The huge coal towers in big freight yards can fill several tenders at
once. Often, while the loading goes on, ashes from the locomotive’s
firebox get cleaned out at the same time. There is a dump pit under the
tracks, with little cars that run on their own rails. After a little car
is filled with ashes, it can be pushed away and unloaded at the ash
heap.
When Sam pulls into the next big freight yard, his part of the run is
finished. After a while he will board another engine and take another
freight train back to his home station. He has a regular schedule for
work. That doesn’t seem strange these days, but Sam’s grandfather would
have thought it was something miraculous.
In the old days, grandfather never knew what time he’d have to leave for
work. Sometimes, when he was just ready to blow out the kerosene lamp
and go to bed, there would be a knock at the door. On the dark porch
stood a boy, still panting from a bicycle ride up the street. He was the
railroad call boy, and he’d come to say that an engineer was needed
right away. Grandfather had been assigned to the job. So he pulled on
his clothes and went off, no matter how sleepy he was.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The place where Sam leaves his train is called a division point. Other
men will take over all the cars of redball freight and speed them on
another division of their trip. Let’s see who these different
railroaders are and what they do.