Connecticut western news., 1912-06-27
A VETERAN CONDUCTOR
Frederick w. Tanner Has Witnessed Marvellous Changes in RaiIroadlnE.

Marvellous Changes in RaiIroadlnE-
 Conductor Frederick w. Tanner, of the day "Pittsfield express" the veteran of all the railroad vets, is now in the 53d year of his service on the Berkshire division, having celebrated the 52d An- niversary of his railroad experience on | April 1. He is the oldest employe, in years of service on this division, if not on any division of the New York and New Haven system, and it is doubtful ploye who has given to single division more than 52 years of continuous service.
 Mir. Tanner, who began railroading as a mere boy, has grown old in the ser vice, but old in years only. He is neither hoary- y-headed, decrepit nor grabbed. The years rest lightly upon him, and he is as spry as many a man 20 years his junior-in fact another "veteran" of 25 years service with the company, MT. l. M. Story. of the railroads legal de- partment, said to Mir. Tanner, coming up on his train last Monday, "One would hardly believe from your appear ance. that you have seen as many years of life as you have given to the service of the road"
 This veteran conductors first service was on the old Hudson & Berkshire railroad, which was absorbed by the Housatonic in the early sixties, part of which is now the State Line Branch. For seventeen years he ran on the State Line branch, and was not only the Con- duotor of the only train on the line, but agent at both terminals, at the same time. In the early sixties there were two freight trains week over tho branch, averaging eight cars a week When he left that link for the Berk- shire main line the branch was handI- ing something over 100 cars @ day.
 During MT. Tanners experience he has witnessed the evolution of railroad ing from practically It's crudest stage to its present highly perfected development In his first years on the H. & B., he ran over the old strap rail, and knows from experience something about the evil of the ''snake head" In those days, or about the time the telegraph was intro duced, every conductor was virtually his own despatcher, and frequently took long risks, There was only one passenger train day in each direction, between Pittsfeld and Bridgeport, aud as that was long before the days of air-brakes. practically every man of the crew had to act as brazeman-the fireman twisted a brake-wheel in the cab of the loco motive. and the baggage. master did the same In his car. They began putting on the brakes before the train had got within a mile of 8 station, and as the couplings were the ordinary link and ''bumper" with several inches of slack, the process of stopping a train involved a series of violent jerks and starts that lasted until the train came to a dead stop; and in starting. the same slack en- abled the forward end of the train to get under fair headway by the time the tension reached the rear car, which would be jerked forward with force sufficient to yank the passengers' heads off their shoulders.
 The locomotives used in those days were the little wood-burnsrs, with balloon stacks that belched forth smoke. fro and burning embers and frequently set fire to the woods and sometimes to build ings along the line. Mir. Tanner recalls that he helped to throw many a cord of sawed wood into the tender of the en- zine before the days of anthracite coal.
 The cars were warmed in winter with small, round, wood-burnIng stoves, and illuminated at night with three sperm candles-one at each end of the oar and one near the middle. These gave just enough light to enable the passengers ts
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