The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-10-11
Meeting of Division Superin-
tendents to Be Held Tuesday.
To 'String the Card" For Santa
Fe Trains.
MEANS NEW TIME CARD
Interesting Method of Mapping
Train Movements.
Meeting Will Be Held at Santa
Fe Offices.

On Tuesday, October 10, the division
superintendents of the Santa F'e proper
representative a jurisdiction from AL
buquerque to Chicago, will meet in To-
peka for the purpose of revising the
Santa Fe time cards. The business of
the meeting is called, by railroad men,
,''stringing the card
The time card meeting was first an
nounced for yesterday, but owing to
the fact that certain of the division
superintendents could not be present, it
was postponed.
The names of the superintendent of
the Santa Fe proper, most of whom will
be in Topeka in person on Tuesday, are
as follows: F. T. Dolan, Chicago divis-
ion, headquarters, FIT. Madison; H. c.
Phillips, assistant Chicago division,
headquarters, FIT Madison;C B. Strohm,
Chicago terminals, Chicago; c. T. Nc
Iellan, eastern division, Topeka; H w.
Sharp, Kansas City terminals, Kansas
City; J. L. Barnes, Southern Kansas,
Chanute; Avery Turner. middle divis-
ion, Newton; H. A. Tice, Oklahoma.
Wichita; Il. ]. Whisenand, Pan Handle,
Wellington; George E. Aver, Western,
La Junta; r. ]. Parker, Colorado, Pu-
eblo; F. c. Fox. New Mexico and Rio
Grande, Las Vegas; J. F. McNally, as
sistant, Rio Grande. San MarciaL
The meeting will be held in the time
Santa Fe office building. Meetings of
this kind are held three or four times
a year. The meeting is always follow
ed by the issuance of a new time card
The time card room is one of the
most mysterious looking apartments in
the whole general office building. 1t is
occupied solely by a dozen or fifteen
huge wooden affairs which look like
white blackboardS hung in upright
standards. Each board is a time card.
--e-r<.
branch lines. The boards are about
eight feet long by seven feet high. They
are painted white.
The name of the division is at the top
of each board. Then, in a vertical row
at each side of the board are the sta
lions on that division, in regular order.
The space in the middle of the board
between the names of the stations Eek
cept narrow columns left to show the
distance between each station, and the
cumula tive distance) is divided into "a
columns each column representing an
hour of the day. and being SO number
ed. Each hour column is sub-divided
into IL divisions, representing intervals
of five minutes. The hour colun ms are
separated from each other by black
lines, the half hours by red lines, and
the minor divisions by blue lines.
Thus the hour and minutes at which
any train leaves any given point on the
division can be indicated by sticking
Trains going east are started from the
top of the board; trains going west
from the bottom. When the course of
a train is marked out with pins, a silk
thread is stretched along the zig-zag
pin line to make the line distinct and
graphic. Threads different colors are
used for different trains.
The board shows exactly the time 1t
takes train to make the run between
any given points. Stops for meals are
indicated by running the thread hori-
zontally across the spaces necessary to
indicate 10, Is, or 20 minutes as the
case may be- The faster train runs,
the more nearly vertical will the thread
extend across the board. The threads
indicate exactly where east and west
bound trains will meet, and when.
If a division superintendent finds that
any of his trains are unable, because of
heavy grades or other delay, to make
a certain distance as provided for in the
last time card, he presents the matter
to the time card meeting, and change
is made to accord with his recommen-
dations. A small change at any point
makes a similar change necessary all
along the subsequent route of the train,
and may make it necessary for the east
and west bund trains to meet at some
other siding than has been their GUS
tom. If a new train is put on. as will
be the case on November when the
Colorado limited begins it's daily run
from Chicago to Colorado, its course
must all be mapped out by the threads
on the time board the places where it
will meet and pass other trains must
be ascertained, and it must be made to
s.jibe" with other trains on the sche-
dule.
This is the kind of work which the
division superintendent will have on
their hands when they assemble here
next Tuesday.