Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-11
AROUT RRAKEMEN.

l What the Freight Brakemen nave 10 l stand This Weather-Some Facts ] Trains.
 ''This kind of weather is pretty rough on
 the boys who run on the freight trains, said
 passenger car brakeman last evening as he left his seat by the side of the heater in warm | passenger car and started for home after his days work. FFOur work is very easy on the passenger trains," continued the man as he stopped for a moment, HeXcept when we have to brake at way stations, and then it is hard work for few minutes, but in the win ter we always have a chance to get inside the cars and get warm between stations. This IS not so with those who brake on the freight trains They have to stay on the car tops all the time, although in the summer their work is what we call a snap as they lay on the top of the cars and enjoy the cool night air, and perhaps gaze at the stars Of the summers night but in this kind of weather it is very different. These men
 wear very heavy clothing, although it is al
 ways short, as they have to get around in
 hurry sometimes. I have known the time
 when was braking on a freight train when
 the train was running fifteen or twenty miles
 an hour against sleet and snow, and a call
 had come for down brakes At such a
 time have been sitting on the top of the
 car so stiff and frozen as to be unable to
 work the brakes at all We do not
 mind the cold weather so much on
 the freights as when there is snow
 on the ground and on the cars. Then 1t be- comes very dangerous; as when the train Is running twenty miles an hour the snow and sand will be hurled up between the cars enough to blind man, and with the ice covered cars and running as we do from one car to another, perhaps with our lanterns
 blown out, it is pretty dangerous, and man has to be sure footed and have his wits about him to brake on freight in the winter time.
 Here comes of the freight train brake men now" said the passenger brakeman as 8 down the depot platform with icicles man came. hanging from his moustache, his cap pulled we'll down over his ears, and his Ian tern on is arm; Task him about it. :" Pretty cold tonight, hey Billy" said the freight brakeman as he beat his arms against his
 breast to get up circulation of the blood; ''but not as bad as Friday night" continued the man; ''Jhat the worst have perienced in a number of years; the snow cut my face like so many knives as it came blow
 ing across the valleys and rivers, and thought it would blow me off my car, but such is our life, and we must stand it I suppose"
 By this time quite a group of brakemen
 had gathered around the red-hot stove in their quarters near the depot and
 the subject of thetalk changed to the
 jumping off trains when they are in motion, and one of the men said: "Many
 
 way stations down the road, such as Strat
 ford, New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon, Milford and other stations, and when they finish their work at one end of the road they take an ex
 press train back and as it passes the station at which they live, although the train may be going at the rate of from fifteen to twenty-6v miles an hour, they will jump of and keep their feet, although they have to run perhaps the length of the train before they stop themselves, but still they seldom, if ever, lose their feet. It is quite 8 trick to jump off and takes considerable practice be- fore it can be done successfully. The way to jump is always with the train and on the left hand side of the latter, letting the right foot rest on the step and the left foot swing from the step. Then jump so that the left foot will strike the gronnd first, and the right foot immediately follow it, so as to l be able to run. Some of the men jump from I the middle of the train or the front, but 1 most of them go to the rear car and jump, so that if they fall they will not roll under the l cars. The only regular train hand l ever heard of being injured by jumping was a man named Davis, who lives in Portchester, 1 and who was struck on the head by the car step as he jumped and was badly hurt. The 1 only man who could hold his feet l and stop himself without running | at all, was Charles Phillips, who lives on I Court street, in this city, and who is now a | on the Leroy rOdu. lie could l jump from train running fhirty-fve miles l an hour and stop without running foot. l Another good man who was nearly as good | jumper as Phillips was John c. Gallagher, of ! Putnam street, this city, who is conductor of | the New York day freight out of here."
 'Do the passengers ever jump off" "Well, l I should say they did, and jump on, too, when ] the train is in motion. Why, the eommu- ters at the lower end of the | road do altogether, and especially l those that live at Mt. Vernon or near there. 1 When their business is finished at New York | they will come out on one of the local express ] trains, not wishing to wait for an accommo- dation and as they near their home they will jump off. This is when the trains are not going over fifteen miles an hour, but many are the falls I have seen them take while so doing. They also jump on when the train is in motion going down, as the trains stop but a minute or two at these stations, and there are always some who late. Although they do a good deal of this between here an d New York, it is just the opposite up the road from here to Springfield" Here the crowd broke up, some to go home, others to their trains and the visitor who had been an in teresting listener to their conversation took