Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1906-08-16
THROUGH ENoLANp's FOES
Iron Nerve Required by Engins-Driv-
era and Many Precautions
Necessary.


Express trains at 60 miles an hour
in q dense fog is the remarkable
achievement of railway companies to-
day, as a result Of patient experiment
and years. Of experience in fog-signal-
Ing
Engine-drivers require an iron nerve
to drive an express train during fog
that obscures the signals, but the
man On whom he relies for safe run
ming is the fog-signalman. The sight
Of these men appearing at intervals
along the line inspires him with the
confidence that no amount OF ingeni-
GUS appliances could give, for the fog
man is in practice a human subsu-
tute for the ordinary methods of sig
mailing, which to the driver are non
existent for the time being.
Fogmen are drawn from the gangs
Of plate-layers, their occupation Of re-
pairing the line being too hazardous
to follow during a fog. Fogmen are
divided into three classes-callmen,
fog-signalmen and reliefmen-and,
for the purpose Of signaling, the line
is divided up into sections, the en-
trance Of each section being guarded
by a distant" or "nsh-tail" signal.
This signal indicates the state Of the
section ahead, and II at danger the
driver knows that he must reduce
speed, and be prepared to stop dead
at the next, or home. signal, until the
section Is clear.
Each fogman has Q definite post al
lotted to him, to which he repairs
when a fog comes on. On his way to
the signal which he is Jogging" he
reports to the signalman at the near
est cabin, obtains a supply Of deto-
majors, flags, and q haud-lamp. Ar-
rived at his post, he Axes on the rail
two decorators, ten yards apart So
long as the signal remains at "dan-
ger" the two detonatorB are kept on
the rail, and are exploded BY passing
trains, the fosmsn showing the driver
and guard a red danger signal with
his hand-lamp. In railway phrase
ology this Is known as shooting the
driver" and has the effect of pulling
up the train pretty sharply. One OF
two explosions has the same signih-
canoe, two detonatoYs being put down
as q precautionary measure against
the event Of one being defective and
failing to explode. =.
As an additional pr0oaution, . plate
layer is employed at the principal
signalboxes to act a. Eroundman.
His duties are to watch the trains
as they pass, and report to the signal
man In his cabin above any unusual
occurrence.
Fogmen work IL hours at stretch.
II called out after an ordinary days
work, the hours Of Jogging duty" are
limited to six, and the reliefmen tahe
their places. Like soldiers on sentry
duty, they are periodically visited by
responsible officials, to insure that
their duties are being performed ef-
ficiently. They are supplied with re-
freshments at intervals, and each man
is supplied with hut and "hre-devil."
Enormous quantities of detonators
are used annually, and as they cost
two cents each, this item, added to the
wages bill of the fogmen, Is large
financial burden ON railway companies.
To avoid the waste Of using two
decorators where one would answer
the purpose, railway companies have
now extensively adopted an ingenious
appliance known as a decorator econo-
miser. The feature Of this machine is
that the explosive force Of the first
detonator is used to defect a plate,
which, revolves a crank, and takes the
second detonator off the rail. If the
first detonator fails to explode, the
second remains on the rail.
At numerous places where fog-sig-
nalmen attend to two signals de-
tonator-laying machines are in use,
to minimize the number of accidents
that have occurred to men crossing
the lines.