Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1914-06-05
NEEDS ALL HIS WITS
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER MUST
HAVE CLEAR MIND.
John BarIeycorn Never a Good Com
panlon for Railroad Man Who Is
Alive to His Responsibility
Avoid Distractions.

The railroad regards the engineer
rs Of more interest commercially than
ais engine, and a conductor as better
property than an observation car
The road regards the men 1t has devel-
oped as it's chief investments
The penalty for violation of Rule G
,anti-alcohoD is discharge; and a rail-
road has no eagerness to discharge its
.hief investments. The roads have
gone at the matter the other way
round. In varying degrees and by dis
similar methods they have undertaken
20 assist their men to keep Rule G
lnbroken.
people don't quite understand rail-
roading, because railroading is so diff
ferent from anything else" veteran
passenger conductor said. For in
stance, the general impression is that
a train in motion is controlled from
division headquarters. This Is mis-
take. A train Is controlled from its
front and it's middle. We are told
when to start and when to stop; the
rest is in the hands of the engineer
ard the conductor. They put the
train in motion and they land 1t in the
station or in the ditch. Their respon-
sibility is shared by the brakeman
and the fireman, by switchmen, signal
men and the dispatcher who sends the
train orders and the operator who
sCribbles them off the wire and hands
them to the conductor; but primarily
it Is the man on the front end and
myself who are responsible.
81 need my wits about me so sec
onds in every minute and 60 minutes
In ever hour. Things have happened
to my train sometimes just because all
the wits l have were not enough. 1t
is my opinion that one day, when the
devil had used all the tricks in his
bag to ruin trainman and had failed
IN his atatempt he sat down and in
vented booze
"One man of one generation didn't
make railroading what 1t is" said an
engine driver who has pulled trans
continental limited over a mountain
division for 20 years, land it Is all
one man can do to master enough of
il to run an engine as it should be
run. II there is any industrial job
in the world that calls for more COM
plete concentration, sounder judg-
ment and quicker action than the en-
gineer's, or that has more natural dis
fractions, l have never heard its
name.
Giving all my attention while I'm
running is not sufficient; | have to
prepare my mild for the run before
climb into the caS. l leave things as
harmonious as possible at home, kiss
the wife and kids and promise to
think about them-when | reach the
other end of the division. | avoid
quarrels or arguments and never &C
near the mail box before starting out
there might be a reprimand or a
query there that would creep into my
thoughts when l ought to be devoting
myself exclusively to the throttle, the
steam gauge and the Johnson bar.
81 do my Cabling and my story tell
ing with the fireman before we start
He never speaks to me when we are
in motion except on businessman
then he doesn't boiler round the boil
er; he comes and stands by my side
SO I won't have to take my eyes of
the track and the semaphores thai
tell me every two or three minute:
what about the block ahead. l built
stockade round my mind and ther
stand at the gate with a gun; admi
no thoughts except those that concern
my orders and my train.
Some enginemen may think the.
are big enough to carry drink;
know I'm not Frankly, had rathe
take the limited over the division
with a bandanna across my eyes thai
with two swallows of whisky in m,
insides! Rufus Steele in the Satur
| day Evening Post