The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-03
4 TRATELLING RAILROAD SCHOOL.
Its Purpose u to Teach Engineers How to Use
the Air Brake Properly.

LEXINGTON, KY, Oct. IA travelling school
house is one Of the curiosities of modern rail-
reading. 1t is n queer schoolhouse, and it'cost
10000 to build. 1t is filed with levers. air
chambers, cylinders. whistles, gauges. valves,
cords, and pipes, and at one end is an upright
steam boiler and air pump, used in compressing
the air with which the apparatus is operated.
No children attend this school. Many OF the
pupils are grizzled, grimy veterans, who-havc
been railroading for years. Others are young
er men. and there is IA small sprinkling of boys
from IS years old up. They are taught by n reg.
ular professor, a graduate of IA mechanical col
lego. His pupils have no books. They listen
while he talks and watch while he demonstrates
the workings of the uir brake. His classes are
usually held from 9 till IL o'clock in the morn
ing and from : till . o'clock at night, so that
he can have for pupils the railroad men who
have recently come in off their runs.
The mir brake Is the one subject taught.
From fifteen 10 Twenty-Five pupils. will crowd
into The small space on the side of the middle
OF the room not occupied, by apparatus; The
professor is usually in his shirt sleeves and bare.
headed, FOR tho atmosphere in the room is always
from 9o0 to 10 made so By the steam boiler; The
professor has only one book and while he is doliy-
ering his lectures and talking about the posi-
bilities ms well as the troubles of the air ,brake
he keeps this book in the hip pocket Of his trou-
sers. After his lecture Is over he takes II ont,
and 1t is then found to be only II small blank
book. In this he writes the names Of he mem
btlS VI lIlN li0 btipl hiiI. ! VI NH'h 'lh'D
ton the pupils, and jots down opposite each
name the percentage of correct answers given.
Any who fall below Il certain mark have to come
back to school for another lesson. Sometimes
it takes three or four lessons to teach a man the
principles of the air brake; sometimes a man
will thoroughly understand the intricacies OF
the system at one lesson.
The apparatus repre- ients a locomotive and
a train of seventeen cars. EaCl car is repre-
scented by an air cylinder. The professor shows
how cay II is blythe proper manipulation OF the
engineers lever to put AL the brakes on N once
and to release them All at onCo. lie hen shows
how uuskilled engineers can and often do re-
lease one or two brakes at IA time, thus affect
ing the efficiency of tho service, lie illustrates
the emergency application, in which the entire
seventeen ears have their brakes sci in ono
second by he watch.
'"rhis was what was done by the drunken
legislator he said. lat the famous iarrytown
disaster. Unfortunately the legislator was on
tho forward section Of tho train. and when he
pulled the emergency rope IL stopped the train.
and before the brakes could he released the
train following 1t crashed into the rear coach. y
The professor does not charge his pupils tut
ton. Tie IL paid by the road to teach. the Gnu
plOyces the use and abuse of the air brake. The
Instruction car, as this travelling schoolhouse
is called, belongs to the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad and has been in LcNinston for the
past week, and it's schoolmaslcr; Prof. i%,luntley,
has instructed here fully one hundred Of tho
rOnd's employees. He travels over the road
the year roInd. stopping at the ends Of divisions
for n week o" more, rs becomes necessary