Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1893-07-06
TRAIN DISPATCHING.
WORK so RESPONSIBLE AND RISKY
is YET FASCINATING.

Dispatcher's Charge Depend For safety
Upon His Comprehensive Mental "Pic-
ture"-some Examples.
II tell you, boys, it's the most fascinat-
ing work ever tried, and I've been rail
roading for 25 years and taken a turn at
everything from brakeman TO division su-
perintendent."
So spoke the train dispatcher to a COM
pany of railroad men and the reporter.
Why" said the latter, Il thought train
dispatching was too risky to make the
sense of responsibility comfortable!" -.
1T may be partly that at bottom, but a
train dispatcher to do his work must lose
sight of the awful consequences that might
follow mistake. If he didn't, he'd lose
his nerve every time. Why, every train, or
single locomotive for that matter, of the
hundreds whose movements he directs
every day is fraught with greater possi-
bllities of disaster, involving life or prop
erty, or both, than any man can contem-
plate and not want to desert the response
bility."
But how can man put out of his mind
altogether those possibilities, so that he's
fit to move trains without hesitation and
not get rattledF" asked the reporter.
We'll, it's the same answer to that as in
other cases where nerve is needed. It's the
confidence that comes with experience. If
you've run trains without accident, why
you feel you can do it again"
when the danger of catastrophe is lost
sight OF, '" resumed the dispatcher, "the fas-
cination comes in in the compleXity of the
problems which present themselves every
hour How to get the most trains through
In opposite directions, giving each its
right over the others, is the sum of a dis
patcher's task. 1t isn't enough to get each
train as it comes along through safely;
you've got to deal with scores at the same
time, look ahead and keep them moving"
You ought to be good chess player"
suggested the reporter.
az do pretend 70 plav pretty fair game
and you're right. The same faculties that
tell in chess come into play in train dispatch.
ing, but with trains you're dealing with
men that are, when under way, out of
your control for time, so that the Difficult
ties of the game are in one way increased
by the introduction of moving pieces. So,
while you don't vividly realize the possible
consequences OF your move on the steel
ruled board, the dim consciousness you
have of responsibility makes the railroad
game big one.
And it's something only the human
mind can grapple with. I've seen mechan-
ical contrivances used to follow on a board
the movements of trains, with the idea of
checking the liability of the dispatcher to
drop a stitch and allowing him to think of
something else without losing the situa-
tion. But, after all, it's the man who must
be depended on to know that the board is
right. If it gets set wrong, the board of
pegs only embarrasses him in trying to re
cover his picture as the boys call it.
"A train dispatcher has got to have
mental picture of tho relative positions at
any given time of all the trains under his
hands. If that's gone, God help himl
why, I've seen man stand between
two telegraph operators debating orders to
one and the other as fast as he could talk
many time without anything between his
messages and disasters, except the chang
ing, but at every minute whole and exact
picture of all the miles of track which he
runs. Suppose it is double track, with
few miles of single track between and sid
ings, his mind must work like lightning to
keep them going and avoid collisions.
i've seen man standing in the opera
tors tower in such situations, debating,
grow suddenly white rs a cloth. He had
lost his picture A moment of awful sus
pense, and then with great sigh, almost
groan, of relief he would recover it.
THAT instant, unblurred, mental image
is the peculiar faculty ydevelopedJby the dis
patcher's business.
ITO give you an idea how complicated
these mental photographs may be and how
many points, any one of perhaps fatal i'm
portance, the mind must take in at once, ]
was at one time dispatcher over section of
double track road of co miles, Regular
trains passed given point every four min
utes. In this section was 10 miles of single
track-a 'hogback'-that is, grade both
ways to its middle, requiring two locomo
tives to pull trains up to the highest point,
when they left either of the double tracks.
with the regular traffic on the latter
and the locomotives coming back from the
hogback, twice the ordinary number, and
just as likely to cause loss to property, IL
not to life or trains, 1t was quick work
You must takein, too, the presence of trains
running under special orders to put them
through. Add to that the liability to an
emergency call for 'props,to be forwarded
instantly to the company's mines to guard
against threatened cavein, and you have
q good idea of the problems train dis.
patcher has to grapple with
Every once in awhile a dispatcher gets
a realizing glimpse of the responsibility
placed on him by the way he is pulled up
for any irregularity. His superiors must
be the strictest disciplinarians TO guard the
company against losses. For an illustra-
tion: One winter night had a train which
had positive orders to put through. II
was blocked at certain point by passen-
ger train stalled in the snow. / could over
come the obstacle In two ways-either push
the passenger through with an extra loco
motive, or take the urgent train back,
switch it to another track and go around
the passenger train. The first way would
take about Is minutes, the other perhaps
an hour and a half. II was late to lose
time, so sent an order to push the passen-
ger train out Of the way. 1t was done, and
through my other train went all right.
made the usual note Of the maneuver in
my daily report TO the division superintend-
ent, and in day or two got message that
he would like TO see me.
"The superintendent was one Of the kind
who doesn't make any fuss, but goes TO the
heart Of the matter In hand. While speak
ing to me about some commonplace sub
iect he took down a volume Of the penal
code and pointed out a section for me to
read. 1t described the offense OF pushing
passenger trains and the statutory penalty.
He said, i guess | don't need TO say any
thing more, do ~ ! said, I hope not, and
went out feeling as II had just escaped a
criminal conviction.
Passenger trains, the law provides, must
be hauled, not pushed, and l haven't given
any orders TO violate the statute since that
time."-New York Sun.