Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-05

IND you ever hear of the Minute Men of the
II Breakdown Gang-the fellows who are
the rough and readies of the line? In the
| round house or repair shop you see them ham,
mering, riveting, perhaps running the drill
boy. Not stopping to get out of jumper and
overalls, but grabbing their caps, off they run
to the wrecker.
A bouldcr fell on the track; the switch
handle was turned the wrong way; a loose
spike may have misplaced the rail; but it is
not for them to stop and learn how it happened.
The shapeless mass of torn and twisted frame
work, which few hours before people called
train, must be attacked with chain and rope,
bar and ax,-burned, 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 Breakdown Gang at breakneck
speed. Orders have gone ahead for clear
track, and even the Limited and Fast Mail
must take the siding until the Minute Men
have passed on the way to the rescue
You don't hear much about them unless
you are railroader; but the superintendent,
the manager, perhaps some of the directors,
know them. Selected 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.
Men to Crawl Into Holes
TN the fifteen or twenty which make up the
l average crew, you can generally ind two or
three little men; for there are tight places in
wreck where they can do considerable
work in propping up or loosening 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
a right handed man would be useless Some
of the best wrecking crews in the country in
clude a number of sailors. The half bitches
and other knots that only the seamen can make
are of great service in securely fastening lines
to portions of the wreck and to the crane or
locomotive used in pulling it away. The old
salts are familiar with the assistance that a
combination of pulleys will give, for they have
been taught it on shipboard, while usually
man of this kind who is out of job at
any time can frequently 60 with the wreck
ing 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 a siding where it can take the line
at minutes notice. There is nothing unusual
in its appearance except the crane car, which
carries the heavy artillery of this little army
of rescue. Two or three fiat cars, box car or
so, and at the end 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 he
wants. OSualIy the running gear gets the
| worst of it in wreck, so one of the fat cars
contains extra trucks and wheels to be sub
stituted 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 fifty-ton engine.
Enter the box car. and you see miniature
lumber yard-square pieces of timber all the
way from an inch to foot through. They are
wanted for propping up the wreckage, which
may be holding down the living as well as the
dead. These props may aid in saving life, but
they also are handy to hold up coaches when
the crew are putting wheels or other parts in
place. In one corner are coils of rope an inch
or more thick. Boxes of bolts and nuts and
screws lay side by side on the floor. On the
walls hang hooks, pu1leys, saws, axes. Heavy
steel crowbars are piled in another corner. In
short, this is repair shop and storehouse on
wheels.
Their Travelling Home
A NY old coach will do for the crew, provided
1 \ its wheels and axles are sound. Taking out
some of the seats gives room for table where
the men can eat and play cards if they don't
want to get nap on the way; but # they have
time for little sleep half a dozen wooden
hunks round the sides give them a chance.
Sometimes an end is partitioned off into
galley where they can make pot of coffee or
fry steak while en- route
Such is the usual make up of the Wreck
Special" as the railroader terms it. When
called into service, big driver engine backs
down to it and couples on, There is no need