Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-25
OUR LONDON LETTER.
HOW RAILROADS ARE RUN IN GREAT
BRITAIN.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Eng
Iish System as Compared with
the kmerican-Ete.

comparison IN point of magnitude with
those of any country, not excepting the
United States. The total number of
miles open to traffic last year were
1888. The number of passengers con-
viewed, exclusive of season ticket hold
ers, was 603,SS5,125. Number of miles
travelled by passenger trains, 122,54S,
25S by goods or freight trains, u.s.,
4OS,845 by mixed trains, 2,999,391 :;
total, 24O,956,494. The total number of
persons killed on the British railways
in 1882 was one thousand one hundred
and twenty-one number injured dur
ing the year, four thousand six hundred
and one. The railway traffic in this
city is simply immense. Sixteen hun
dred and nine trains start every day
between 10 A. N. and II P. NJ, for the
London telmjHj, which is rather more
than an average of two minute. Nor
does this calculation include the
UNDERGROUND TRAINS.
During the same time twenty-five
hundred trains are despatched from the
London termjni, seventeen hundred
and fifty of which are devoted to traffic
within an area of thirty miles around
the metropolis. Three hundred and
ninety-five leave Broad Street alone
each day, whilst three hundred and
twenty-one start daily from Liverpool
Street. To see what the railway traffic
of London is like, one should go to
Chaplain Junction, where the great
system connects. The rails lie together
like the wires of grand piano, and six
teen hundred trains run over them each
day. In and out, coming, going, slow
trains and fast trains, seemingly in utter
confusion, but all, in reality, being per
fectly timed and controlled in the most
exact manner by signals. No one is
allowed to cross the lines except the
officials, and these, like railway men
the world over, grow foolhardy from
long familiarity with danger and now
and then come to grief. On the aver
age one man is killed there every six
weeks, and after watching the traffic for
a time, one wonders that somebody is
not killed every day. The total number
of men engaged in
THE RAILWAY SERVICE OF GREAT BRITAIN
Is 5000, and of these 100000 are con-
nected with the regular traffic. In most
! of the departments promotion is gradual
! and by merit. Before man can bios
som into a full fedged engineer he must
| have served an apprenticeship, first as
| cleaner and afterwards as fireman.
| Engineers who have charge of the fast
| est trains make as much as $50 a week,
| but those employed in local traffic sell
! dom get more than half that sum.
/ These, however, fare much better than
! those engaged in other branches of the
| service. Station masters are divided
into three classes. Those belonging to
| the third class get about seven dollars a
week and a house, usually with little
! garden attached. At second class sta
| tons, many of which have very large
/ traffic, the agent gets house and garden
and about nine dollars a week. The
salary of first class station agents
varies, but is always wretchedly small,
considering the work and responsible
ties entailed. The English railway
guard answers to the American con-
| dUctOr, but his duties are different and
! his wages, of course, much smaller. He
! has nothing to do with the tickets or
! fares. These, at small stations, are col
| leCted by the station agents when the
passengers ahght, the doors and gates
of the station being locked for the pur-
! pose and when a large station is being
approached the train is halted a dis
lance outside and the regular ticket
collector takes up the chips
THE WORK OF THE GUARDS
Is to watch the signals to see that the
train starts on time and in proper order;
that is, with everybody aboard and the
carriage doors all closed and fastened,
and to attend to the putting of, at the
proper stations, of the passengers lug
gage. For this he gets SIX or seven
dollars a week, and the guards on
freight trains receive still less. But the
poor porter is the worst off. American
visitors will surely not begrudge the
trihing L" tips" they drop into the itch
ing palms of this much abused public
servant when they know that the high
est wages paid to his class is seventeen
shillings, or four dollars and twenty-five
cents, a week. The gratuities that fall
to him average from Sl.25 to $3.50
weekly, so that he is poorly enough
paid even when he does his best to help
himself ont of the pockets of suscepti-
BILE minded passengers. Those con-
nected with English railways who have
the greatest responsibilities and deserve
the largest share of sympathy, are the
signal men. The signals consist, at
night, of red. green and white lights
the first signifyiug danger, the second
caution, and the other safety. BY day
the signals are given by arms worked
from the top of high posts. When the
arm protrudes horizontally the way is
blocked when it is extended down
wards at an angle of forty-tive degrees
the approaching train IS thereby adj
monished to move carefully, but when
the arm has fallen to perpendicular
position it may 60 forward at full speed
Each man controls a large number of
these arms and lights, in addition to
manipulating the points or switches in
the locality. The work is done by
means of levers, and
THE sIGNAL-MAN's HOUSE,
which occupies an elevated position and
Has NluloNS on All SUES sOulGliiuGS
contains a score OF more of these. The
mental and physical strain incident to
such work is very great, and the consti-
tutious of the men usually break down
at middle age. 1t Is proverbal that
there Is not a signal-man in the service |
over forty years old whose hair has not
turned gray.
The shape of English railway cars
and their division into first, second and /
thIrd-class, are things with which Amer /
lean readers are quite familiar. The /
first-class compartment carries six pas
seugers, and each has soft arm rest (
on each side Of him, aQd a reclining, /
upholstered back to lean against The /
seat is more comfortable than those af-
fnrled i'm the ordinary American chr hnt |