Evening star., 1942-08-23
Star staff Photos.

-Dtu OtUU fSctSo'
Is handed In its turn, and large black
board hung In plain sight OF the entire
sta1 carries these admonitions: Answer
Calls Promptly: ""Be Courteous" BE Ac-
curate" This board Is one OF several
which carry information on train move
ments and special instructions with
which all the employees must be ac-
quainted.
Train Control Room
The real center of operations though.
ofncials say, is the train control room,
stated usually by four men who serve
as the haison between the tenant rail-
roads and the terminal. AL instruc-
tions regarding the movement Of trains
clear through here. and lines radiating
out from teletype machines provide In
stantaneous communication between
every unit in the terminal.
Another "hot spot is TX" tower, not
far from the end of the station platforms,
where the controls are operated for the
network of tracks over which dozens Of
trains move daily.
Watching signal boards for flashing
lights that tell Of a train leaving the sta
tion or entering the block on the way in,
train directors casually, and unhurriedly
call out to levermen the tracks over
which the movement Is to be made, and
the latter, with equal nonchalance. turn
cranks that set the switches. This layout
Is ~foolproof;" that is, the switches can
not be shifted in q way that would
produce collision.
But you could sure stop lot Of
trains If you went wrong" grins Mr.,
Spangler, the youthful supervisor.
And everybody would be very unhappy
over an incident of that sort.
Operations Force
The operations force Of the terminal
parallels that OF railroad including
also train and engine crews for switch
ing service; maintenance men, and the
other units that are required by the
trunk lines. In addition, however, the
organization also provides facilities not
ordinarily associated with the railroad =
ing industry.
FOR instance, there Is an electric plant
that UP to now has generated suf1cient
power Tor terminal needs. This Is be.
Ing enlarged and will be tied In with the
Potomac Electric Power Co. so addition.
n current may be obtained.
An Independent well system that
furnishes about 10000, 900 gallons of
water day, or about half Of the needs,
another feature. An ice plant, with
Acton capacity daily, is still another.
Thls is only minor part Of the ice re-
qured In hot weather though, as daily
consumption then runs around $40 tons.
much OF which goes for air-cooling.
Tne subject of ice-cooling is always
good for a reminiscent chuckle by ter
mlnal officials, for one Of the earliest
experiments in this field was conducted
mere about II years ago with a device
rugged up by Mr.. Tolson who recalls it
primarily as having been productive of
81 Of q lot of noise"
An electrically operated fan that
drove air through an iced pipe into a
tightly closed Pullman was the Tolson
contribution to the engineering art. and
the fact that 1t sent the temperature
IN the car down to a fannel-underwear
level on day when the thermometer
was crowding 100, demonstrated that
the idea had possibilities. Nothing cams
OF the endeavor right then, but it was
not long until preceding machines
were introduced, and from then ON air.
cooling was an accepted part Of travel
refinement.
The. hospital" maintained at Union
Station also Is unusual. There are two
rooms for the care OF passengers who
may be tndisposed temporarily. and .
clinic that is equipped for minor surgery
SQualing infants have made their
bow into the world there with tha helm
d the terminal medical and nursing stan,
A hotHishtng YMCA h maintained
sor the terminal employees.
The list Of eminent passengers who
have crossed through the broad con.
course reads like who's Who" OF the
world. Crowned heads Of many lands:
statesmen, military leaders. And day
In and day out, thousands Of Just plain
people.
Even after all the years he has spent
on the scene, Mr.. Tolson still is amazed
as he watches the throngs milling
around the train she'd
Il always wonder where they all are
going" he says.
kNSsSS