Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-09-17
OF TRAIS DISPATCH
ERS.
Men Who Hold the Lives of the
Travelling Public In Their
Hands.

"Yes, sir; l don't mind telling you
how it is" answered the conductor Of
one Of the accommodation trains run
ming out OF Boston, in response to a
reporters inquiry as to why his hair
was SO streaked with gray while his
face indicated q young man scarcely
over thirty. AT twenty my hair was
as black as coal. Those streaks Of gray
we're caused by three or four years
experience as train dispatcher on a
great trunk line running out Of Chi,
cago."
People who climb on a passenger
train when she is two or three hours
late little imagine what endless plan
uing and management il takes to get
her through safely. Let q freight get
behind time, and we handle her by
running on another trains time, but .
passenger breaks up everything on the
road. A train dispatcher must be IA
miliar with every circumstance
and with every possible cOmbi.
nation OF circumstances. He
must know just on what portions Of
the road fast time can be made, and
give orders accordingly. He must
never give an order for certain time
to be made unless he is positively Ger
tain that grade and condition Of the
weather will permit . Of such time be.
ing made. To day | may order a train
to run from Station A to Station B
and another for a train to run from B
to A, when the same order tomorrow
would precipitate q collision.
You have got to know all the meu
on the line, Why,on that road that
worked on there would be engineer,
and conductors that could never have
got a train through on time. Then,
there were others that would never
De late, except in case OF accident.
Why sometimes during my eight hours
OF duto | would give $50 train orders.
Just think of that a moment. Here
is a passenger train four hours late, and
q freight train side tracked at almost
every station. OF course that puts
every train behind time. First | have
to order the operator to put out his
flag and hold the train for orders.
aud then | have to send the order and
wait for it to be repeated back. At
the same time a train may be passing a
station nine miles away when | want
to hold aud side track her. All this
time l must not only keep clear track
for the passenger train, but must un>
necessarily detain the freights. Some
times, right in the middle Of a rush of
business like this, the wire will break,
or some operator will leave his kew
open, Then everything is to paw.
Fortunately, the train dispatchers'
order is the law. Every employe is
bound to obey it. So we do not have
to worry about that. :
Did | ever have an accident. No;
but I've come mighty near it. Once
l left the office, by permission, in
care Of my assistant, aud when [ re-
turned | found that he had two trains
running toward each other on a single
track, and only a station between
them. Fortunately l got a message to
the station in time to flag the first
train that got there, but If one Of them
had happened to pass there would
have been a fearful accident. NV
assistant had been with me two years.
He had everything side tracked ali
right, but he had forgotten the 'un
written law of the road prohibiting
two trains on a single track. On an
other occasion | lost a train"
Lost a train2"
Yes, sir; lost it completely. It was
little late. | left Il. twenty minutes
behind time, when 1t was ordered to
a side track for No. 3, a fast express.
+. and NJ. were eleven, miles apart,
and No, B could not leave +. until the
local was reported side tracked at NJ.
Well, | waited an hour, and then called
NJ, who had the message for the
locals, and asked him where the
freight was. He didn't know. In
the meantime the express was at f.,
and the passengers were getting mad.
Thirty minutes more and still no
train. Then | ordered No. 3 to run
cautiously to NJ. She did so, but found
no local. To say that We we're par.
alyzed Is putting it mildly. Ten min
utes later, W., a little station near the
city, reported the local there. She
had got by NJ. in some way without
disturbing the operator. Diopenes
never hunted SO diligently for an
honest man in the degenerate DAYS in
which he lived as we did for that
train"
Why did you leave the business?p
Because | was growing a year older
every week. | had the work Of ten
men on my shoulders. You often
hear Of the brave engineer clippine
with firm resolve aud calm r%esignas
tion to the throttle while the engine is
plunging on toward inevitable de
struction. His responsibility is moth,
ing. He has only a single train, and
he has no duty only to obey rules. The
train dispatcher has a hundred trains
under his finger that presses upon the
key. A moments delay to a passen.
ger train, a trifing accident to a
freight, and the dispatcher is cussed.
The eight hours you put in bending
over your keys seem like a week.
Your head swims and grows dizzy be
meath its awful responsibility. No
more train dispatching for me, il you
please. | was offered that position on
this road at a comfortable salary, but
told them all Hantnd was a train