Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1897-12-24
RUNNING THE FAST EXPRESS.
The Train Dispatcher Has More to DO
with 10 Than the Engineer.

George Ethelbert Walsh contributes
an article on Running the Fast
Express" to st. Nicholas. Mr.. Walsh
says:
The eyes of the engineer are on the
clock and time. table before him, and
he keeps n sharp lookout ahead. For
various reasons he may fall afew min
utes behindhand at one point, but he
manages to make up the loss ut an
other. He has certain stops to make,
and he makes all speed possible be.
tween them. But he is not master
of the road. AT any moment q danger
signal along the line may confront
him. He may be ordered to bring his
train to standstill at a small way
station, and there receive telegraphic
orders to run on q siding He asks no
questions, but obeys orders. Five
minutes later Especial" may rush
past him, and then the signals are
set again, warning the engineer that
he must make up for lost time.
To understand this delay, and the
sudden changes made in tho time
table, it will be necessary to go back
TO headquarters and to watch the gen.
eral superintendent and the train des-
patcher Although many trains run
ming on the line are hundreds of miles
away, the exact position Of every one,
every second in the hour, is known
and recorded. A telegraph operator
is working industriously in the office
of the train dispatcher, receiving and
sending orders. The running. orders
of all the trains are directed from this
Office. Each engineer has orders to
make a certain run according TO the
timetable, unless other orders from
headquarters interfere.
If an accident happens on the road,
the train dispatcher knows il almost
a. soon as the passengers. A break
down of some local train on the main
line may upset oil the calculations of
the day. Immediately the ex-
presses running on that line must
be stopped before collision occurs.
A snowstorm may blockade train on
the northern branch of the road, and
thereby make necessary a change in
the regular schedule.
A train from the west is half an hour
behind, perhaps, and this interferes
with the regular running of the other
trains. Arrangements must be made
10 let trains pass without accident
The'express trains nearly always have
the right of way. A western express
may be behind time, and start out
five minutes ahead of some special
express. In this instance she, must
give the special the right of way, and
she is forced upon some siding. The
special express passes without losing
minute.
There are fifty trains coming and
going, one behind time, another ahead,
probably, and each crowding out an
other. The train-despatcher has to
regulate this tangle and keep things
running smoothly. Thus it is that
the engineer of the flyer may sudden
ly find himself side-tracked.
Should the train dispatcher make a
mistake, or fail to make arrangements
for two fast-moving trains, the block
signal system would probably prevent
an accident. The block.towers are
connected by telegraph lines, and
bell code enables the men TO commu-
nicate directly with each other. They
can stop train at any moment by
means of their signals, Independent of
orders from headquarters. Thus the
engineer depends entirely upon others
to keep the track clear, and he merely
runs his train as near schedule time
AZ possible, and keeps his iron steed
in perfect condition.