New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-01-07

ofan the men in railroad office. from presi-
dent TO porter. there is none that occupies such
a mysterious, romantic and autocratic position
as the train dispatcher He is exclusive in ms
habits ana czarlike in his ways. Even his su-
perior officers dare not take him to task while
he is on duty and interiors stand in abiding awe
of him Wheels roll and wheels stop at his sole
command. Sitting shirt sleeved in his den' ne
holds electric reius over hundred numbering
sYaShr cifat fly ir contrary directions along lhe
steel tracks The unseen. shifting reality CORE
sponds with a moving picture In his mlhu' Inc
picture is not what it TWO minutes ago an"
will be two minutes hence.
you want TO see the train dispatcher III
credulously repeated one railroad official
.ryss WHY not?" said Tribune reporter.
.The train dispatcher? My dear sir the pieSi-
,5.,+ has more time The train dispatcher mas
<-r.s. responsibiIties the lives of thousands oe-
80 r,oo his work No couldn't even lei you
tste a n,ctire because his assistants might
,.ya their attention distracted ana "Ie0h
,,,gbt hannen while you click your shutter
How about a talk while he's at -uhcheoh'
..-rh. d,s,atcher never lunches. 1 mean out
side where YOU could find him. He eats III '
of7ce No sir; wouldn't dare give you ms hu
dress because he needs the few sleepils No'
allotted 10 him Look here, you woui0h uis
turb Michael Angelo Whlle he was IL.
THE Last Supper? That's the proposition OF 'i'e
train dispatcher Please don't seek 10 WHY
him. 7 70
1y,or tho nersistent reporter managed 10
ca . +-oir dtsnatcher less inaccessible lhal
,.i,..l Angelo in the offices Of the Jersey Cen
,ral Rsilroad II was at an hour when Ualii0
ros light and Superintendent E. T. hel VIZ
bs,,ine once been dispatcher himself o@ie'
10 recommend the inquirer TO the po'eii'a'e
+ha establishment. The latter, quiet man VIZ,
a cronred nustache, Mr.. Campbell at Holle an
~ thrill producing initials, c L. - uo"h ny
,ina amisblv consented to tell all that an ou'-
slider might understand. =
S'lrl two offices of the dispatcher IN
49,. srs+ sits the chief. fanked ny 'eiepii0- -,
'",-.-.a.,, ,,struu1ents He is on duty mostly ~
spi' 49, General supervision over the
..-.,,o,,ts of all trains and solves kno''9 P'oD
i -. ~, nv his assistants. A man si'7
L., clicking important messages +Ni'
,,-;ndo1v desk figures out the ois'i iOu
. oo,s and complies records lrol' -
e,r the benefit of superior Loot
tram si, o,7;ocent office overlooks 'ii =
lie .b of the train sheu -
- ,,,f77ne engines are moNliie ,.eo-,os 1t
o'1si la-,,-ors hasten down the pa t,,o cor
tire ta'' ,,-ot1ern enough to nailae 4.,,e
- ;,ht here All the begiillii''e' tho shed
1ui,. tho track labyrinth poS ,;les of
= to,, the divisions seVen.S Ids thrown
,,a5r,nle and double tracks 20 trains in
quaui '1.l..,a,e and an average Oh ~ ,o.+ +o
in at inter doing their Level ue
l"eiil' table into cooked mo- ,,;a+
knock lie aezoe is 2 peaceful place - Itch
Yet lhl7 =, .ba constantly chahsiiie
bIoa0 che thud of the air luz a. .o,,nd of
u -. report slip and a, me - . train
,s..;co+or showing by ng go, on one
ti'e -. left IN No. = or NO ? 49,, 5ivision,
i'l , .1,a-e is a blue print map - the route;
- ,,,erv signal and s"i''" ,o-+ical dia-
...os;+a if is map that sho o,.ar, mile of
opposite II .,,+oge of grade on every li,i
gram Use fo Ales OF orders on hoo
trach' - .,,erv engines capaci'S
statei' +ou mahogany cased clo0h
oluoh a hand. whose output OF 'H
6fteen seconds a moh'n' ,,,,,7or-
iio ,ortentous character wien life
SUI .ts relation to the system y 49,. limo
MARTY Washington seIlds li 90,
- o,,er the wire. but that clocA : bo,5
litter of railroad destiny anu ~
r,,5es on with noiseless solehii''s either
o,;ef 5ispatchers assistants 81 o. 80
me -. ,o,,. desk sloped table. quietly doiiis
SUI ii, IF iotting little figures on lne
led exnarses of the train sheelS-
-, ,o+ seen a train sheet may llIdsll!e 2
,;1, -iece of white paper large ellousii II .
,.sb material for a mans paper o'eISoa1
s,..,aoa 1e,,ethways into four parts, correspoiid
=, =. .,a four tracks of the road, two pas'eilSsi
Is 80 freight tracks for east and west ! 80,
a. .hA +on are given the names ana utSho
-, a,.-,,+cbers. who are duty for eight iioll
,o5s The weather at Z a. m, ) p m aiiu =
&c recorded and not for an ldie cause.
-. weather means extra hazard through
- a,ezoul+v In seeing signals; low temperature
ort.c+e the hauling ability Of the engine. =
~I..,ttns r,led space gives the names OF en-
-. ,,d conductor; below IS the number OF
- -, .be number of the engine and the
roske-up of cars Then begins the actual time
-aonrs ~ the trip. registered in blue and black
r,Ied SQUARES. One sheet contains just TOO
.,,o,.. which are more or less filed in with
time reports of $40 odd trains in course Of the
day
One understands why all dspatchers are
prernaturely gray. Detail ana ahNleIS eoiil
bine 10 whiten their hair
AS soon as a wheel begins 10 roll whether
starting from the home station in some distant
ward or entereing the division from anothers
jurisdiction the tchar. takes charge He is
in sole command of the crawling freight and the
fast EXPRESS The timetable makes no differ
ence: he demands to know the exact position Of
every train at every possible moment. The
towermen located three miles apart, wire the
time of every train that passes in either direc-
tion and this is the record in minutes and sec
onds constantly coming in and constantly being
registered on the train sheet. The dispatcher's
hand is thus ever on the pulse of the moving