The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1907-08-21
THE TRAIN BELL ROPE.
How Il and the Conductors Supremacy
Came to Be Established.

Came to Be Established.
Although there does not seem To be
anything in common between pugllism
and railroad rules. yet the adoption of
the familiar bell rope that stretches
through ever. ear of the modern train
was the result of Il 1stlc encounter. At
the same time and by the issue of the
same combat the supremacy of the con
ductor IN railroad travel was ordained.
II WAS Philadelphia which gave both
to the world
One of the oldest railroads In the
country Is the Philadelphia, Whining
ton aud Baltimore, now known as the
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing
ton. which wills opened In 1885, The
terminus In Philadelphia WAS ut Broad
and Prime streets Prime street now
being known MS Washington avenue
and after crossing the Schuylkill river
at osraN'S Ferry the route ran along the
Delaware river on what Is now the
Chester line of the Reading railway.
| Tile first schedule contained one pas
scngef train. which went TO baltimore
| one day and came back the next, which
wits considered remarkable feat In
rapid travel When train day each
WAY WIS placed In service the people
of the Two cities served concluded that
| the aeme of convenience IN trausporta-
ton had been reached.
NaXf IN I'm. nr,SiJapt nf tho a
the most important functionaries were
the engineer and conductor 1t was IL
| question whether or not the head Of
the line WIS not considered subsdi-
airy officer In popular estimation to the
men who ran the train, but Robert
Fogg Who pulled the throttle, and
John Wolf, who collected fares. won
the Difference of the public because OF
their high and responsible duties
Fogg. an Englishman. had nl the
tenaeitH Of opinion of his race Wolf,
IN American, had the ingenuity of the
Yankee and. seeing the need of some
method 10y which he could communi-
cate with the engineer devised the
scheme of running II cord through the
cars 10 the locomotive AZ the engine
WIS a wood burner, Wolf fastened one
end of the cord TO IL log. which was
| placed on the engineers sent and was
pulled 10 the floor when the conductor
desired To signal for II stop
Fogs resented what he considered nm
Interference With his rights on the
| platform Of the locomotive aud on the
| first run out from Broad and Prime
streets With the new device paid no
heed 10 the displacement of the log
| from the seat WHEN the conductor de.
sired In take on Il passenger from II
| farm near Gray's Ferry. but sped on
over the bridge and did not deign to
| bring his engine To n stop until Blue
| Bell station, on the south side of the
| Schuylkill had been reached. Then
| he demanded to know of Wolf why he
had been jerking that log all about the
| locomotive.
! Wolf holly declared that he had sig
nailed Ia stop, but Fogg rctortcd that
he would stop when and where h,
pleased and that too, without any ref
erehce to orders from the conductor
whom he did not regard MS his superior
| In the management of the train. The
| alteration grew very heated, and Wolf
| invited the engineer from the cab IL
settle the mattcr. and the challenge
was quickly accepted
Passengers and II group of men who
had gathered at the station to see the
train come IN formed II ring about the
conhatants, but the fight did not last
long, as Wolf proved by fur the su-
perior artist with his fists and with
Il few blows made II almost impossible
for the engineer TO see sufficiently to
complete his run but Fogg admitted
that he had been fairly beaten and the
supremacy of the conductor on Il train
was settled for all time.
As the log signal WIS crude and in
effective. Wolf devised the use of n
bell on the locomotive, and this method
was soon adopted by nil of the Amer
lean railroads. Then code of sig
nails was adopted, and these remain
practically to this day The only
change In the bell cord IS that by use
Of the air from the brake system II
whistle has superseded the bell I'm the
locomotive cub. Philadelphia Ledger.