The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-05-26

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Must Pass Examination.
First, all employees in train service
which includes engine men, must pas
q rigid examination on hearing ant
eyesight before they are employed u
permitted to actually enter the serv
ice, and at intervals thereafter 81
long as they remain in the service
Those who are employed as trainme1
must serve three or several years a.
brakeman before they r eligible t;
the position Of conductor, during
which time. they are required at IN
tervals to take examinations on trans
portation rules and regulations, which
include all signals, hand lamp, whis
tie, semaphore, flags and switch sig
nails, also block system, and move
ments of trains by train orders, all
of which is a science within itself.
Then comes the air brakes, which
they all must thoroughly understand
and at intervals pass rigid examina'
lions. The air brakes are constantly
being improved, requiring constant
study in order to keep posted and up
to date. Those who are employed as
.enginemen must in addition take
what is called the mechanical exam
inaticE, which is divided into three
years, this examination consisting OF
several hundred questions, covering
the care and management of the loco.
motive and air brakes, which must
be answered in writing. A certain
number Of these questions must be
answered at the close or the FIRST
years service, a certain number at
the close of the second year and the
balance before promotion to the POSI-
ton Of engineer. Therefore, you will
see that the men who now fill the re
sponsible positions OF engineers and
conductors must be thoroughly versed
in their several vocations in order to
properly and economically discharge
their responsible duties.
Great Responsibilities.
Concerning responsibility, I feel
safe in saying that I know of no mar
or set of men who are daily assum-s
ing any greater responsibility than.
the modern locomotive engineer. Did,
you ever stop to think what a slight
mistake in the reading of a train or.
der means? Why, it may mean wreck
and death to thousands of dollars and
hundreds Of people, all Of which is
beyond measuring from a dollar and
cent standpoint, while a similar mis-
take in carrying on commercial az
fairs would mean. at best but a few
dollars. Therefore you can readily
understand the great necessity Of
thorough education in railroad opera
ton, especially 30 since the travelling
public and commercial world are con.
stant1y clamoring for cheaper rates
and faster time, all Of which means.
additional risk, better. track, greater
power, longer trains, larger cars with
greater carrying capacity. To meet
all these requirements of this colossal
change that has taken place, and to
make possible the greater dispatch
and safety in handling the traffic on
the modern scale by the railroads, the
air brake has in my opinion done
more than any nj of the many great
improvements in railway equipment.
In fact you seldom, II ever, heard of
an accident occurring because we
could not start q train or make It go
fast enough. On the other hand, we
read almost daily Of accidents which
occur because we could not stop
quick enough. Hence proper power
brakes contribute more, to safe rail-
way operation than any of the numer-
Gus individual appliances which have
been invented in the last half cen
tury.
Expense Of Equipment.
While the Northern Pacific Railway
company everywhere has done much
to bring aboutthe vast improvements
necessary to meet modern require
ments, by the adopting and equip
ping OF its cars and engines with the
most up to date improvements besides
furnishing its employees with the ne
cessary literature in the way of in
.struction books, covering the air
brakes, etc., they have also equipped
at a great cost, a car, known as the
instruction car. This car is equipped
with a full set of section models, Gov. /
erlng the entire air brake equipment
and working models representing a
l0car passenger train, including the
train air signaling apparatus, togeth.
er with equipment that represents a
5O-car freight train, all of which ena-
bles the necessary illustration of the
operation OF the brakes in regular
service. And in addition to all this
the air brake companies furnish us
with a full set of large lithograph
charts, covering practically the entire
air hrakn on1yip~ap% NIT. |