of years ago, when two trains
got on q piece Of track headed
towards each other, upon which
could not reach BY wire. There was On
extra mp the road and l had tele-
graphed . train com,ng down to wait
for il to pass at Brownston. BY and by
got . report from the operator at Browns
L.
when any train passes, saying that the reg
ulaf train had ordered to wait there had
passed. That cant be; ordered them to
wait for the extra This reply came back /:
They have gone Then there was no rem
ely. The extra had passed the last s,ation
going up this side OF Brovnstown, and both
knew were whizzing along the same track
headed toward each other. Such . sensa.
ton never experienced, aud pray that
never may again. There were the two
trains rushing to destruction; ! knew il,
and vas yet povsrlers to help it! I could
only wait aud hope and pray that BY some
means the catastrophe might be averted. l
ordered out the wrecking trains and got
everything ready and waited for more than
On hour before heard the result That
hour never shall forget Then came the
news that the trains had cOllided, bot owing
to good fortSne or Providential interference
the engineers had sren their danger before
meeting and applied the brakes before the
trains struck, and 80 prevented such serious
results ~ must otherwise have occurred.
There was considerable injury, but no lives
were lost"
"And the conductor and engineer
"Were discharged Of course. They had
forgotten their orders, and once il sufficient.
They we're removed, never to be allowed to
work on the road again"
This is understood BY them, is it ~
ooh, yes; . man who f0Fgets his orders
never expects to work on the road again.
And it 10 only Just. The responsibility il
very great the lives OF hundreds. perhaps
thousands, are entrusted in their hands. and
foFgetfulness on their part means death and
destruction. II won't do, il won't do" and
he turned to his instrument and schedule
again to watch the flying trains miles away.
The train dispatcher is the autocrat. the
sole ruler. No man dare dispute bis au-
thority. No man can move without bis
permission without endangering life and
property and his own security. He il an
important and indispensable official upon
the railroad. He cares for the Lie and
comfort and safety Of every railroad trav-
eler, and should not be forgotten, ~ he
tolls day and night in the seclusion Of his
Office in the interest and safety Of those en-
trusted TO his care.