The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-25
4 CAR ACCOUNTANTS WORK.

low Cars Arc Traced I'm Their Move
ments From Station to Station.
The perfection Of method or system which has
BEEN attained in the management Of railway
- nowhere more completely shown than in the
records Of the Office Of the car accountant on any
important line. From the day car Ii turned out
81 the shops ready for use until Is Is destroyed
of disposed OF its journeyings to and fro, dcten-
lions 4 way sdings or In the great yards OF Cities
ana various fortunes and misfortunes are all set
down II . book Of permanent record. Whether
% the. tracks Of the road that owns IL, or
ehousends OF miles away, separated by . dozen
1ndepenoent systems from it, homo line, its
whcreabouts are ct all times known, and the
extent Of its wanderings written In detail from
day today. II often happens that for time car
= lost sight OF for days. or even for weeks, but
Is II only question OF time when the delayed
sepOrts are received 1t headquarters, aud the
blank spaces in the record filed out with dates
ana station numbers.
Tho plan adopted TO trace and mark the
20vements OF the car Il complex and yet
simple, and has been brought gradually to per-
section by car accountants who take interest in
their work A "car history" contains the date
On which each car on the line began its active
life, it number, description, dimensions and
weight, and the record closes only when the
car goes out Of existence. There are three
Other principal books kept, the "local," "for-
GsBu uHu AuSS1Cu4uxe IeCQf08. Inc uf9x
tells where every car owned by the company II
et any time. Each leaf Il ruled for 100 num-
oers down the page, and there are spaces ACROSS
for each day in the month. Each month new
leaf IL taken, and the 1rst, or stransfer' entry,
shows the position Of the car ct the opening.
The "foreign" record shows the movements of
cars from other lines temporarily on the line OF
this company, and the Interchange" book the
record OF cars that have been sent to points
on other lines.
Every car has distinctive number, not given
consecutiveiy In the order in which IL was bull
or purchased, but arbitrarily assigned to desig.
nate It's class. For instance on freight ears even
numbers are placed on box and stock cars and
odd numbers on Nat or coal cars. Every station
on the line has number, fixed by its distance
rom the end OF the line. The starting point on
the main line being o, station eighty-eight
miles away would be number IS, and II on
branch just the same, with the letter a prefixed
Tor the first branch. for the second, and SO on.
In this way, no matter how many new stations
ore built on railroad line there Is no confusion
Of numbers When . train leaves its starting
point the conductor ellis out blank report with
the numbers OF the cars In his train, and a he
leaves them along the route, or takes on
ofhers. keeps his record complete. Train
dispafchers keep the car accountant informed
Of the movement OF trains, the CONDUCTOR re-
ports give the details of each cars movements,
and the daily report OF station agents, giving
the numbers of cars received forwarded and on
hand, furnishes check for possible errors.
when foreign cars are received the record at
the junction shows the date. and the entry
stands until the car is returned to the line from
which IL was received, aud the initial d, for de-
Gvcred, put against it, A car received from a
connecting line at junction must be returned
BY the same junction. this rule being necessary
20 prevent confusion ard endless trouble Tho
n a rsa 1nxtx Of fo<c -
Just - particularly as that OF home cars q set
vlement must be made on q basis of * of cent
! mile for an ordinary freight car, or cents .
nile for passenger car.
To describe in detail the system of search BY
ptracers' for cars that have gone astray, would
leoaire considerable space, and it may b said
IN few words to be careful inspection of the
tcutc over which il left home. following step by
step its latest record until the discovery il mace
and reported from one official TO the other back
20 the home Office. Northern Pacific car may
be loaded in Seattle with hops for . town in
New York state, and pass over many lines in its
way, but when its destination Is reached and
the freight nnloaded, the rules require that
while IL may be loaded with goods for any poin,
West, II must be sent in the direction of home
when moved. Ii may be loaded and empticd
doscns of times, and even go back and forth for
days without gaining much on its homeward
Journey. but IL must eventually pass by the
oamc iuhStiohs from uue 10 line ana reach 1T
owners after time.
The Master Car-Builders' Association Is made
mp the master mechanics OF the important
railroads Of the United states and Canada, and
II has adopted strict rules for the inspection and
use of all cars interchanged by their lines. A
car must be Ia good order or it viii not be re.
eeived a; junction, and II received the com,
pany taking IL 10 responsible for its value while
In possession.
Mr. +. A. Barnap, now agent for the Co,umhis
4 Puget Sound at the depot in Seattle was car
accountant for the Oregon hallway and Navisa-
ton Company from January l. 1854, till January
]. lsao. when the compsny's lines were absorbed
BY the Union Pacific. lie saw its mileage grow
from 80 to So and lis equipment OF cars in.
crease from 40 TO 5000. ana was instrumental in
introducing many improvements In the name,
OF Keeping the rccords OF his Office To posr
iNrELllGKNcKR reporter he kindly described the
methods now in use by all the leading roads
and furnished the points for the psrsgrsphs