The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1906-08-17
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WRECKERS
How the Train Is Equipped for Clear
ing Track

~
ing Track
you want a story OF how we clear
away wrecks
well" says the old wrecking fore
man, in an article in the Iron Trail,
perhaps IL IS after q hard days work
down cars, for usually the Erecking
crew is made up Of ten OF the car re-
pair men,
Every man knows exactly where
the wrecking outfit is-On by the
round house where the night crew IS
doing all II can to hurry along the fire
and raising steam pressure OF the en-
CINE that IS TO take the outfit on its
errand OF mercy.
This outfit il it is modern, con-
sists Of a steam derrick car, with
steam always up, Weighing in the
neighbOrhOod OF $50, 900 pounds, with
a lifting capacity OF siXtyhve tons
Behind the derrick comes the
to be used under derailed cars or car
bodies whose trucks have been ruined
Next comes the blocking car, loaded
down with all necessary blocking and
timber.
Then there is the track supply car,
equipped with all the necessary track
material. such as ties and rails The
tool car is the next in order. This
carries jacks OF all descriptions. from
six-inch pony jack TO a fOrty-tOn
]
bars, Chisels, hammers, wrenChes,
dope buckets, packing spoons, lines,
tackles and blocks, night and day sig
nails, terpaulinS for covering merChan-
disc, and stretchers, blankets, and
sheets for the injured and the dead.
Next is the cook and bunk car,
and finally, the CabOOse. The former
has a range, a refrigerator, and a
stock Of food that will keep II has
hunks for eighteen or twenty men,
f.
and stored on q sidetrack.
The first thing that a wreCking
foreman does on being called is to get
into communication with the chief
particulars possible. If il is a meT-
chandise wreck, empty freight cars
are taken along into which can be
transferred such freight and grain as
can be saved
He also finds out as near as he can
badly il is piled. II il is a passenger
wTeck-why, Of course it is a case Of
get there as quickly as possible, Won
dering all the time who the dead and
injured are and what new scene Of
awfUlness will be confronted.
The wrecking outfit has the right
starting point and the place where the
wreck occurs Passenger, stock, and
freight are all sidetracked.
"a stop is made at the station or
siding nearest the wreck Here the
steam derrick is switched ahead Of the
Of way over all trains between the
engine, with the rest Of the outfit
coupled behind. On arriving at the
wreck a man is stationed at the front
end OF the crane, whose duty is is to
give signals TO the engineer Of the der
rick, whether to raise, lower, or to
swing the crane
The first thing a wrecking foreman
does after finding out where the in
juTed are, and getting them loose, is to
figure on working a paSSageway
through the wreck and replacing the
track as the debris is cleared. If the
wreck is bad one, and there is a
chance a temporary track is built
around the mess, that traffic may be
resumed as soon as possible.
Cars that are damaged beyond re-
pair are dragged into the ditch, all the
truck and air brake rigging taken
from them, and the body Of the car
set afire. All OF the iron parts are
afterward loaded on to fat cars. often
even the boiler Of the locomotive. This
scrap is taken to the shop to be re-
paired and used over again
Even freight wrecks can present a
terrible appearance. One Of the worst
OF these ] ever saw was fOTty-five
loads Of wheat, the products Of many
hundred acres, piled forty feet high.
and extending from right-ofway fence
to rigt-Of-way fence-a regular hill
Of gold, which took one solid weeks
work TO clear away. Carload after car
load of wheat had to be loaded by
basket into new cars, while many tons
OF bent and twisted iron and heap
upon heap Of ashes told a silent story
OF the wreck.
"One time we went out to pick up a
stock wreck Of eleven cars. These, next
to passenger wrecks, are the worst to
handle This particular wreck was one
Of great confusion. The penned cattle
were believing frightfuIly. On each
side and far over toward the fence
lay dead or injured stock.
Now there is nothing that makes
these western steers so angry as the
smell OF blood, and add to that injury
and the terrible excitement OF a wreck
and you have a combination thatmakes
the poor animals fairly crazy. Woe
to the man who gets close to a head
OF the heels OF a. struggling beast The
cars were piled in such a way that we
were compelled to rip the tops of.
Then men cTawied out along the
wreckage, fastened lines about the
horns, and with the aid Of the derrick
the animals were finally dragged loose.
Those in the car that were badly in
jUred were killed by a blow on the
head with a sledge, while the others
were rounded up by men on horse
back and herded into the field, to be
finally driven to the first stock chute
and there reloaded.
Yes, passenger wrecks are, without