Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-17
DOPEY DAN AND LON
Railroading.
BY w. H. CLAGETT.

"Say. boss. do you think these rail-
ing to striker" asked Lon of Dopey
Dan, as he pulled out the makin's.
conscientious scrooples prevents
me from expressin' unbiased opin-
ion," replied Dopey Dan. with mean
in note in his voice. '"rwouldn't be
fair to the government, an don't
wanta. be Switched for commitin' less
majesty! I toiled as towerman once
for one of the biggest railroad con-
Germs in this country, an while condi-
tfons have changed since them rough-
an'-tumble days. the memory OF the
labored an the-misery I suffered the
first night on the job are too fresh In
mind to allow a fair answer.
+ Twas back in the fall o 1895, while
skfddin' through the great Empire
state O. Moo York. young. carefree an
superintendent of the Mohawk dtvis.
ion of the Moo York Central r. H., an
after listenin' to him discourse on
the thrills of the game. from the layln,
of ties to the clippin' Of coupons, l
fell for his chatter. applied for 3oo
an was took on as towerman:
The great interlockin' block slgnai
system was ruther new at the time.
the N. Y. c. bein' one of the first roads
to use it, an as it's workin's was grip.
pin, 1t didn't take me more'n ABOUT
ten days to get the whole mess
wigwaggin' stored tight in my noodie.
For two weeks ! tang e;oe - IRON thn
signals an workin' the levers. an
when I felt in my Bones 100 per cent
perfect (accordin' to the rule BOOK,
I CHANGED examination an was
signed up as a extra!
Gin them days the regular guar
deems Of the travelin' public "a few
telegraph operators excepted) pulled
down forty bucks a month, done
twelve-hour shifts 365 days in the
year with nary a day of for no kind
fired If caught entertaining in the
tower! A extra just stuck around
,waitfn' for a regular to go ratty, an
was paid when he labored!
From the minute I become a ELI
gible until two days later when l got
Oh. nervous actor. have you ever
opened in a tower! -
Il never closed my eyes for forty
eight hours. but when did get the
flash to report that night at Tower
No. 2, a sweet calm come Ger me an
my skeeriness vanished!
"Old No. was bridge tower To-
Gated a quarter of a mile outa East
Albany at the top of grade. hve
tracks run underneath her an she
sported a switch. She stood thirty
eight foot seven inches in her stock
in feet an her cabin was reached by
q iron ladder leadin' from the ground
to her poop deck a couple o. feet
higher!
'.Shinnin' that ladder was the work
for q circuser, but done it! An after
shakin' the mitt Of the gink I was
relievin', kissed him goodbye, an
was boss Of the block!
Block towers. then, was operated
on the 'daisy-chain' plan-do your hit
an shove It along. There was q mess
o. rules connected with the system.
but the three most important were:
voom-I mean block-at the same
time be sure that every train passin'
was sportin' rear signals "a train
broke in two is the railroad mans
nightmarel; an last, but not least.
don't monkey with the iEAtrument,
no matter what happens.
I'm the instrument box was three
liz cards. readfn', free. locked an
train I'm block With everything
clear the card stayed at Free but
when the rooster to your right rune
ger an the card dropped to locked
Just like that! An when the train
passed his tower on its way down to
you; without any meddlin' whatsoever
on your part, the pesky III paste
board would read train in block!
"Then you'd ask the party on your
.left@for a. unlock pull back the big
lever an set the signal at clear. an
when the train passed your dugout
on Its way to Moo York the liz old
card would drop back to free! Buh-
lieve me, twas one spooky game!
Next. you'd clear the guy who
started the excitement. jot down the
time an get back to the hay! The
signalin' was done on bells worked by
telegraph keys.
|. For four straight hours I batted
1000. clearin' trains, pullin' 'unlocks.
kiddin' engineers an tossin' day days
to cabooses as they shimmied by m,
tower, but along about midnight,
when business got slack an knowet
in my knowAr that all tracks was