Evening star., 1937-06-06
By WilIiam 4. Bell, L.

OF architecture. With trains arriving
and departing on an average of one
every six minutes, with $1,000 peo-
pie inbound and outbound throughout
24-hour day, 1t is the most repre-
sentative place in town OF the spec
tacle Of restless mankind's moving
from one place to another.
Now as never before America is on
the 60. Higher incomes, structural
and decorative improvements in rail-
road equipment and lower rail fares
have pushed the volume OF train travel
to high levels and more than 2O,000,-
600 people year are flowing through
the gateway Of the Washington
Terminal
Most of these travellers have tickets
tor destinations 100 miles or more
away. That is feature of the sta
ton which distinguishes it from others
presenting buster scene-it is prin-
cipally through-train station, serv-
Ing virtually no large suburban COM
munities where rail facilities are used
extensively
Under present schedules, the first
daily arrival at Union Station is q
train from Memphis due at am.
Between that time and the last train
from New York at 11:40 pm, l13
trains will have emptied their passen-
gers on the stations concrete plat
forms Departures, beginning with
train for New Orleans at 1905 am.
and ending with an Atlanta-bo
train at 1159 pm, currently total
1l6 every "a hours. And this rail-
road men call an "of season! Sched-
ules were far more crowded between
December is and April IS, travel to
Southern Winter resorts having been
among the briskest in history Winter
Vacatlonlsts we're going to Florida and
thereabouts at such rate that some
trains were running in four and five
sections and on one day 10 sections
OF q Florida train were operated.
THE immense volume of travel in
and out of Washington also is
reflected by the fact that approXi-
mately 5000 tickets daily were sold
at Union Station last month, an in
crease of about 40 per cent over the
corresponding month in 1896. Ticket
revenues, it was learned. have in
creased approximately 10 per cent.
Present train service out Of Wash
1ngton for New York, and vice versa,
provides 20 arrivals and % departures
daily.
Such a picture of travel l-at-a- peak
contrasts sharply with the scene of
three decades ago when Union Station
was opened In those days station
platforms were shorter and wooden
passenger coaches and Pullmans meas
ured only about so feet in length,
compared to the 85-foot steel cars OF
today. A train of eight cars, at that
time, was considered long. The trains
of 1897 have as many as IA, Is and
16 cars
Because Washington is the major
"breaking point" between the North
and South more switching of trains is
done here than in most stations While
q number of trains are made up at
the yard, there are number of con-
nections which have to be switched to
their appointed trains. This task is
performed by the terminal company's
fleet of switch engines
It is estimated that about 27,5Oo
people arrive at, and that the same
number leaves, Union Station each
day. Five or six years ago, arrivals
and departures were less than half
those totals.
When train has been unloaded
here it Is taken into the yards and
gone over thoroughly. 1t is cleaned,
water and electric sources are re-
supplied, the locomotive is taken to
the roundhouse for inspection and
each car is examined by men from the
mechanical force of 1000, exclusive of
the Pullman men who condition the
equipment Of that company
Many trains do not receive this at
tention, of course, as they are through
trains and remain in the station only
rs or 80 minutes at the longest.
CITATION authorities are informed
over railroad-owned telegraph
wires Of the movements of all incom-
ing trains This enables them to plan
how to route the trains on station
tracks and to inform the public OF the
progress OF trains.
One Of the "nausts" Of station pro-
cedure Is that train crews report to
the station forces Immediately after
their trains have been emptied of pas
sengers. This is usually the job Of
the conductor, who is as much the
master of his train as a ships cap
tain is OF his vessel. He is supposed
to report any Observation-Disclosures
there has been damage, accident or
injury, however slight; whether there
has been complaint OF rough handling
OF the train, sharp stops, jolting starts
The station forces, in turn, make a
list OF any such occurrences and sub
NIT 1t to the railroad involved.
Next to the actual handling of
trains the most important item Of sta
tion procedure are those involving
public contacts-ticket sales, Pullman
reservations and information and the
handling OF baggage
Two or more men-more during
rush periods such as occur around
Christmas, Inauguration day. Easter
and cherry blossom time-always are
kept on duty in the waiting-room in
formation booth to answer travellers
questions, What time can I get
train that will take me through
to Walhalla, Ca? How much is a
ticket to Phoenix, Ariz? What train
do I take to make the best connec-
TOMS with the Pan-Americaa plane
for Havana at Miami? Where do you
get street car to go to the Cathedral?
How do you get to Constitution Hall?
In addition to the human en-
cyclopedias in the waiting room there
aTe half dozen telephone 1nforma-
ton clerks in the ticket ONCE. 1t Is
these who know the answers when
you call National 276O,
Then there IS another group Of
clerks which handles Pullman reser-
vations. Before them are shelves
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