, 1888-05-30
GROOMING HE IRON srEEps.


The Routine Work TIM Is Dome In n
Railroad
A locomotive rQundhouse, with its
grim, steel armored giants resting from
their labor, y an object of irresistible at
traction to Sunday strollers along the
river front near the Union station. Ii n
visitor happens 10 be accompanied by an
inquisitive smah boy, he will find that
there are many things about n round.
house which are not comprehended in n
youths definition in school the other
day, "a place where they keep engines"
Instead of being dreary as a car
rage house, it is as lively as a
race horse stable. 1t is 8 o'clock in the
evening, and that the New York express
has just departed on its way to Boston.
Soon the big express locomotive No. 1919
will slowly back down the yard, and
switch of down a side alley, as it were,
toward the great roundhouse. Rambling
slowly down the grade, it will stop at q
gigantic coal heap, where n half dozen
dusky figures are ready with shovels,
and at once they begin to send the coal
in showers into the tender. Meanwhile
the fireman and engineer have climbed
dow from the cab, their days work
done, N have started homeward. In
their place has climbed a short, burly
man, whose professional name is hos
tier, and the big machine is in his
charge from this time till the next morn
ing. After the weight of the tender has
been increased to several tons by the
efforts OF the ~shovelers, the .'hostler'
slowly runs his charge TO the turntable,
and the steed is prepared to go to bed for
the night. =
waiting on the table, is not the most
inviting occupation, to be judged by the
back straining and 'tleg achy" process of
turning a thirty ton locomotive half
round, and the "waiters," instead of
having dapper white aprons and clean
napkins, are equipped with oily ~overalls,
greasy caps and big boots. Indeed, they
are the same set who were seen viciously
shoveling at the coal pile a ome ago,
and have ollowed the engine into the
house to continue their attention. They
bear the name of ''wipers" and the occu-
patton from which the term is derived
will soon be seen. When the engine has
pulled in" to its stall, two bulkheads in
the front of the boiler are unscrewed.
and two men, sticking long probes into
the hole, begin TO ram up and down with
ihibhh dIhh hlAill. lIl5 b 10 get Ile
sparks out OF her, " and the torturing
process lasts fully fifteen minutes, the
bright showers falling from the box into
the pit. Meanwhile the '~'vipers'' are
not idle. Armed with big punches of
waste soaked with black oil to prevent
rust, they rub and scrub vigorously, and
500 the effect of their work begins to be
seen, for the big locomotive looks MS
phininu onI olnaly ne n ~,oo- fuoal F.
the stable.
The hostler meanwhile has
banked" the fire, and, after pouring
nine buckets of fine sand into the sand
box on the boiler, the traveller Is left to
slumber on a warm bed-warm, for in
the pit underneath runs a network of
steam pipes, giving a temperate heat, the
effect of which is shown by tho dripping
Of the melting ice, If the weather is
cold. No. 100 rests peacefully; n smoth-
cred snore now and then is the only indi-
cation that a spark of life remains In the
machine. Early in the morning the
locomotive is awakened by the .'hostler,"
who vigorously pokes the fire, and soon
the steam is sizzling ut a lively rate.
About an hour before the train time the
''hostler" pulls the engine out, and after
making up the train, the engineer and
fireman reappear and No. 1919 starts out
for its days run Of 2T6 miles.
Like every big barn, a roundhouse has
Its nnexe in the front yard. Near the
entrance to the establishment there Is a
woodshed, a sand house, and an oil
cubby. The latter is part of the old round
house and the inside arrangement re-
semble n well regulated kitchen. Near
a sink in one corner are seen three brass
handled pumps, which connect with three
big tanks underneath tho floor, which
have a capacity Of several barrels of oil
each. In n of these tanks is the lard
oil for drilling in the shops, in another
the valve oil for the engines, and in an
other still is the ''engine oil" proper
Besides these substances is the kerosene
or headlight oil in q tank by itself. In a
little back is the big pile of waste,
and the whole establishment Is in charge
of n responsible servant Of the road, who
parcels out the material to tho foreman
of the roundhouse rs he requires. The
and house Is also a modest brick struct-
ure in which n pile of sane Is heaped
about a large stove, to be perfectly dried
before being sifted, and right opposite is
the gigantic woodshed whose pile is re-
plenished every day with q car load.
There are, of course, two gangs of hands
who have charge night and day respec-
lively, and. taken all together, a iollier,
healthier, and more hard working set of
men it would be hard to find the whole
road over. Springfield Republican.