Show 1 VOICE OF THE LOCOMOTIVE J I Ihn Chicago hn Tribune T r ib I Th The well known for the slit sta Chicago hn Tribune T r ib une One or of the most misunderstood or of all alJ I things connected with the operation ol of railway trains is the locomotive whis whistle tIe tle How many persons readIng this arti article do cle kno know th first necessity for the to 10 whistle beyond that of sound soundIng ing a warning to some possible person I or animal on a grade crossing I How many persons living contiguous I to a railroad line and wakened from o a sound sleep sheep by the scream of a loco locomotive locomotive motive whistle have anything but ex expletives expletives for the engineer at the cal cab I window Ho How many people ever have stopped I to think that for the locomotive engi engineer fleer neer one of the prime necessities in incapable I capable service is his keeping steam up I to gauge with the least expenditure of coal while every blast of the whistle represents a loss of steam power with without without out direct in traction This article is not to suggest that some other contrivance might not be substituted for the locomotive whistle But It will vill insist that with the steam whistle as the accepted agency for its I purpose that whIstle is indispensable to I the movements of the modern train of any class In the standard code of the American Railway association there are two I blasts o of the whistle recognized for sig signaling purposes one of them short in indicated Indicated by the letter o 0 the other a longer blast suggested ted by a composItors tors dash The only variation in the use of these charac characters characters for signaling is when the valve is opened in the steady note o of the whistle the ap approach approach or of the train to a railway sta station tion The o 0 b ast only may be used in groups the blast may be used sol solely ly in groups or both o 0 and 4 blasts may be used together in inthe Inthe the engineers rs message which may be for the public for his train crew only It is the necessity for the trains crew knowing why the engineer should whis whistle tie tle at all which is one of oC the first rca rea reasons sons for a whistle code In the next place it is the necessity for the en engin engineers gin rs communicating with the traIns crew behind which at present makes the locomotive and the locomotive zig sig signal nal code absolutely imperative in the movements of all trains But with the indicated code for train signals written out in this dot and dash simplicity It is no simple matter for the average engineer to give to his signals all the clearness and force pos possible possible sible to the method and the means Speed of a train the length of It Ites s sp p in freight trains the direction and force of the wind the condition of I the barometer the distance to which the whistle call must reach the nature of the engineers signal these things must be taken in consideration by the engineer in his cab For example if a signal expected b by bythe the traIns crew be represented by a af f aeries eries of blasts of the whistle conveying to them an expected order it is desirable that the unexpected emergency signal of the same composition tion instantly should carry with the an intonation suggestive of danger Thus in the signaling by bythe bythe the locomotive whistle the engineer might find a keener efficiency In his whistling were he to be master of piano also OccasIonally the locomotive engineer with his train under way needs to bring the train to a standstill for rca rea reasons sons whIch the crew in the train be behind behind hind have no knowledge His engine may be disabled or conditions ahead of him may be menacing Stop pt on brakes he wishes to sIgnal One blast blaut of the whistle ac accomplishes accomplishes it o 0 Perhaps the unexpected stopping or of orthe the train at command of oC the whistle the engineer is conscious of another trains following him within a possible danger zone He feels that the delay of which the trains crew knows noth be so long as to imperil his own train Send a flagman back to protect the train is a message which he wishes to get to the conductor as soon as possible This Is the whistle message which he sends a 0 0 o oIt oIt It may be that on a single track line two hay have had to go up and down own the thc track to protect the standing train Naturally when the train is ready to move again the flag flagman flagman man at the rear will need to come in first and anI he mut walk Safety de demands demands mands that the flagman at the front continue at his post longer waiting to tobe tobe be picked up by his train In such an emergency the engineers for recalling the must I var vary His train even may have been disabled at another roads crossing at grade Therefore he has the signal calls which orders Flagman return from west or south Or which orders Flagman return from east or north One of the commonest of small smaIl acci accidents accidents dents especially to the freight train under way is the breaking of a coup coupling ling hag If the engineer discovers the tho ac accident chient he needs to warn the conductor tor in the caboose The train tran has part parted parted ed Ills His signal is and it must be repeated until his warning is answered by a brake brakeman brakeman man on top of the train swinging his arm flag or lantern at arms length in a circle vertically across the track It If the conductor or brakeman has discovered the breaking of the coup coupling ling hing the man from the roof of the car must give the same circling vertical signal until the engineer by means of the whistle has glen given the prescribed blasts for the train has parted When Then a train is standing and the r wishes to give the order back up his whistle signal is o 0 o 0 o 0 But if It be the conductor who wishes the signal bade back the man on top of the standing train swings arm flag or lantern vertically in a circle across the track and continues it un until until til he gets the 0 0 o 0 from the whis whistle tIe tle At times the engineer with hand on the throttle I lever ver Is In doubt of the intent of the conductor of the train What am I to do he needs to ask The whistles o 0 o 0 o 0 o is the engi engineers call for signals Having called for these signals ho he Indicates indicate that ho he hohas has received them intelligently by o 0 oDi o Di unless another answering signal for the occasion has been provided for forby forby by a special order Whenever a train is followed by an another another other section whether day or night the locomotive bears the indicating sig signal nat nal flags or lights on the front of it When such a train passes passe a meeting train that has taken the siding the tho engineer of the train having the rIght of way is required to call the atten attention tion of the waiting engineer to the fact of another section following him hirD This call to observe signals is 0 o oIn In approachIng all public crossings at grade unless in the tho cities where watchmen and gates are provided the engineer must give the crossing signal of warning It is o a o I Th The well known for the slit sta I I I I I I I I I I I staI tion which the train is approaching is In the emergency of g whis tIe warning for persons and cattle on the track considerable latitude is given the engineer and to the extent that he heis heis is master ot of his whistle he may have his own method But its effectiveness is tested by the certainty with which he makes all ears within sounding dis disI distance tance prick up to the sense of some something something thing wrong It is i remarkable how much of Intelli that master hand at tie may convey to the least observant layman There are men running ho 10 out of Chicago who are fa famous famous In this respect Every whistle note is perfect and yet as between b tween the emergency whistle and the conven conventional signal the first sound of the whistle Indicates which is to be the nature or of the call The emergency note springs to Its Lull full capacity in the fraction of a see sec second ond and is held there until it is cut cutoff cutoff off instantly for the next full note of On the other hand the nary signal note rises to Its full tull pitch and dwindles easily to the exact pitch at which it started when it is cut off round and smooth Lucky are the conductor the pas pasI passengers and the neighborhood of a roads right of way when this master of the locomotive whistle sits in the cab But it is too much for the rest resi resident dent near any railroad to demand the obliteration of the locomotive whistle it is too essential to the welfare of the public in the operation of a rail railroad railroad road However noisy it may be the lo locomotive whistle seldom ever is blown without the necessity for its noise Re Remember Remember member this the next time you are awakened or disturbed by its shrill clamor |