The St. Johns herald., 1898-02-26
,,,nn,Nc THE FAST EXPRESS.
Tt,. t,.Train-Dispatcher Has More to Do
 with It than the Engineer.

,-;tI, It than the Engineer.
 George Ethelbert Walsh contributes on article on Running the Fast Elk nress', to the St. Nicholas. Mir. Walsh says:
 The eyes of the engineer are on the clock and timetable before him, and he keeps a sharp lookout ahead. For vari- ous reasons he may fall few minutes behindhand at one point, but he man. ages to make up the loss at another. He has certain stops to make, and he makes all speed possible between them. But he is not master of the road. At any moment a danger-Signal along the line may confront him. He may be or dered to bring his train to standstill at a small way-station, and there re ceive telegraphic orders to run on a siding. He asks no questions, but obeys orders. Five minutes later special" may rush past him, and then the sig nals are set again, warning the en- gineer of the express that he must make up for lost time.
 To understand this delay, and the sudden changes made in the timetable, 1t will be necessary to go back to head quarters and to watch the general su- perintendent and the train-dispatcher. Although many trains running on the line are hundreds of miles away, the exact position of every one, every sec ond in the hour, Is known and record ed. A telegraph operator Is working industriouSly in the office of the train dispatcher, receiving and sending or ders. 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 1t almost as soon as the passengers. A break down of some local train on the main line may upset all the calculations of the day. Immediately the expresses running on that line must be stopped before a collision occurs. A snow
 
 northern branch of the road, and there by make necessary change in the reg ular 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 to 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 ex- press. In this instance she must give the special the right of way, and she Is forced upon some siding. The spe- clal express passes without losing a minute.
 There are fifty trains coming and go- ing, one behind time, another ahead, probably, and each crowding out an- other. The train-dispatcher has to regulate this tangle and keep things running smoothly. Thus it is that the engineer of a fiier may suddenly 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 con- nected by telegraph lines, and bell code enables the men to communicate 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 as possible, and keeps his iron steed in perfect con- ditiOn.