seated at his desk on the second floor, faces the junction switch in front of the tower, while immediately behind him is located the 17-lever table interlocking machine. A neat arrangement of table-lever units is secured by mounting all of them on a cast-iron bench about two feet above the floor. Centralized operation of this comparatively large plant, extending as it does nearly seven miles from its extreme western to its extreme eastern limits is made possible by this table machine in conjunction with an illuminated track diagram mounted above it. By means of this diagram the dispatcher is able to follow the operation of any two-indication units are mounted vertically, or a total of six lamps on one home signal. The dwarf signals provide two indications, purple and red. The lamps in both the home and dwarf signals are 18-watt, 10-volt size and are lighted continuously by alternating current with the provision, through a power-off relay, of burning them on direct current storage battery reserve in case of an a-c. power failure. Several semaphore home signals were used because the equipment was available and in good operating condition. Passenger depot To effect the power operation and control of all important switches and derails, it was necessary to install 14 low-voltage switch machines. When operating from a 20-volt storage battery, one of these machines will operate a switch from full normal to full reverse or viceversa in a period of 12 to 15 sec. Where a switch machine is installed at the end of a passing track, it is pipeconnected to the derail on the passing track. No derails are provided on any of the main-line tracks, except of course at the drawbridge, where it is essential that they be retained. There is also a split-point derail on the Q. O. & K. C. north of the crossing with the Burlington line. This, however, is not a main-line derail as the traffic on this line consists normally of only two trains a day. Track and Signal Plan of Remote The main low-voltage battery is housed in the first floor of the tower and comprises five cells of Exide KXH-7, 80-amp. hr. capacity. These cells are under continuous charge by means of Balkite electrolytic rectifiers. Similarly, the operating battery for each switch machine is float-charged from a rectifier. The same charging arrangement is used at the signals, although the color-light signals are normally operated on alternating current. Where power is available for charging, storage batteries are used on track circuits, while on the outlying sections primary battery is used for track circuits. train through the interlocking plant and to check the position of all signals. Normally, none of the diagram lights are energized, but the presence of a train in any of the track circuits will light up the respective lamp located in the center of that particular track circuit. Whenever a signal is cleared, a green light so indicates. Four clockwork time releases provide for the changing of any route when, for some reason or other, the dispatcher finds it necessary. A single-stroke bell is mounted on the board beneath the track diagram and functions as an annunciator for eastbound trains approaching Mark. Electric Switch Lock Installed At the east end of the short passing track at West Quincy, it was found advisable to install an electric switch lock and leave this as a manually operated switch instead of installing a power switch machine. A switch lock controller and indicator are mounted on the board above the interlocking levers in the dispatcher's office. This controller is connected with the electric switch lock on the manually-operated switch mentioned above. When it is desired to operate the switch, it is necessary that the dispatcher first unlock it by means of his locking controller and indicator. When he unlocks the switch an indication is received at the switch lock by means of a miniature semaphore indicator as in the ordinary switch type indicator. The trainman then reverses the mechanical unlocking lever on the device and this releases the hand control switch throw mechanism. On a shelf, immediately in front of the dispatcher, is mounted a lock controller and indicator by means of which the dispatcher is enabled to lock the operating control of the Mississippi River drawbridge. This controller effects the necessary interlocking protection between the bridge-operating machinery and the low-voltage interlocker at West Quincy. Once the bridge is unlocked, the dispatcher cannot clear any conflicting signals or remove any of the derails until the bridge operator gives him an "unlock." Similarly the bridge operator can do nothing until the dispatcher gives the bridge operator an "unlock." Outside Equipment Power Operated Automatic Crossing Protection Also Provided at Bridge Junction There is an important highway crossing at Bridge Junction because the Mississippi River drawbridge is used for both railroad and highway traffic, although it is owned by the Burlington. Crossing gates were formerly in service to protect this crossing and these were operated by the Bridge Junction towermen. At the time the Bridge Junction mechanical plant was dismantled, permission was obtained from the local authorities at Quincy to substitute automatic flashing signals at these crossings. The operating facilities outside of the tower comprise the signals, the switch machines for switch and derail operation, and the aerial cable and parkway cable distribution system, together with the necessary control relays and batteries. The new signals are two-indication (green and red) color-light type. At the junction, three of these The color-light signals, power-switch machines, tablelever interlocker and special switch-lock used on this plant were manufactured by the General Railway Signal Company, while the installation was planned and the equipment installed by the signal forces of of the Burlington. to Brazil Twenty-two coaches ordered by the Paulista to replace N March 16, 1928, the American Car & Foundry Export Company made a shipment of 22 allsteel passenger cars on board the S. S. Belpareil from the Commissioners' Dock, Wilmington, Del., to the harbor of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where they go at once into service on the Paulista Railway Company, one of the most modern roads in South America. This is the first all-steel passenger equipment installed on South American railways. Up to April, 1926, the standards of the railroad had been all-wood cars and some cars having steel underframes and wood superstructures built principally by European car manufacturers. The management of the railroad decided to purchase all-steel equipment to reduce to a minimum accidents from wrecks, fires and consequent loss of life. During the fall of 1926, the Paulista placed an order with the American Car & Foundry for seven first-class coaches, six second-class coaches, three parlor cars, two dining cars, two mail cars and two baggage cars. These cars were built at the Berwick, Pa., works of the American Car & Foundry Company, and the train complete was run to the company's yards at Wilmington, Del., from whence it was shipped to Brazil. Similar in Construction to Cars Operating In This Country The cars are of all-steel construction throughout and conform in all essentials to cars operating on the principal railroads of the United States. The only variations are the gage of track, type of couplers, buffers and brakes, which items, of course, are constructed to meet the railway company's standard requirements. The gage is 5 ft. 3 in. The couplers are a transition type consisting of an automatic head hinged so as to drop down out of the way when a hook housed within the coupler head is used with the railway's present screw type of coupling. The American standard central buffing arrangement is provided for use with automatic couplers. Side buffers, hinged to drop down out of the way when not in use, are provided to operate in conjunction with the screw type couplings. The reason for providing two types of couplings and buffing arrangements is that the railway is now in the transition period and is gradually changing to the exclusive use of automatic couplers of the vertical plane type used in North America. Vacuum brakes of European manufacture are provided and the foundation rigging is so arranged that automatic air brakes of a type similar to those used in Interior of the Parlor Car this country may later be applied with the least possible change of details. The coaches and parlor cars are 70 ft. long over the body corner posts and 79 ft. 5% in. over the buffer face plates. The first-class coaches have a seating capacity of 80, second-class coaches 98, and the parlor cars 18 in. the main compartment and 6 each in a reserved compartment at one end of the car and a smoking compartment at the other end. Seats in the first-class coaches All-Steel Passenger Train, the First Shipped to South America, for Service on the Paulista Railway, Brazil are of the reversible type, rattan covered, seating two passengers each. The seats in the second-class coaches are of the reversible wood slat type, seating three passengers each on one side of the aisle and two each on the other. The parlor cars are provided with leather-covered revolving chairs in the main compartment and movable chairs and stationary seats covered with the same kind of leather in the two end compartments. Dining Cars The dining cars are 78 ft. 8 in. long over the body frame and 82 ft. 8 in. over the buffer face plates. The seating capacity is 36. The conventional pantry and kitchen equipment as well as buffets, refrigerators, lockers and cabinets, etc., as used on American dining cars, are provided. The postal and baggage cars are 60 ft, 91⁄2 in. long over the body frames and 64 ft. 23% in. over the buffer All the passenger cars have composition floors and the mail and baggage cars double wood floors. All the cars are full vestibuled and as they will operate where all the stations are provided with high platforms, the regulation trap doors are unnecessary. Small doors are provided to uncover the steps when necessary to enter the cars when not standing at the high platforms. Electric lights are used on all cars, generation being supplied by axle light equipment. The cars are amply provided with ventilators, electric fans and complete insulation to protect the passengers against the heat of the climate in which they will be operating. The interior finish of all cars is of steel throughout, except the head-linings and wainscottings which are of fireproof Agasote. All cars have monitor decks and roofs which are of copper bearing steel sheets riveted in place of the roof framing members. All doors are of copper bearing steel. All the cars are provided with conventional toilets and lavatories, including flush hoppers, wash stands and the other usual equipment used on North American railroads. Modern sanitary water coolers complete with filters and automatic shut-offs are furnished of a type having separate compartments for ice and water, together with the usual sanitary drinking cup dispensers. The first-class coaches, the parlor car and the dining cars have six-wheel trucks and the second-class coaches, baggage and postal cars have four-wheel trucks. All trucks have clasp brakes. The wheels are 38 in. in diameter, steel-tired, built to the railway company's standards. The interiors of the cars are attractively painted and grained to imitate jacaranda, a wood native to Brazil. The ceilings are painted white. Headlinings and frieze boards are neatly striped. Simple but effective decorations are applied to all pier panels. The exteriors of the cars are painted olive green and the railway company's monogram is applied to each side of the cars. The cars are also lettered in Portugese to indicate the respective type, various compartments, etc. Cars to be Operated Out of Sao Paulo The Paulista Railway reaches into the heart of the coffee district and extends from the interior, where it is fed by numerous narrow gage railroads, to the city of Sao Paulo, where it connects with the Sao Paulo Railway over whose tracks freight cars are transported to the coast at the city of Santos. Paulista passenger cars run to Sao Paulo only. The main line of the railway over which these cars will operate is up-to-date in every respect including rock ballasted track, automatic signal devices, etc. The motive power is furnished by electric locomotives operated through overhead transmission. The present facilities, combined with the installation of these modern all-steel cars will provide passenger transportation that will be the equivalent of that furnished by the railroads in the United States. IN ORDER TO make a delegation of Canadian farmers feel at home, the London & North Eastern provided four shoeblacks in uniform for the special train from Brandon to London. This was the first time that organized shoe cleaning on a train had been performed in England. In this connection, a strange linguistic phenomenon is brought to light. In England, where shoes are commonly referred to as boots, those who clean footwear are called shoeblacks, while here, where shoes are never called boots, members of the same craft are called bootblacks. Railroad Industry Railroad Division, A.S.M.E., reports that the opportunities N March 14, 1928, the Sub-Committee on Professional Service, Railroad Division, A.S.M.E., presented its final report on the opportunities afforded the mechanical engineer in the railroad and railway supply industries at a joint meeting of the Metropolitan Section and student branches of the society, at New York. Delegations composed of both students and faculty members were present from practically every technical school and college in the Metropolitan area. In addition, a number of mechanical department officers and special apprentices from railroads running into New York were present and took part in the discussion of the report. The report includes three appendices and contains considerable information in addition to that which appeared in a progress report which was presented at the annual meeting of the A.S.M.E. in December, 1926. Two of the appendices gave a list of railroads and railway supply companies with the name of the officer to whom the mechanical engineer should write relative to employment. The third appendix contains an outline of special apprentice training courses offered by twenty railroads and one supply company. An abstract of the progress report presented by this committee was published in the December 11, 1926, issue of the Railway Age, page 1153. Much of the material given in the progress report published in that year has been omitted in this abstract of the final report, which follows: Report of the Railroad Division, Sub-Committee on Professional Service It is the belief of the Railroad Division's Sub-Committee on Professional Service that the opportunities afforded the mechanical engineer in the railway and railway supply industries are equal to those afforded in any industry. This belief is based on several facts which are later discussed in this report, probably the most significant of which is that competition with other college-trained men is not as great as is the case in many other industries. A study of the careers of 150 railway officers holding positions from president down to master mechanic, show that only 43.7 per cent are college graduates. The railway supply industry, however, presents a slightly different ratio, 63.6 per cent being college graduates out of a total of 113 railway supply company officers ranging from president down to sales representatives. In both cases the officers were selected at random with the primary object of obtaining as accurate a picture as possible of the competition to be expected by the mechanical engineer in both industries: These figures are also significant of one other important factor pertaining to the success of the individual in railway and railway supply work. Knowledge of railroading, individual adaptability, practical experience and a willingness to work appear to have considerably more value in the mind of the average executive than college education. It is not the general practice of the railroads to extend preferential consideration to college graduates. It is expected that the college graduate will start on an equal footing with the non-college man and show his worth in actual service. In other words, the college man is worth comparatively little to a railroad company until he has had considerable practical training and experience. This, in the main, is also true of most industries employing technical graduates. If the college man entering railroad service is the type who wishes to use his engineering education as a means of possibly reaching an executive position, either in or above the engineering department, then there is one thing that cannot be overlooked-as he advances he gradually becomes more of a business man and less of an engineer. If he has failed to educate himself in the principles of business, the chances for becoming an executive are not great. The railroad executive whose duties may demand an engineering knowledge are such that a relatively small portion of the things which he must know involve a detailed knowledge of engineering principles as compared with the principles of business administration. The mechanical department of a railroad is but a part of an immense business organization, which like any other business, is operated to make money. Unfortunately, the mechanical department is in a position principally to spend money and save money; as consequence, the labors of the members of that department are often looked upon as "non-productive." If a college man intends to enter railroad service and be satisfied with what he can learn in any one office or department, he will make no greater progress on the railroad than if he pursued the same tactics in any other industrial organization. The big thing is to know enough about the job ahead to be able to step into it when the opportunity offers and this calls for self education in the principles of business. The Railroad Division's Sub-Committee on Professional Service does not believe that to confer a distinctive title upon a college man in railroad service would materially better his situation. In fact, some consider such titles a considerable handicap. "Titles can be created with the flourish of a pen and wiped out with a bad breakfast." Some of the real jobs on any railroad are those which carry unimposing titles, and on the other hand, some jobs with magnificent titles leave much to be desired on pay-day. Every man who has had practical railroad experience realizes that it is desirable to emphasize his education as little as possible. What the young mechanical engineer should do, in railroad work or elsewhere, is to lose his identity as a college man as quickly as possible. There are two principal reasons why advancement in railroad work may be slow. First, because the business as a whole is so complicated and departmentalized that it takes years of actual work to become acquainted, even in a general way, with many phases of it. This is in contrast with any line of business that consists mostly of one or two operations, such as buying and selling, or the manufacture and sale of a limited variety of articles, the whole plant being in one place. In any such line, one with reasonable aptitude and liking for the work can much more quickly master the details of it and be in position to advance more rapidly than would be likely in a more complicated and departmentalized business. The second reason is that the railroads have long since come to a stage of routine as contrasted with immediate and rapid growth. They are organized to handle their business from day to day but are not expanding in any such manner as to call for a steady and large supply of trained men to fill newly created responsible positions. A man who may be very capable is apt to find himself in a situation similar to a bucket in a bucket brigade; that is, he passes along just as fast as those who happen to be ahead of him travel. This is an unavoidable condition in any organization that has attained its growth. The young mechanical engineer must know and appreciate the fact that the railroad industry is subject to regulation by the government. As a rule, government agencies are slow to move and are likely to hinder the development of an industry unless they are able to keep in step with the times. The rules and regula the young technical graduate, and this report would indicate that in salary* and opportunity he can hope to achieve the same degree of success as in other engineering and industrial lines. Finally, the Sub-Committee wishes to stress the value of personal investigation to ascertain the facts pertaining to the opportunities afforded in any industry he is considering entering before arriving at any final decision, or committing himself to a definite line of work. The report was prepared by a committee under the direction of the following: Marion B. Richardson, associate editor, Railway Age, chairman; Eliot Sumner, superintendent motive power, Pennsylvania, vice-chairman, representing the railway industry; Robert S. McConnell, chief engineer, Baldwin Locomotive Works, vice-chairman representing the railway supply industry, and A. J. Wood, professor of mechanical engineering, Pennsylvania State College, vice-chairman representing the colleges. tions laid down by the Interstate Commerce Commission New Calculator for Railway Use affect the work of all departments of a railroad and it is necessary that the railroad officer know just how these regulations relate to the work of his department. Training in the utilization of statistics and reports is a necessary qualification to the mechanical engineer in both the railroad and railroad-supply industries. The seniority rules, it is generally admitted, slacken the rate of promotion for the college man in railroad. work, but present no insurmountable barrier if superior capacity is demonstrated. The prime necessity of not impairing morale among the employees by anything savoring of favoritism is stressed very generally, although seniority, it is said, will give way to demonstrated superior capacity to fill a higher post. In other words, the burden of proof, "the risk of non-persuasion," must be arrived at by the college man who aspires to promotion in competition with the man of longer service. Among the facts the young mechanical engineer would like to know before entering the employ of any company are those relating to the manner in which promotion is gained. In other words, must he play politics; be a relative of some high officer, either through birth or marriage; or is promotion gained solely through merit? Naturally such information is practically impossible to obtain until one has been in the employ of the company for a time and has had an opportunity to discover some of the inside workings. Fortunately, the majority of the Class I railroads have such large organizations that family influence does not have much weight in obtaining promotion. In fact, a careful check of various records and statistics of the ownership and official personnel of the railroads shows that "family controlled" companies are few in number. and are practically all small roads. Conclusion It is the belief of the Railroad Division's Sub-Committee on Professional Service that if the young mechanical engineer or mechanical engineering student is convinced that he will like railway or railway-supply work and has a special aptitude for such work he will succeed in getting ahead in either of the two allied industries. The degree of success depends largely on the characteristics and ability of the individual. This, of course, holds true for all industries as well as the railroad and railroad-supply industries. On the other hand, it is the consensus of opinion that both the railroads and the railway-supply companies need and a practical calculator. It is equipped with full-size keys, a standard keyboard, and visible adding dials. The new machine, which is only 61⁄2 in. by 114 in., has a crystal-finish case. It has an accumulating capacity of 9,999.99 for addition and multiplication. Subtraction and division are facilitated by the proper complementary figures on all keytops. The mechanism of the new calculator is adjusted to high speed operation. It has been subjected to numerous tests as a means of proving its efficiency in the hands of experienced operators. The new machine weighs under seven pounds and is reported to be sold at a price less than half that of larger machines. * See the Railway Age for December 11, 1926, page 1153. |