The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-12
THE TRAIN DISPATCHER.
BIS WORK, SO RESPONSIBLE AND
RISKY, Is VERY FASCINATING
The Many Moving Trains Under His
Charge Depend for Safety Upon His
Comprehensive Picture"
From the Ne,O Yors Sun.

| Charge Depend for Safety Upon Ills
Comprehensive picture"
From the Ne,O YORK. Sun.
81 tell you, boys, it's the most fascinating
work ever tried and I've been rallroadlDR for
twenty-five years and takon turn at every.
thing from brakeman to division superin-
| tendent."
So spoke the train dispatcher TO a company Of
railroad men and the reporter.
why, said the latter, 81 thought train dis
patching was too risky TO make the sense Of re-
sponsibility comfortable"
ut may be partly that at bottom but a train
dispatcher to do his work must lose sight Of the
awful consequences that might follow a mis-
| take II be didn't he'd lose his nerve every
time Why, every train. or single locomotive
| for that matter, of the hundreds whose move
ments he directs every day is fraught with
greater possibilities OF disaster involving life
property, or both, than any man can contem-
plate aud not want to desert the RESPONSE
billy"
gether those possibilities, so that hos fit 70
move trains without hesitation and not get rat
tled?" asked the reporter.
well. it's the same answer to that as in other
cases where nerve is needed. It's the conf
dence that comes with experience, II you've
run trains without accident, why you feel you
can do il again
"When the danger Of catastrophe is lost sight
OF, g" resumed the dispatcher, THE fascination
comes In In the completely OF the problems
which present themselves every hour. How
to get the most trains through,
in opposite directions, giving each its rights
over the Others, is the sum of a dispatcher's
task 1t isn't enough to get each train as II
comes along through safely; you've got to deal
with scores at the same time, look ahead and
"yfon ongnt TO Be a good chess player" sug-
gested the reporter.
II do pretend to play pretty fair game, and
you're right; the same faculties tnat tell In
chess come into play in train dispatchinR. But
with trains you're dealing with men that are,
when under way, out or your control FOR
time 80 that the difficulties OF the game are In
one way increased by the introduction of NOV
ing pieces So while you don't wildly realize
the possible consequence Of your moves on the
steel-ruled board. the dim consciousness you
have Of responsibility makes the railroad game
"And it's something only the human mind
can grapple with. I've seen mechanical soon
trivance5 used TO follow on board the move
ments Of trains with the idea OF checking the
liability OF the dispatcher to drop stitch and
allowing him 10 think Of something else with
out losing the situation But, after all. it's the
man who must b. depended on 10 know that
the board is right. If it gets set wrong the
hoard OF pegs only embarrRsses him in trying
TO recover his 'pi ture, as the boys call #.
"a train dispatcher has got to havs a mental
time OF all the trains under hia hands. II that's
gone, God help him!
''Why, I've seen a man stand between two
telegraph operators debating orders 20 one aud
the other as fast "a he could talk many time
without ANYTHING between his messages and
disasters except the changing, but at every
minute whole aud exact picture Of all the miles
OF track which he ru IS. suppose IL IS double
track with few miles OF single track between
the sldings his mind must work like lightning
10 keep them going and avoid collisions.
1--WE seen a man standing In the operators
tower In such situations, debating, grow sud
denly white as a cloth He had lost his pict-
ure' A moment OF awful suspense, and then
with great sigh, almost groan, OF relief he
would recover 1t.
That instant, unblurred. mental image is the
peculiar faculty developed by the dispatcher's
business
ITO give you an idea how complicated these
mental photographs may be. and how many
points. any one of perhaps fatal Importance.
the mind must take in at once. was at one
time dispatcher over a section OF double-track
road Of sixty miles Regular trains passed a
given point every four minutes. In this section
was ten miles Of single track, a 'hozback' that
is a grade both ways TO its middle. requiring
two locomotives to pull trains up 10 the highest
point when they left either Of the double tracks
with the regular trafdc on the latter, and