The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-01
TASK FOR AN ENGINE.

Men Who are Held Responsible When
 it Falls ShSort in its Work.
 When a locomotive is built it is ex-
 pected to make a certain mileage be- fore it receives a general overhauling. When that overhauling is done it is again required to make a as1efnite mi
 leage.
 A modern passenger locomotive is ex- pected says the Ohio Magazine, to cover one hundred thousand miles be- tween general ''shoppings,' intermedi- ate repairs being made at the various | roundhouses.
 Responsibility for the failure of To- comotive to perform the work cut out
 for it is easily fixed by means of 1 system of records. The superintendent ! of shops is responsible for all power cut out of service on the road and placed inside the shop grounds, and this responsibility does not end until the locomotive is ready for service again. From the time that it is ready for service until it is once more cut out | for repairs in the shop the master me- | chanic shoulders the responsibility l When the locomotive is ready to leave the shops it is inspected jointly
 by the shop inspector, under the super | inten1ent of shops, and an inspector | working under the master mechanic. l Every workman who has any part
 whatever in the handling of the loco
 motive is responsible to his immediate 1 foreman just as the foreman is respon 1 sible to his superior.
 In spite of the many intricate parts 1 of a locomotive the company records ! show less than one engine failure for every sixteen thousand miles. An len ! zine failure" is a delay of one minute or more to any train, provided it is | caused by failure of the machinery of I the locomotive.
 ] Each of the many locomotives of
 big system-seven hundred in one case has a decided individuality in the, eyes of the railroad. At headquarters
 is known not only the cost of original { construction, but the cost of labor and materials used in repairs and the en-
 tire expense of maintenance down to | date.
 ] The labor of every man who works for even an hour upon a certain engine | is charged to that engine, each me- chanic recording his labor upon slip
 of paper known as daily time certifl ! cate, which in turn is certified to by his
 immediate foreman and forwarded to ' the general timekeeped. The records
 of the road enable the officials to show
 the exact cost of labor and material
 o1- { or each ton hauled.
 ] In the case of collisions or wreeks, where the fault Is not one of defective ] workmanship or material the locomo- { tive may enter the general shops for , rebuilding, even though it may not | have completed the mileage assigned to 1t, and no responsibility attaches itself | to those on whom it would otherwise l fall. The locomotive is simply repaired
 and is allowed to complete the mileage
 originally assigned it.
 When a locomotive is brought into
 the shops for work it is first stripped by the men who comprise what is known as the stripping gang This 1 gang immediately takes off such parts
 of the engine as are necessary for the
 respective job.
 The parts to be repaired are cleaned
 in vat and the work is then distribu-
 ted among the various employees of the
 machine and blacksmith departments,
 each part when repaired to be returned
 to the erecting side of the shop, to be ] mounted again on the locomotive by ' the date on which it is scheduled to go
 on the road. The dates are posted in a
 conspicuous place convenient to each ! rnrafv oor0