Bisbee daily review., 1907-07-28
THE BREAKDOWN GANG
Quick and Hard Work When a
 Railroad SmaShup Comes.
THE ROUGH AND READY CREW.

| They Board the Wreck Special arc Are Speeded to the Scene of the Ae- eident-The Rush, the Peril and the
 Difficulty of the Work They Do. I Did you ever hear of the minute l men of the breakdown gang-the fel 1 lows who are the rough and readies Of | the line? In the roundhouse or repair | shop yOC see them hammering, riyct | ing, perhaps running the drill press oI
 plate cutter. Then in rushes the cal i boy. Not stopping to get out of jump.
 CT and overalls, but grabbing their caps, off they run to the wrecker. | A powder fell on the track. The | switch handle was turned the wrong | way. A loose spike may have mis. placed the rail. But it is not for them ] to stop and learn how it happened l The shapeleSs mass of torn and twist 1 ed framework. which few hours be. | fore people called train, must be at tackled with chain and rope, bar and | adjourned, if need be-to open the | way, for until they have performed their duty the line is blocked. and the wheels of perhaps a thousand cars cease to turn. So away goes the break | down gang at breaknecE speed. Or ders have gone ahead for a clear track, and even the limited and fast mali | must take the siding until the minute men have passed on the way to the rescue.
 You don't hear much about them un- less you are q railroader but the su- perintendent, the manager perhaps some of the directors, know them. Sc lected from the veterans in the shops, they are all round mechanics, but brains as well as fingers are needed, and a man has to be quick witted to get into this gang. In the fifteen or twenty which make up the average crew you can general ly find two or three little men; for there are tight places in wreck where they can do considerable work in prop ping up or loosening a part, crawling into holes which no one else could reach. The boss wrecker tries to get two or three left handlers also, as their services are valuable in hammering away in corners where q right handed man would be useless. Some of the best wrecking crews in the country include number of sailors. The half hitchcs and other knots that only the seamen can make are of great service in securely fastening lines to portions If the wreck and to the crane or To- comOtive used in pulling it away. The old salts are familiar with the assist ance that q combination of. pulleys will give, for they have been taught it on shipboard. while usually they are very strong and wiry. Consequently a man of this kind who is out Of a job at any time can frequently go with the wTecking crew.
 Their limited Is not much for looks Like the men, it is also rough and ready. Down by the division round house or repair shop it stands on siding where it can take the line at a minutes notice. There is nothing un- usual in its appearance except the crane car, which carries the heavy ar tillery of this little army of rescue. Two or three flat cars, q box car or SO and at the end a passenger coach or caboOse make up the train, but every article it carries, from the extra truck wheels to the coupling pins, has been loaded with such care that every man knows where to put his hands on what be wants. Usually the running gear gets the worst of it in a wreck, so one of the fat cars contains extra trucks and wheels to be substituted for the broken ones. Next to this car is placed the big steel crane, which yanks masses of wood and metal about as though they weighed pounds instead of tons, and Is capable of lifting a fifty ton en- zine.
 Enter the box car and you see a miHiature lumber yard-sQuare pieces l or timber all the way from an inch to q foot through. They are wanted for propping up the wreckage, which may 1 be holding down the living as well as ! the dead. These props may aid in say 1 ing life, but they also are handy to hold up coaches when the crew are putting wheels or other parts in place. In one l corner are coils of rope an inch or more thick. Boxes of bolts and nuts
 and screws lie side by side on the floor. On the walls hang hooks, pull leys, saws and axes. Heavy steel crowbars are piled in another corner. In short, this is a repair shop and storehouse on wheels.
 Any old coach will do for the crew, ! provided it's wheels and axles are sound Taking out some of the seats 1 gives room for a table where the men can eat and play cards if they don't
 want to get a nap on the way, but if dozen wooden hunks round the sides
 give them chance. Sometimes an end
 is partitioned off into a galley where
 they can make a pot of coffee or fry
 a steak while en route.
 Such is the usCal makeup of the
 wreck special" as the railroader | terms it. When called into service, q
 big driver engine backs doyyn to it and
 couples on- There is no s.ce1 Of any
 speed orders. Those G-a tslderstood in
 advance. On the straight track the
 man in the cab opens his throttle to the last notch. and the telegraph poles
 at the side Of the line fit by so fast
 that they seem only dozen feet apart
 Only on the shorter curves and on the
 down grades and bridges is the throt
 tie again moved and the air put or
 until the heap of ruins, from which too
 often arise flames and smoke, come
 into view.
 The first thing to find out is If any