Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-12-04
THE FREIGHT BRAKEMAN.
olsAoREeA1Le FEATURES or HIS
WORK IN STORMY WEATHER.

The Dinseaiils. ef Handling . Train on
steep orsae.-rw."'y Degrees Bs,sw
zsro- Br.lIRg In . s,srm sf Rain. sisss
os sao~.
The disagrreAhle features - . freight
brakemans life are chiefly tbo~s depending
upon the weather II he could perform his
duties In southern California or Florida In
winter. and In the northern States In sum
msr, his lot would ordinarily L. q happy
one, though ths annoyance - tramTs Il al
most universal In mild climais-. and In many
ca-s- takes tho shsr- - positive danger.
Tbcss vagabonds psrsist In riding on OF In
tlle cAr. while the faithful trainman must,
aororiing to his Instructions, keep them off
In some sections q the country they will
board q train IN gangs - dorm, armed
with pistols, and dictate where the train shall
cArry them
The harishirs ~ cold AMI stormy weather
arr --riuus. 18th b-sauss ~ the -, ~ en-
duranc. involved ami the adtis,l dif'icultis.
IN handling a train. The Westinghouse au-
tomailc alr brake. which has served - all
mirably on pa~snger trains Tor the last M.
ten year., has only r~r.ntly tsen adapted
and cheaf-n-l ~ n o. make u available for
iong freight trains. but IL l. now - PR
fe-iei that In few years the brakeman
Who nov has a. ride on the ou,sl,ls ~ cars In
fry-fing cun,iition for an hour Al time
viii H. rrivilsg-'i a. 80 comfortably In his
cals,-- shils thu sT--si ~ the train Il gov
erns-i by the engineer thruugh the insianta-
neuus artion q the air brake. On the steep
ruads u the llocky mountains. anil fes
other hne.. tbs brake IL alr,ady In u-.
'HRAEISo nv HAND
But "braking by hand l. stlll the rule In
running ca Ascndng grade. or At slow
sJ-rs,is the braksmsn can ride under cover.
bat In dsscnding grades. or on ls,eb vhsn
the sr--sl is high. they must D. on the toT-
of the cars raiy a. instantly apply the
brakc.. fur tie Tcasun that there ATv gene
rally only thrrs or four men to a long train
weighing from 90 a. 100 tons, vho.e mo-
msutum cannot le arr,~tci very quickly In
de-,ending siecp grades only tho mat con-
slant AMI skillfui carr prevents the train
from rushing At brvAknccs spesi to tho fuot
n the incline, or to curve. whsre Il would
10 prcipitat~i over an smlankm.ut ami
crushe,i to splintsrs
A. soou a. the whole train has 10; tsyond
the summit anil the sI--i Is rclucei 90 .
proper rate hy ths application u the brAks-
ou. say, on thiri or half The CAR. u vii
Iclh,l. l- found that ons 90 tso hrakss too
many have b..n pat on. and that the train u
running too slowly. Soms q them must
then D. los-sucL Or T.rhag- sume are 10
- tightly that The friction beats the wheels
unduly or GAUSS them a. slide aiong the
track instead - rolling then tho. brAkc.
must d. rrlsasssi and sums ca other cars ap-
pllcl Instead. aud AL this must 4. done
Jsomstiniss for an hour When the tsmp-ra-
turv s ~ dcgs tslow tsro, or the wind !.
blowing gale, lus, a. un4er morr fAvorabl.
circumstances
Az uNFtEAsASr SITUATION
A train moving AZ tscuty mile. an hour
agAius, = wind With yslociiy q thirty
mile. incrca-s> The latter o. any. ~ FAR a.
the brakeman - cuucsfns,l, ani n rain ur
sle-, IL falling ibs forrs - IL ca hls hands
AMI facr IL very sevsrr II 80 add o. thi.
the danger attendant uIoa stepping frum one
car b. another over a gap q twenty -syen b
thirty inchs- Ia a dAfk night, when tho cars
arr constantly moving up AMI down on their
springs AMI are ssaylng 81 one side or tho
o,ber every few -,nunds, -e ~, soue idoa q.
though We cannot rualln the seusatl0n.
that must ~ such Times on the minds u tho
men who-- pleasant tsrth -sms 80 enloyahls
on q mild summers day
AMI this l. not an ovcriawn picture OF
the worst that might h. given, for rain and
snov cumhin~l oftsn coat the ruofs % cars -
completely and solidiy that they ar- worss
than the smooths-t skating pond. ani nov
ins upon them IL attended, with danger al
every step Jumping-it cannot 10 oalle,i
~alking-irum one car b. another IL In such
cas-. positively r,ckls.s The brake apfar-
ains sill IA q snos stnrm D. coais,i With ic.
- rapilly that vigorUu. action j. required 10
is~p ~ ia working condition Even q Wind
alone. In dry Neathsr. .omstim~- cumT.ls ihs
men 10 crawl from one car o. another, grasp
ing such projections as they may. The
brakeman who forget. % take bis rubber
cat AMI ovsrnlls -umetimes suffers severely
from sudisn changes % tsmIsrature In
sprng ~ fall lively shower vill D. cncoun-
tsrrd In sheltered valley And the clothing
will D. completely drrnchcl. and then within
rsrhars half an hour the asccnt q few
hundrv,l fs.t hrings the train into ar Airno--
phere q fsw degr,s- l-lo~ the fr-.Sing point,
- that With the aii % the wind, famed by
%. sI..ed % the train. the clothes ara very
-oon froEsn stiff IL n Adams, Jr. In
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