West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1888-01-20
New York Evening Sun.

New York Evening Sun.
Accident caused by an incompe-
tent train dispatcher" remarked a
gentleman. in an uptown hotel, as
he laid down a newspaper after read
ing an account of railroad coils
ion. People are beginning to real
ize the fact that two trains can t
pass each other on single track, :"
he remarked dryly.
The gentleman was Superinten-
dent of Western railroad, who had
worked himself up from a telegraph
operator, stopping for sixteen years
in dispatcher's position before a
superintendency was awarded him.
To circle of friends he spoke OF
the dangers of travel and the duty
of train dispatcher.
"Few people," said he, ''even those
who travel continually, know the
danger that they are in while rush
inc over mountains and through
valleys at the rate of forty miles an
hour. with trains in front of them,
trains behind them, passenger,
freight. excursion, constructions ,spe-
cial and wild trains laundering
along on the same track. In the
East, where nearly every road is
double-tracked, the danger is mate
rally diminished, but the great net
work of roads that spreads like a
fishermen's net over the great West
is mostly single track, and requires
men of iron nerve and quick brains
to handle the trains. One of our
dispatches virtually holds the lives
of our passengers at the ends of his
fingers.
"Suppose for a moment dispatch
er should lose his head. what is the
result? An awful catastrophe. But
it is seldom, comparatively speaking,
that an accident or collision occurs,
and for this we can thank the lynx
eyed, quick witted and nimble-fin-
gered man who sits in his office hun
dreds of miles away and controls the
movements of his engineers and con,
ductors by the aid of his servant,
electricity. Before him lies train
sheet, divided into subdivisions. with
the name of each station and col
umn for each train, both east and
west bound, entered thereon. When
a train leaves a station, the operator
reports it to the dispatcher as ar
riving and departing at whatever
time it may be, which is entered on
the sheet. Thus, by glancing at his
train-sheet, the dispatcher can tell
where each train is. There are roads
where dispatcher has charge of
two freight divisions of 100 miles
each. On each division are thirty
trains each way, making l20 trains
controlled by one man, With possibly
one assistant
I'VE will suppose that train is
late and cannot make its meeting
point. This is time when the tel
egraph must straighten things out,
and if not done well snarl of trains
will be the result. Train 10 is be-
hind time, which happens from vari-
Gus causes. The regular meeting
point with Train is at A. Not
being able to maKeit, the dispatcher
sends an order to Train Z at c. The
following is the generally accepted
style Of an order:
To Conductor and Engineer No.
Hold at c. until Train 10
arrives. Answer. w. w. Z.
The operator at c then displays
a signal, flag by day and lamp
by night, that warns the conductor
of train Z not to pass c without as
certaining what, the signal is out for.
When the orders are delivered the
conductor and engineer sign them,
and they are repeated to the dis
patcher, who, if they are correct, an
swers back 30. H." The dispatcher
then sends an order to train 10 as
/ follows:
To Conductor and Engineer Train
10 A.-Run to c regardless of train
! Z. Answer. w. W. Z.
when this is signed, repeated
| and 20. X. d, the train pulls out and
makes the meeting point. Were ii
not for this order the conductor
would have to run his train accord
inc to rule on the back of the
time card. This rule is that train
not having the right of way must
wait at its meeting point for varia-
ton of watches, and then it can pro-
ceed to its next meeting point. The
train having the right of way also
waits five minutes for variation OF
watches. Trains are classified, pas,
senger trains having the right OF
way over freights, and the latter ovel
work trains.
This may look very simple, bu'
when YOU take into consideration
that the TWO trains in question are
only a small part of the number that
are. at the same time, under the su-
pervision of the dispatcher, it will
be seen that travellers are trusting