Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-07-21
RAILWAY GUARDS IN ENGLAND.
A Survival Of the Past-Hardships OF
the Old Timers.

The Diamond Jubilee of the Railway
Guards Universal Friendly Society
which enjoys the patronage of the
King-reminds us that the railway
guard is a survival of the past. says
1.-THE London Globe" He occupies, I'M
der charged conditions, the same post
as did the stage coach guard of years
gone by. The coming of railways
caused great distress among those de-
pendent upon the coaching system for
their livelihood. Drivers, guards, horse
keepers, ostlers, etc, suddenly found
themselves stranded, just as the Lon
don cab drivers are suffering today
owing to the INTRODUCTION of the mo-
tor vehicle. Generally speaking, the
guards were the only coaching officials
able to continue their calling with the
new means of locomotion, but as
guards of railway trains the older men
among them soon dropped out, owing
to the harder life which the latter SER
vice cntailed.
To begin with, the railway guard &C.
cupied kind of ''dickey" overlooking
the tops of the carriages, where he was
utterly unprotected from the weather,
and from the smoke and fiery particles
emitted by the engine Two guards
were allotted to each passenger train,
an upper and an under one. The up
per sat on the last carriage with his
face to the engine. and was furnished
with wire spectacles or begoggled
face mask to protect his eyes from the
ashes. The under guard sat on the
carriage next to the engine with his
back to the engine. BY this vis-a-vls
arrangement each guard had constant
~ before him all the carriages in the
train except the one he was riding up
OIL, and they could both communicate
with each other by signal. The coaches
upon which the guards rode were al
| ways. and usually, the only braked We
hicles on the train, the retarding agen-
cy being hand-operated screw brakes;
but if the train was very heavy addf-
tional brake vans and guards were sent
| with it.
The oldtime upper guard had null
tifarirHs duties to perform. He noti-
| fled the engine driver through his I'M
der guard when the train was travel
ing too quick or too slow, and when to
stop, and after applying the brakes
both men hurriedly descended to see
that they had not caught fire. The up
per guard superintended the slowing Of
luggage on the roofs of the vehicles, af-
ter the "strapper" had inspected, clean,
shampooed and refreshed with cold
drawn heats foot oil the iron wire lin
en- luggage straps. But notwithstand-
ing careful slowing, the luggage often
got displaced ty the oscillation on the
| train. whence it ran the risk of falling
off or striking an oEerbridge, and de-
spite tarpaulin covers it was frequent
| ly set on fire by the sparks from the
| engine, while if packed too tight it eX-
| cluded the air from and eXtinguished
| the roof lamps In case of serious ac-
| cidcnt both guards were expected to
render first aid, being instructed in the
use of the tourniquet and carrying
band;ges for the purpose. They were
| instructed not to allow passengers to
stand up in the open coaches while in
motion, nor in any other manner to
endanger themselves by improper ex-
posurc, and not to permit them to
alght for the purpose of rebooking by
| the same train. Guards were forbid
| den to pass over the tops of carria ges
when in motion, but they might clam
| Der along the footboards TO collect
| tickets, etc. as it still done on Contin-
entail railways though the increasing
| speed of trains soon led to this latter
| practice being discontinued. The upper
| guard was intrusted with way bills and
! kept journal recording the running
| of the train.
| In 1877, owing To the great speed of
| the bread gauge trains, the Great Wes-
| tern Company transferred the under
guard to an iron "dickey' at the back
| of the locomotive tender, where he
| could more easily communicate with
the engineman, and rechristened him
travelling porter" The opponents of
| the narrow gauge. however, at once
| claimed this innovation as a confession
| of weakness regarding the safety OF
| the broad gauge trains and nicknamed
| the porter the man in the iron coffin. y
| After while the discomforts and
hardships suffered by guards were al
| leviated by giving the roof seat a box
| shaped shelter glazed in front. The
next step in advance were regular
shut-in vans for them to travel by, and
for storing the luggage in safety, while
good lookout along the top of the train
| the roof of the new van furnished with
a raised glazed lookout An interesting
| feature of the North London Com
| panys rolling stock consists of the re-
tenticn Of the raised guards lookouts.
| which are seldom to he met with now
on any other line, as their utility pretty
well vanished the introduction OF
automatic continuous brakes, whereby
the control of the train was transferred
from the guards manipulating hand
brakes to the engine driver primarily
Lastly, the guards accommodation as.
<sumed its present form of thoroughly
well sheltered and brilliantly lighted
vehicles, with padded seats and appar-
atus for warming food while travelling.