Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-11-11

new Railway TiHe Tables Are meAs,
ana she Exaesing Wsrk Requfre1 -
49, Mater.

she Maker.
[Ss. Paul Pioneer Pfesa-
The management of . railroad II .
mammoth undertaking, and no enc u
shs employ Of a railroad can possibly
have what n termed IAN easy time OF y,
m 10 gives bat half attention 70 the du-
ties OF his Office. The work Of all the
various officials are laborioos, bus mons
moro 90 than that Of the supsrintend-
ut or he Who directs the various
changes that are made 10 the time table
governing the running Of trains. Inc
pubaic generally, who have neves wv
nesssd this tedious a. well As lsbor1oos
work, have No idea how fatIRuinQ
and what thankiess job II II
It requires the utmost attention
ma 20 Il the official. a. we'll 40 his ~
1Tal subordinases, must devote his vnoie
time, for upon q aingie error may nAnG
the lives Of many people. Inc teass
mjsoa,cuJatIon IL likely 70 cause q COLL
don, and such accidents seldom occur
without fatal consequences The unin-
ssructed public doubtless imagine tnAs
time tables, or even changes In them,
are m .de with pen and paper. lney
we're never more mistaken IN their lives
Il IL done with pins and spools OF dii-
ferent coiored threads. The entire run
ming Of trains, crossing OF other tracks.
their stops and lost time are all caicu
lated by means of these common ana
sample pins and threads.
In mak,ny a time table the first thing
necessary ID TO prepare time chart, ana
fhio h arranged by stretching large
Skoet Of drawing paper, ruled for either
go or Ave or ten-minute time by hon-
1putal and perpendicular lines crossing
1aoh other, ON smooth surface. For
nouyepjonce snke this il placed on
Huanted easel. 20 that the operator OF
- continuance may sdjust 1t 70 suit bis
U1rpose. In making the time and dis
innoes between stations or terminals,
80 former in marked above the hori-
sontx line, and the latter down
- first perpendicular line to
the left. For the sake Of illns-
tratiuQ this portion Of the AZ nous
work. any hand--1 A. M, for instance,
--is marked on the first line running
ecross the chart, and each succeeding
hour il marked until the twenty fourth,
o. the same time the following morning
a reached on the last Of these lines. VI
course, between these lines the space IL
graduated az finely as one may desire,
or - IL may best suit the compiler'e puf-
pose, the only restriction being that the
opace must be divided into minutes. II
the chart IL what il known ~ two
minute chart, the space Is divided into
teu minutes time, and the ten minutes
time into two minutes time. The dis
seuoe between the lines IN in the shad.
ing. The hour lines are the heavier.
Taking the Northern Pacific time
table, for instance, st. Paul. the eastern
terminus, 10 marked on the first line
sioneside the a. N. mark. The inter.
v6uing stations between st. Paul and
Portland follow down until Portland
in reached. Whom the chart 10 thus ar
ranged everything Ii In readiness 70
pgepaIe the running arrangements, and
- PINS and different colored threads
aze then brought into play. The oolora
pginoipally used are blue for passen-
esg train. red for q freight train, and
6ume othcr colored thread for the trains
~ . foreign road using the company's
eEnok. For the sake Of better exempli-
tying the remainder Of the work an
1ouGtration 10 made. The stand
ord running time Of trains On the
JSogthon Pacific ID twenty-five miles
IN hour. The Pacific Express OF
the Northern Pacific leaves bt. Paul al
q p. N. daily. To trace the passage Of
th}e train across the continent pin ID
placed on the cross or horizontal line al
Up. 70. time mark, and the end Of the
bloc thread 10 fastened thereto. When
- hrst stop 10 made, no matter
whether IL be Ave or twenty. i've miles
away, second pin IL placed opposite the
station at which the stop OCCURS, and
The thread wrapped around il and
drawn taut. In addition to this third
pin 10 stuck In the chart. II the run
was twenty-five miles, then the pin ID
placed directly under the 8 p. N. time
mark, and the thread wrapped about 1t.
II the stop IL but for Ave minutes the
thread Is again stretched to 4 pin placed
= the 9:05 p. m. mark on direct line
with the station. Tho train 10 started
aAaiu, and &C the next station at
which stop Ia made the same
tAine II gone through with. The
0eatnerd, Fargo and Bismarck train,
which leaves st. Paul at S:35
.. m. daily, Ia treated in q similar man.
oer. The fraction of the hour does not
complioats matters In the least, as the
chart In divided In two, Ave and ten-
minute time, as stated above. What
local and freight trains may be en- route
oesween the Lwo express trains are also
thus traced, a. are trains from the west
etn end, and trains Of foreign compa-
mics. In making time tables, however,
the latter are not taken into account.
when those making time tables have
thus traced the various trains, the work
remaining IL simple and easily disposed
q. II is tedious, though, and the one
transferring the time and stations from
ehs chart 70 the time table cannot be
Zoo particular. The least error on his
part unless detected before the table
90. into operation. IL very hkely
10 b productive Of accident, with
serious u not fatal, consequences.
II the table goes 70 the printers hand
- uade up BY the compiler, and 10 re-
tutueo u Q eimilAr condition, then
eAuold An accident occur this depart
0eos Of the road 10 not 70 blame, or
eaaAer those making the table are not,
1Ae fault lies With the train dispatcber,
and that oflicial cannot b too level
eoa4od nor too careful 90 to the orders
- etvee 10 bis aubosdinates. Il d very
geeaom that the ofaoial % far foeRets
elm1olf. But vhen ono stops 70 consider
vhot bis duties are, and the method by
Nntoh be keeps q record Of the positions
- the trains, Il y AMPLY marvellous that
0oee accidents are NOS reported than
ceoar. VI course II he has none other
y1an scheduled tSains-that q, those
IA down In the time tdble--and they
- az on time, he duties are light. But