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God Bless America
By Jerry L. Ginther
Volumes have been written on this topic not to mention hundreds of ballads. To appreciate the latter, one only needs to remember a few of the old songs praising the brave engineers of steam engine days. Who hasn't heard the words to "Casey Jones", "The Wreck of Old 97" and "The Wabash Cannonball" just to mention a few. The engineman was the hero of the rails and train wrecks were the subjects of much folklore.
The sentiments of crackling caldrons and hobos around a fire in a train yard tugs at our hearts. Some nights the sound of a lonesome train whistle in the distance brings on such heart breaking loneliness to a fellow pining for a lost love that he wonders if he will survive until the dawn. Oh, if railroad engineers only knew the role they have played in the lives of lonely, heart broken lovers. The fireman shoveled the coal, the engineer kept his hand on the throttle, his eye on the rail and America moved forward to the age of diesel locomotives.
Another important member of the train crew was the brakeman. Before the invention of the air brake, these men played a significant role in the operation of the train, because they actually applied the brakes. They also performed the coupling and uncoupling of cars that were picked up and setout along the route. The latter operation remains about the same today. One brakeman, referred to as the head brakeman, would remain on or near the engine most of the trip and handle any switches necessary for the train to change tracks. The others would ride in various places on the train to set the brakes as required. The engineer started the train, but the brakeman was vital in controlling the speed on steep grades and ultimately stopping it. The locomotive alone did not provide enough braking traction to prevent the heavy train from running away on hills and mountain grades. The occupation of brakeman was the most dangerous job on the train crew. His job required him to move about the train on walkways provided for that purpose on the tops of railcars. These narrow walkways facilitated foot travel between cars, which was necessary for him to set the hand brake on several cars. Ladders were placed on each end of the car not only for climbing, but, also, to provide a place to stand between the cars when overhead obstructions made it dangerous to ride atop the moving train. The engineer would call for brakes to be set with "whistle signals" and the brakemen would move from car to car setting the number of hand brakes required to control the train's speed. Once the brakes were no longer required, the engineer would call for the release of the brakes with the whistle. Many of these brakemen were killed as a result of either falling from moving trains or being knocked off the cars while passing through tunnels or by objects too close to the tracks. Of course this was a greater hazard during the hours of darkness or in heavy fog. In the folklore the brave engineer got the glory, but the tragedy of a fallen brakeman was rarely mentioned.
Two other members of the crew we have yet to discuss are the conductor and flagman. These two usually occupied the caboose which was located at the rear of the train. Simply stated, the conductor was the boss and the flagman protected the rear of the train from rear end collisions with following trains.
As stated above the conductor is the boss. Every member of the train and engine crew is subordinate to him, and the engine crew is under the direction of the brakemen/trainmen. The engineer is strictly a power operator and moves the train only when instructed to do so by a trainman or the conductor. The fireman, when they were used, was under the supervision of the engineman.
When the train picked up or set out cars at stations along the line, the conductor handled the business end of each transaction with the station agent. This business mostly amounted to the exchange of the waybills for cars left and those added to his train. A waybill contains a description of the car's lading, weight and destination and one must accompany each car in the train's consist. It also contains the name of the shipper, point of origin and the consignee. The conductor is responsible to know the total number of cars, whether they are loaded or empty and the total tonnage of his train. This information had to be provided by the conductor to agents or telegraph operators at predetermined stations along the line. Those operators would telegraph that information to the train dispatcher. Without this knowledge, the dispatcher would be unable to plan meeting places between opposing trains. At sidings used for the meeting and passing of trains, one of them would have to fit between the switches of the siding.
When a train stopped due to an unexpected situation, usually a mechanical failure or derailment, the flagman was sent back a specified distance from the rear end. He carried with him a red flag, lantern and possibly ten-minute fusees if they were available in those early years. There he would flag any train approaching from the rear and remain at that location until he was called in by a whistle signal from the engine or lantern signal from the conductor. The flagman on the train he stopped would have to do the same to protect the rear of his train and so on. In more recent times, flagmen were required to toss off burning fusees at ten-minute intervals anytime their trains slowed to less than half of the authorized timetable speed. An engineer finding a burning fusee on or near the track had to stop his train and wait for the fusee to burn out before proceeding; this guaranteed a ten-minute interval between following trains.
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