The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1902-07-03
TAKING CARE OF A TRAIN
THE ELABORATE. SYSTEM OF M
SPECTION AND RENEWAL,

Just Eeeh Comp efed at (0ilInW0od,
Ohio Marvellous Wreckins Machinery.
Few people who travel, and few Of
those who daily depend upon the rail:
roads of tho country for the Rauiing
of freight, have ahy idea OF the part
which the ARMY Of men who work;
day in and out; OIL repairs only; play
in the world OF transportation: nor
of how many thousands Of human
lives are annually saved by the con-
scientious attention of these men to
their work. In the, inspecting and re-
pairing departments of the American
railroads are employed not less than
100000 men, to whose skill and quick
perception the public owes debt Of
gratitude.
The average hassehgeF train Is thor:
anshlE INSPECTED it all large cities,
lbO to 35J miles apart, ana is hastily
iooked over at many other stops be-
sides. Six minutes time is allowed
for thorough inspection. Four men,
two at each end, oegin the work of
looking over the wheels. the trucks
the couplings and ell parts Of the car
which are liable te get out Of order:
These inea from 10th ends meet at
the middle eli the train, and the In;
spettion is completed: While they are
doing this work the oiler, who IS nick
named III the car repairing circles
Sometimes as the "doper,' looks out
for hat boxes and properly lubricates
all the heated parts. At the same in
stant the ice-man, with his tongs, is
lifting chunks of ice into the tanks
in the interior of the coaches,
Freight trains are inspected with
just as mich care as the passenger
coaches, bit, the work being done up
on the repair tracks, in an obscure To-
cation, the public practically sees
nothing of it. At some of the pritlci.
pal repair tracks, even in cities OF
not more than $4,000 population, as
many as 1906 and 1900 cars are in
spected every "a hours, and this by
four men, two working nights and two
days. When a train moves in upon q.
track for an inspection but a half
inmate Ia allowed te each car, and SO
rapid are Tue work1nen that they do
it thoroughly in this time. Were the
railroads not sure that these men are
perfectly capable of doing the work
in the time now allotted, they would,
of course; Increase the limit, for If
there is One department more than
another in which the railroads are par
ticular about perfect work it is IN the
line of proper and adequate repairs:
When train Of cars arrives in the
yards NEAR the repair tracks the re-
pairers place: blue flag in daytime,
or a blue light at night, at each end
of the train. This warns railroaders
that the inspectors arg at work On the
train, though they may not be visible,
Often being under the cars. The loco
motive must not be attached wnen
these blue signals show forth from
the ends of the train. One of the in.
spectors passes over the tops of the
cars, He is on the lookout for leaky
roof, If it be box car; ii it be an ore
or coal car, then he must look out
1or the condition of the chains which
hold the drop-bottoms. The men
working about the trucks must look
out for a broken fiangs; a checked
wheel; bent axles, loose bolts, bad air
connections, condition of the air re.
servoirs and many other things.
AS soon as defect is found card
is tackled on the car by the inspector.
There are different cards used to de-
signate rolling stock that is in bad Or
der One card denotes danger, and
that the car mist be handled with care
Until it is unloaded and placed upon
the repair tracks. Another card de-
notes the condition of the air brakes.
The car may be in such shape that it
must go at the rear of the train, and
have no connection with air, or it may
be that it can BE- ruin between cars
Of air, but that the reservoir of the car
fnust he cut out, the air simply passing
through the pipes Of the car, without
having any effect as to setting the
brakes upon it. Box cars with leaky
roofs must Ire transferred to some dis:
tinct line of of traffic, such as the car
rying of coke.
No one can we'll doubt that the car
repairers are skilled workmen. They
must be able to discern checks on q
wheel and know that eventually it may
mean q crack which will develop into
a broken wheel. A broken Wheel in
turn, may mean a fearful wreck. When
a man begins as a car repairer he must
first work about the repair track with
some one wEo is experienced, and be-
fore he learns perfectly every part OF
tie trade should spend; perhaps, two or
three years: It would seem that these
men would receive big pay, but they
do not get as much as in matly Of the
other departments. Western roads, It
is said, pay men more than the east
0IU lOl Ills WI n. LII oOA1S POI 10 VI
the eastern and central states they get
but ISL cents an hour, while the
switchrnen of the same locality get In
the neighborhood Of Is cents an hour.
This the repairers believe Is bit
unjust. and they are now in some sec.
tions Of the country asking that their
wages he raised.
Of late there has been a tendency
to change the plan Of this work to that
cf piecework, but the change has not
yet been in effect long enough for the
man to feel just sure how they like
it. BY the piecework plan they are
paid certain scale rate for each
separate bit of work they do. For
example, if there is to be sill put
into a car the workman is paid the
scale rate for placing sills. The ques-
tons which arise. however, relate to
whether he is 70 be paid for the extra
work he must do in tearing away
timDers and bolts in a disabled car
prior 10 putting in the new sill. In
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