Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1890-06-28
THE TRACK WALKER.
Some IDEAS OF His Duties Fur
nished by an Authority.

A New York Sun reporter got some
ideas about their duties from Thomas
Sesnan, now foreman of a section of
trackmen in the yard of the Grand Cen
trail Station.
Every piece OF railroad" he said, sis
divided into sections OF from five to
seven miles, IL it is single track, and
from three to four miles, If double. A
foreman with gang of five or six men
keeps each section in order. All but
one are trackmen, who are kept busy
making repairs. That one is the track
walker, who patrols the tracks all day
long with an eye out for weak points
and distractions which might cause &C
cidcuts. or course there is q second
track walker at night whodoes the same
work. .....
''The track walkers outfit includes a
hammer, wrench, lantern, red flag, a
few torpedoes, bolts and spikes. No,
he doesn't walk at pedestrian speed.
His gait shouldn't be more than two to
three miles an hour. A man might
hurry over the entire ground inside of
an hour, but he couldn't look at every
bolt and rail connection, as his duties
require. If it's double track road he
walks on the track facing the direction
from which the train is coming and ex-
amines only ono track at time. He
takes the other track on the way back.
A track walkerg gets over the ground, as
far as he is able, just before the trains
pass over his section. But he keeps at
work all day long, and if he has a
double track divided into three-mile
sections, he ought to make. about three
round trips day over each track.
IAN experienced track walker can
tell loose bolt at glance. Sometimes
1t will be caused by broken rail, and
he will see that the joints do not fit.
Generally a loose joint will be in
dictated by a disturbance of the earth,
causing a crevice between the sleeper
and the rail. In this case the track
walker props Jne rail- wlUn q thin piece
OF wood, which he must carry in his
outfit. Fish plates and angle plates are
distributed along the line, and the
track walker sometimes has to replace
broken plates If there isn't time for the
section gang to- como up before a train
is due. In case of broken rail or OBJ
structions which he can't handle, the
track walker puts torpedoes on the
tracks and uses his red flag to warn a
passing train. Then he leaves his
patrol and informs the foreman and
trackman as soon as. possible. In.
emergency cases at night the track
walker wraps his red flag about the
lantern as signal. Torpedoes are used
also.
81 never heard of track walkers be-.
ing promoted to better paying posi-
ton. Once track walker always q
track walker!'
"Any body can get such job. then"
suggested tho reporter.
mot bit Of it," retorted the patri-
arch. "You couldn't, for instance. I'd
like to see. you bolt on ono of those
angle plates, and you'd have to do it in
case of emergency. A man must have
experience as a trackman first The.
foreman picks his track walker out Of
the trackmen. Their pay is all the
same--about $1.35 day.. But If there.
is any promoting being done, the track
walker is never. the lucky one. Some.
trackman gets the raise. The track
walker must go back to the section gang
again If he expects to get up in the.
world.
GAS rule, track walkers keep at it
all their lives. A man who worked
under me on the section between Phil
mont and GRANVILLE, on the Harlem
road, q strip six miles long, made two
round trips day. He started out from
Philmont at five a. ~. and by the end
of the first round trip of twelve miles it
was noon and no got dinner Another
trip and he gave way to. another man at
five p, M, This man, Michael McGrath,.
kept up his twenty-four miles walk
about every day in the yoar for eight
cen years. Reckoning $50 days to the
year, this makes more than $4,000
miles. Many track walkers have kept
1T up longer. A man on the Erie says he
has walked more than 100000 miles.
"The unpleasant part comes in rainy
or wintry weather. OF course, if the
snow Is six inches deep on the tracks,
thu troolF tun1Iro, Al.