Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-10-26
RAILROAD TIME TABLES.
MUCH DEPENDS ON THE ACCURACY
OF THEIR MAKEUP.

|
u1ed on the Time Tables
Everybody is more or less acquainted
with the general working of the rail-
road business, but there are number
OF details which, though of great i'm
portance, are not quite so familiar.
I The construction of O railroad time
table may be taken as an example.
The necessity and value of time
table are unquestioned, for there is
no composition that is more studied
and upon which more depends than
this little folded strip of paper with
Its apparently uninter esting figures,
and nearly everybody has wondered
at some time or other how the wonder
full accuracy and harm ony of the whole
have been attained.
The time table familiar to every
/ patron of railroad is not at all
complete one, for only small pro-
portion of the trains that are run on
any road are indicated upon the folder
for distribution. There are many
trains running at oil times that the
traveller knowns or cares nothing
about, but these, like the passenger
trains, must have their scheduled run
ming time.
Every railroad division has q special
time table for the use of its engineers
and trainmen, and this consists of
large card of perhaps four feet in
length and two in width. Upon this
card is given all the information neces-
sary regarding the movements of every
engine and train, SO arranged as to be
! seen at glance.
The work of getting up time table
requires some time, and it is not ex-
aclty the work of any one man. At
the head of every railroad division
there is passenger agent, who has
charge of all through trains and all
trains running through onto roads
not in his division. He knows when
these trains are to start, when they
should reach their destinations, and
what connections they will make upon
his own or other divisions.
This is the beginning OF the time
table. 4 schedule is made of these
data, and as soon as it found that all
is in working order the schedule,
which contains only information
about the regular and more impor-
tant trains,i is given to the trainmaster,
who at once proceeds to make it COM
plete.
This is an arduous task, and re-
quires considerable time. The train
master takes large board, seven or
eight feet long and about four feet
wide, and tacks sheet of paper
over it. The sheet of paper is then
ruled off into little squares with heavy
lines.
The spaces between the vertio,l
lines represent each five minutes of
the running day of twenty -four hours;
those between the horizontal lines
represent the stations at which any
train may stop.
In the operations which follow the
trainmaster must work with thor
ough knowledge of the road He
must be intimately acquainted with
every inch of it, its road-bed, grades,
switches, stations, and, in fact, every
thing that has any possible relation to
the speed or safety of q train.
The purpose he has in view in MAX
ing his time table is to arrange the
| runs OF each engine and train on the
road that there will be no waste
of time and no confusion. He knows
from his schedule received from the
passenger agent that certain train
must be given the right of way over
all other trains.
A train is to leave station A, for
example, at IL. 05 o'clock, to arrive at
station X at o'clock The trainmas-
ter takes thread and tacks one end
of it in the space at the upper part of
the sheet which is marked in large
figures, 1905, and on line with sta
tion A. The other end he draws along
to the other side of the sheet and at
taches it in the space under the figure
4 and on line with the station
marked X.
All intermediate stations touched
by the passing train are also desig-
mated by tack placed in it's appro-
pirate square, with the thread wound
around it, and the result is in many
cases n zigzag line, for the distances
between stations are often unequal
| "hNa cOSiuSo a. piuii Wl'i ~ iuaboE Ou
one part OF the road than upon an
other by reason of grades, etc. This
same process is carried on with all the
other trains.
| Where trains have clear road the
trainmaster has simple enough job
of it. His real hard work come in
when trains meet each other, especial
ly on single track roads. This must
be provided for in the time table, and
many weary hours are spent in so
placing train that it may switch the
other to pass by. Having finished
with his passenger trains to his salts
faction, the maker of the time table
proceed to get his freights out of the
way.
These present problem OF no mean
proportions, for on large road they
come and 60 every few minutes, and
somehow they must give way to the
express and other passenger trains.
Sometimes it requires days for the
trainmaster to get all straight. The
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