The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-06-25
THE BREAKDOWN GANG
Quick and Hard Work When a
Railroad Smashup Comes.
THE ROUGH AND READY CREW.
They Board the Wreck Special and
Are SPeeded to the Scene of the Ac-
cident-The Rush, the Peril and the
Difficulty of the Work They Do.

Did you ever hear of the minute
men of the breakdown gang-the fell
lows who are the rough and readies of
the line? In the roundhouse or repair
shop you see them hammering, rivet-
ing, perhaps running the drill press or
plate cutter. Then In rushes the call
boy. Not stopping to get out of jump
er and overalls, but grabbing their
caps, off they run to the wrecker
A bowlder 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.
The shapeless mass of torn and twist
ed framework, which a few hours be-
fore people called a train, must be at
tackled 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 break
down gang at breakneck speed. Or
ders have gone ahead for a 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 I'M
less you are a railroader, but the SUI
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
~ find two or three little men; for
there are tight places in a 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 a right handed
man would be useless. Some of the
best wrecking crews In the country
include number of sailors. The half
bitches and other knots that only the
seamen can make are of great service
I'm securely fastening lines to portions
of the wreck and to the crane or To-
connective used in pulling it away The
old salts are familiar with the assist
ance that combination of pulleys will
give, for they have been taught 1t 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
wrecking 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 1t can take the line at a
minutes notice. There is nothing I'M
usual in its appearance except the
crane car, which carries the heavy ar
tillery of this little army of rescue
Two or three fiat cars, a box car or
so and at the end a passenger coach or
caboose make up the train, but every
article 1t 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. Usually the running gear
gets the worst of 1t 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-
CINE.
Enter the box car and you see
miniature lumber yard-square pieces
Of timber all the way from an inch to
a foot through. They are wanted for
up the wreckage which may
be holding down the living as well as
the dead. These props may aid in saw
Ing 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 lie side by side on the
floor. On the walls hang hooks, pull
!eZA saws and 4axess.. Heavy steel