involve further provision of an educational nature. That is, the
companies must continually provide a stock of men for the future.
Where a boy--the son of an employee--grows up always looking
forward to entering the company's service, he becomes to that
company very much what a cadet at West Point or Annapolis is to
the army or the navy of the United States; the idea of loyalty
to the company and of pride in its service grows up with him.
Railroad educational institutions of this sort have already been
created by at least one corporation in the country, and they should
be created by all railroad corporations of the first class. The
children of employees would naturally go into these schools, and
the best of them would at the proper age be sent out upon the
road to take their places in the shops, on the track, or at the
brake. From those thus educated the higher positions in the company
would thereafter be filled. The cost of maintaining these schools,
at least in part, would become a regular item in the operating
expenses of the road. Properly handled, a vast economy would be
effected through them. The morale of the service would gradually
be raised, and the morale of a railroad is, if properly viewed, no
less important than the morale of an army or navy. It is invaluable.
But it is futile to suppose that such a service as that outlined
could be organized, in America at least, unless those concerned in
it were allowed a voice in its management. Practically the most
important feature of the whole is therefore yet to be considered.
How is the employee to be assured a voice in the management of
these joint interests, without bringing about demoralization?
No one has yet had the courage to face this question; and yet
it is a question which must be faced if a solution of existing
difficulties is to be found. If the employees contribute to the
insurance and other funds, it is right that they should have a
voice in the management of those funds. If an employee holds his
situation during good behavior, he has a right to be heard in the
organization of the board which, in case of his suspension for
alleged cause, is to pass upon his behavior. No system will succeed
which does not recognize these rights. In other words, it will be
impossible to establish perfectly good faith and the highest morale
in the service of the companies until the problem of giving this
voice to employees, and giving it effectively, is solved. It can be
solved in but one way: that is, by representation. To solve it may
mean industrial peace.
It is, of course, impossible to dispose of these difficult matters
in town-meeting. Nevertheless, the town-meeting must be at the base
of any successful plan for disposing of them. The end in view is to
bring the employer--who in this case is the company, represented by
its president and board of directors--and the employees into direct
and immediate contact through a representative system. When thus
brought into direct and immediate contact, the parties must arrive
at results through the usual method: that is, by discussion and
rational agreement. It has already been noticed that the operating
department of a great railroad company naturally subdivides itself
into those concerned in the train movement, those concerned in
the care of the permanent way, and those concerned in the work
of the mechanical department. It would seem proper, therefore,
that a council of employees should be formed, of such a number
as might be agreed on, containing representatives from each of
these departments. In order to make an effective representation,
the council would have to be a large body. For present purposes,
and for the sake of illustration merely, it might be supposed
that, in the case of the Union Pacific, each department in a
division of the road would elect its own members of the employees'
council. There are five of these divisions and three departments
in every division. The operating-men, the yard and section-men,
and the machinists of the division would, therefore, under this
arrangement choose a given number of representatives. If one
such representative was chosen to each hundred employees in the
permanent service those thus selected would constitute a division
council. To perfect the organization, without disturbing the
necessary work of the company, each of these division councils
would then select certain (say, for example, three) of their
number, representing the mechanical, the operating, and the
permanent way departments, and these delegates from each of the
departments would, at certain periods of the year, to be provided
for by the articles of organization, all meet together at the
head-quarters of the company in Omaha. The central council, under
the system here suggested, would consist of fifteen men; that
is, one representing each of the three departments of the five
several divisions. These fifteen men would represent the employees.
It would be for them to select a board of delegates, or small
executive committee, to confer directly with the president and
board of directors. Here would be found the organization through
which the voice of the employees would make itself heard and felt
in matters which directly affect the rights of employees, including
the appointment of a tribunal to pass upon cases of misdemeanor,
and the management of all institutions, whether financial or
educational, to which the employees had contributed and in which
they had a consequent interest.
There is no reason whatever for supposing that, within the
limits which have been indicated, such an organization would
lead to difficulty. On the contrary, where it did not remove a
difficulty it might readily be made to open a way out of it. The
employees, feeling that they too had rights which the company
frankly recognized and was bound to respect, would in all cases
of agitation proceed through the regular machinery, which brought
them into easy and direct contact with the highest authority in
the company's service. They would not, therefore, be driven into
outside organizations. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the highest
officers of the company, including the president and the board
of directors, would be brought into immediate relations with the
representatives of the employees on terms of equality. Each would
have an equal voice in the management of common interests; and it
would only remain to make provision for arriving at a solution of
questions in case of deadlock. This would naturally be done by the
appointment of a permanent arbitrator, who would be selected in
advance.
The organization suggested includes, it will be remembered, only
those employees whose names are on the permanent rolls of the
operating department. For reasons which have been sufficiently
referred to, those whose names are on the rolls of the other
four departments have not been considered. But there would be
no difficulty in making provision for them also, should it be
found expedient or desirable so to do. Through the system of
representation the organization could in fact be made to include
every employee in the permanent service of the company, not
excepting the president, the general manager, or the general
counsel. Each employee included would have one vote, and each
division and department its representatives. The organization in
other words is elastic. No matter how large it might be it would
never become unwieldy so long as it resulted in the small committee
which met in direct conference face to face with the board of
directors.
Could such a system as that which has been suggested be devised
and put in practical operation there is reason to hope that the
difficulties which have hitherto occurred between the great
railroad companies and those in their pay would not occur in
future. The movement is the natural and necessary outcome of the
vast development referred to in the opening paragraphs of this
paper. It is based on a simple recognition of acknowledged facts,
and follows the lines of action with which the people of this
country are most familiar. The path indicated is that in which for
centuries they have been accustomed to tread. It has led them out
of many difficulties. Why not out of this difficulty?
FOOTNOTES:
[31] NOTE.--The following paper was prepared for a special purpose
in June, 1886, and then submitted to several of the leading
officials directly engaged in the local management of the lines
operated by the Union Pacific Railway Company, of which the writer
had been president for two years. It drew forth from them various
criticisms, which led to the belief that the publication of the
paper at that time might easily result in more harm than good. It
was accordingly laid aside, and no use made of it.
Nearly three years have since elapsed, and the events of the year
1888--with its strike of engineers on the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy--seem to indicate that the relations of railroad employees
to the railroad companies have undergone no material change since
the year 1886, when the strike on the Missouri Pacific took place.
The same unsatisfactory condition of affairs apparently continues.
There is a deep-seated trouble somewhere.
No sufficient reason, therefore, exists for longer suppressing this
paper. Provided the suggestions contained in it have any value at
all, they may at least be accepted as contributions to a discussion
which of itself has an importance that cannot be either denied or
ignored.
The paper is printed as it was prepared. The figures and statistics
contained in it have no application, therefore, to the present
time; nor has it been thought worth while to change them, inasmuch
as they have little or no bearing upon the argument. That is just
as applicable to the state of affairs now as it was to that which
existed then. The only difference is that the course of events
during the three intervening years has demonstrated that the paper,
if it does no good, will certainly do no harm.
BOSTON, February 4, 1889.
C. F. A.
[32] See "Railway Management," page 151.
THE EVERY-DAY LIFE OF RAILROAD MEN.
BY B. B. ADAMS, JR.
The Typical Railroad Man--On the Road and at Home--Raising the
Moral Standard--Characteristics of the Freight Brakeman--His Wit
the Result of Meditation--How Slang is Originated--Agreeable
Features of his Life in Fine Weather--Hardships in
Winter--The Perils of Hand-brakes--Broken Trains--Going back
to Flag--Coupling Accidents--At the Spring--Advantages of
a Passenger Brakeman--Trials of the Freight Conductor--The
Investigation of Accidents--Irregular Hours of Work--The
Locomotive Engineer the Hero of the Rail--His Rare Qualities--The
Value of Quick Judgment--Calm Fidelity a Necessary Trait--Saving
Fuel on a Freight Engine--Making Time on a Passenger
Engine--Remarkable Runs--The Spirit of Fraternity among
Engineers--Difficult Duties of a Passenger-train Conductor--Tact
in Dealing with Many People--Questions to be Answered--How
Rough Characters are Dealt with--Heavy Responsibilities--The
Work of a Station Agent--Flirtation by Telegraph--The
Baggage-master's Hard Task--Eternal Vigilance Necessary in a
Switch-tender--Section-men, Train Despatchers, Firemen, and
Clerks--Efforts to Make the Railroad Man's Life Easier.
The typical railroad man "runs on the road;" he is not the one
whose urbane presence adorns the much-heralded offices of the
railroad companies on Broadway, where the gold letters on the front
window are each considerably larger than the elbow-room allowed
the clerks inside; nor, indeed, is he, generally speaking, the one
with whom the public or the public's drayman comes in contact when
visiting a large city station to ship or receive freight. These and
others, whose part in the complex machinery of transportation is
in a degree auxiliary, are indeed largely imbued with the _esprit
de corps_ which originates in the main body of workers; but their
duties are such that their interest is not especially lively. Even
the men employed at stations in villages and large towns acquire
a share of their railroad spirit at second hand, as life on a
train is necessary to get the experience which embodies the true
fascination which so charms Young America.
The railroad man's home-life is not specially different from other
people's. There have been Chesterfields among conductors, and
mechanical geniuses have grown up among the locomotive engineers,
but these were products of an era now past. Station-men are a part
of the communities where their duties place them. Trainmen and
their families occupy a modest though highly respectable place in
the society they live in. Trainmen who live in a city generally
receive the same pay that is given to their brothers, doing the
same work, whose homes are in the country. The families of the
latter therefore enjoy purer air, lessened expenses, and other
advantages which are denied the former.
On most railroads the freight trainmen--engineers, conductors,
brakemen, and firemen--are the most numerous and prominent class,
as the number of freight trains is generally larger than that of
passenger trains; and among these men there are more brakemen than
anything else, because there are two or more on every train, while
there is but one of each of the other classes. And as the ranks
of the passenger-train service are generally recruited from the
freight trainmen, it follows that the _freight brakeman_ impresses
his individuality quite strongly upon not only the circles in which
he moves but the whole train-service as well. Freight conductors
are promoted brakemen, and most (though not by any means all)
passenger conductors are promoted freight conductors; so that
the brakeman's prominent traits of character continue to appear
throughout the several grades of the service. As he is promoted he
of course improves. The general character of the _personnel_ of
the freight-train service has undergone a considerable change in
the last twenty years. Whiskey drinkers have been weeded out, and
pilferers with them. Improved discipline has effected a general
toning up, raising the moral standard perceptibly. One reforming
superintendent, a few years ago, on undertaking an aggressive
campaign found himself compelled to discharge three-fifths of all
his brakemen before he could regard the force as reasonably cleared
of the rowdy element.
* * * * *
The brakeman, like the "drummer," is a characteristic American
product. Each has his wits sharpened by peculiar experiences,
and, while important lines of intellectual training are almost
wholly neglected, there is contact with the world in various
directions, which develops qualities that tend to elevate the
individual in many ways. Although freight brakemen do not have
any intercourse with the public, they somehow learn the ways of
the world very quickly, and the brightest ones among them need
very little training to fit them for a place on a passenger train
where they are expected to deal with gentle ladies and fastidious
millionaires, and bear themselves with the grace of a hotel clerk.
Perhaps one reason why brakemen impress their characteristics on
the whole _personnel_ of the service is because they have abundance
of opportunity for meditation. Many of them have a superfluity
of hours and half-hours when they have nothing to do but ride on
the top of a car and keep a general watch of the train, and they
have ample time to think twice before speaking once. Even a circus
clown or the vender of shoestrings or ten-cent watches has to study
the arts of expression; why should not the intelligent trainman,
who wishes to let people know that he is of some account in the
world? If he wants a favor from a superior he knows just the best
way of approach to secure success. If he deems it worth while to
complain of anything, he formulates his appeal in a way that is
sure to be telling. Everyone knows the old story of the brakeman
who was refused a free pass home on Saturday night with the
argument that his employer, if a farmer, could not be reasonably
expected to hitch up a horse and buggy for such a purpose. The
reply that, admitting this, the farmer who had his team already
harnessed up and was going that way with an empty seat would be
outrageously mean to refuse his hired man a ride, is none too 'cute
to be characteristic. The brakeman who is not able to puncture
the sophistries of narrow-souled or disingenuous superiors is the
exception and not the rule.
The brakeman gives the prevailing tone to the "society" of
despatchers' lobbies and other lounging places which he frequents.
If he be profane or fault-finding or sour, he can easily spread the
influence of these unpleasant traits. A lazy brakeman becomes more
lazy, because his work is in many respects easy. Having little to
do he demands still less. A foul-mouthed one gives himself free
rein because many usual restraints are absent. The prevalence of
profanity, which, aside from the question of sinfulness, hampers a
man in any aspirations he may have toward more elevating society,
is perhaps the worst blot on the reputation of brakemen as a
class. Many worthy men among them, and especially among conductors
and engineers, have, however, done much to improve the tone of
conversation in trainmen's haunts, and on the better disciplined
roads decorum is the rule, and rowdyism the exception. There is
abundance of humor and spirit, however. The brakeman originates
whatever slang may be deemed necessary to give spice to the talk
of the caboose and round-house. He calls a gravel train a "dust
express," and refers to the pump for compressing air for the
power-brakes as a "wind-jammer." The fireman's prosaic labors
are lightened by being poetically mentioned as the "handling of
black diamonds," and the mortification of being called into the
superintendent's office to explain some dereliction of duty is
disguised by referring to the episode as "dancing on the carpet."
[Illustration: "Dancing on the Carpet."]
The disagreeable features of a freight brakeman's life are chiefly
those dependent upon the weather. If he could perform his duties
in Southern California or Florida in winter, and in the Northern
States in summer, his lot would ordinarily be a happy one, though
the annoyance of tramps is almost universal in mild climates, and
in many cases takes the shape of positive danger. These vagabonds
persist in riding on or in the cars, while the faithful trainman
must, according to his instructions, keep them off. In some
sections of the country they will board a train in gangs of a
dozen, armed with pistols, and dictate where a train shall carry
them. Not long ago in Chicago a conductor, while ejecting a tramp
from the caboose, was shot and killed by the ruffian.
[Illustration: Trainman and Tramps.]
The hardships of cold and stormy weather are serious, both because
of the test of endurance involved and the added difficulties in
handling a train. The Westinghouse automatic air-brake, which
has served so admirably on passenger trains for the past fifteen
years, has only recently been adapted and cheapened so as to make
it available for long freight trains, but it is now so perfected
that in a few years the brakeman who now has to ride on the outside
of cars in a freezing condition for an hour at a time will be
privileged to sit comfortably in his caboose while the speed of the
train is governed by the engineer through the instantaneous action
of the air-brake. On the steep roads of the Rocky Mountains, and a
few other lines, this brake is already in use.
[Illustration: Braking in Hard Weather.]
But "braking by hand" is still the rule. In running on ascending
grades or at slow speeds, the brakemen can ride under cover, but in
descending grades, or on levels when the speed is high, they must
be on the tops of the cars ready to instantly apply the brakes,
for the reason that there are generally only three or four men
to a long train weighing from 500 to 1,000 tons, whose momentum
cannot be arrested very quickly. In descending steep grades, only
the most constant and skilful care prevents the train from rushing
at breakneck speed to the foot of the incline, or to a curve,
where it would be precipitated over an embankment and crushed into
splinters. One of the mountain roads in Colorado which now uses
air-brakes is said to be lined its whole length with the ruins of
cars lying in the gorges, where they were wrecked in the former
days of hand-brakes. Even on grades much less steep than those in
Colorado the danger of this sort of disaster is one that has to
be constantly guarded against. Take the case of a 40-car train
descending a 1½ per cent. grade (79-2/10 feet per mile). Before all
of the cars have passed over the summit and commenced to descend,
the forward part of the train will have increased its velocity
very perceptibly and will thus by its weight exert a strong pull
on the rear portion, "yanking" it very roughly sometimes, and
if one of the couplings between the cars chances to be weak it
breaks, separating the train into two parts. Mishaps of this kind
are frequent, and two or more breakages often occur at the same
time, dividing the train so that one of the parts--between the
two end portions--is perhaps left with no brakeman upon it. The
engineman then has the choice of slackening his speed and allowing
the unmanageable cars to violently collide with his portion, or
of increasing his own speed to such a rate that he is soon in
danger of suddenly overtaking a train ahead of him. To avoid this
breaking-in-two the brakemen must be wide awake on the instant
and see that their brakes are tightened before the speed even
begins to elude control. As soon as the whole train has got beyond
the summit, and the speed is reduced to a proper rate by the
application of the brakes on, say, one-third or one-half the cars,
it will perhaps be found that one or two brakes too many have been
put on and that the train is running too slowly. Some of them
must then be loosened. Or perhaps some are set so tightly that the
friction heats the wheels unduly or causes them to slide along
the track instead of rolling; then those brakes must be released
and some on other cars applied instead; and all this must be done
(sometimes for an hour) when the temperature is 20 degrees below
zero, or the wind is blowing a gale, just as under more favorable
circumstances. A train moving at 20 miles an hour against a wind
with a velocity of 30 miles increases the latter to 50, so far as
the brakeman is concerned; and if rain or sleet is falling, the
force of it on his hands and face is very severe. If we add to
this the danger attendant upon stepping from one car to another
over a gap of 27 to 30 inches, in a dark night, when the cars are
constantly moving up and down on their springs and are swaying
to one side or the other every few seconds, we get some idea of,
though we cannot realize, the sensations that must at such times
fill the minds of the men whose pleasant berth seems so enjoyable
on a mild summer's day. And this is not an overdrawn picture or
the worst that might be given; for rain and snow combined often
coat the roofs of cars so completely and solidly that they are
worse than the smoothest skating-pond, and moving upon them is
attended with danger at every step. Jumping--it cannot be called
walking--from one car to another is in such cases positively
reckless. The brake-apparatus will in a snow-storm be coated with
ice so rapidly that vigorous action is required to keep it in
working condition. Even a wind alone, in dry weather, sometimes
compels the men to _crawl_ from one car to another, grasping such
projections as they may. The brakeman who forgets to take his
rubber coat and overalls sometimes suffers severely from sudden
changes of temperature. In spring or fall a lively shower will be
encountered in a sheltered valley, and the clothing be completely
drenched, and then within perhaps half an hour the ascent of a few
hundred feet brings the train into an atmosphere a few degrees
below the freezing point, so that with the aid of the wind, fanned
by the speed of the train, the clothes are very soon frozen stiff.
[Illustration: Flagging in Winter.]