| Show ti 1 1I 1 r cil f out the time the I theater is opening Us hip doors at the i close of the evening performance and the crowd Is surging I surg-ing down the steps lo scurry off to the ars or seek places In the cafes thc head brakeman saunters forth from his little collage nnd ROCS swinging across the railroad yards with his lunch basket In one hand llllcd and the faithful lantern earfituMy and polished In the other He finds the night freight already made up and waiting on the track the I big mogul panting like some gigantic beast of the forest and the engineer Inspecting the gunge and testing the labviintli of wheels and lovers by vhloh In I control tlj lat creature Is Kept ii Proinptly a t11 oclock the wad brakc I 1 t tl b man gets the high ball 1 from the conductor con-ductor No gentle reader it is not the same kind of high ball that is handed I out to you by the whiteaproned gen I lumen lu-men in the damp bazars on Second South street A light flashes out ot the darkness somewhere back in lie distance dis-tance and describes a circle This IK the high ball otherwise the signal I to start and the head brakeman passes it on to the engineer There Is a pressure on the throttle a few energetic puffs from the black smokestack a grinding of and and then a series of bumps and Jerks as the long line of freight cars tako up the slack in their coupling links The train Is I off l Then the head brakeman climbs up I in the cub I and lakes the firemans seat t whjle that ofilclal bends to the task of shoveling fuel l into the groat red mouth of the monster The train wind slowly out of the yards gathering momentum r mo-mentum with each Jet 01 black cloud that bursts from the smokestack glides out from the suburbs of the sleeping city upon the alkali fiats and past t little S slumbering farm house which apjxar Btrangcly l forlorn and lonely in the moonlight The beginning of the head 5 brakomans task is over 5jind he has S only 1 to smoke his pipe and 1 enjoy the S scenery until Farmlnglon is reached Coupling Made Easy 5 At this point there h5 I a I car to betaken be-taken on and the t train Is broken in the middle while the front portion backs down on the siding to connect with the car In I dayi of old the coupling S wan made with grave danger ID the lingers of the brakcnian hut in this era S S S of patent couplers he = Is not obliged to S get between the ears at all making the S coupling from the side by a patent do vice > ihore a IC moreslops at inter1ills but the real I work begins when Ogdn Is reached about 1 a i mIn m-In the Junction yirds the train plungcK Into a 1 glitter of rod J and given S and while lights leJleetod a thlll and times from the glistening bars of sileel I v thiit stretch interminably in ov < ry direction I di-rection The conductor i goes to a little I window in lie t station and receives a I I bunch of yellow papers i I from a tired looking man who wears a giccn eyeshade jI t eye-shade and works rapidly with nervous L lingers at a telegraph instrument Then I the cars are pulled I and Jerked this way and that Jammed down upon the dark siding against other cars hearing the symbols of a doajn largo trunk lines or sent scurrying up the trick tu be picked up later by the through freight from the coast and carried far over the plains to the Mississippi valley and beyond Busy Time in the Yard This is the busy time of the head brakeman With i his lantern hung across the bend of the elbow he clings with both hands to Ihe Iron ladder of the rapidly moving car running ahead to effect a coupling thfn loaplngnlmhly to the deck of a coai car as the signal I starts the long lino moving again After an hour 01 two t of kaleidoscopic work the train finds itself Intact again but It is i a very dhforent train Cars that have boon kicked l out to wait for cast and vcstfoound freights across the continent conti-nent are replaced by cars of merchandise merchan-dise I brought I from fur to he left along the route al the little stations of Idaho The first gray of l tho morning Is lighting light-ing the eastern sky when the mogul again gives Its vigorous chugchug and draws the t colls of the monster out from the yards and northward toward Pocatello Poca-tello In the last stage of time trip the stops arc frequent and much time t I la I consumed con-sumed It the way SUm Ions Hell a dozen heavy crates of machinery must he lifted from the car lo I the platform and there a number of boxes must be slowed away consigned to a 1 Pocatello merchant A car of bleating sheep is picked up 1 on the I siding I and another car of Oregon wheat Is shunted down to ivplfiC It Going up the steep grades the head hrakenmn if J he Is a good fellow fel-low will tnkc a shove and help the fireman fire-man fend coal I Into the capacious I firebox fire-box In the Intervals of these dudes C he finds time to explore the lunch basket daintily packed by his wifes hands and snatch n 1 hasty breakfast of cold things t reinforced > by a cup of coffee at a station sta-tion lunch counter Long Waits on Siding As the day ages there are long walls on the passing tracks to let the southbound south-bound trains get by About noon If all goes well I Pocatello is reached l nnd the brakemans trPls I over Frequently It is I 4 oclock when the freight pulls into I the yards From thai time until the evening oC the following day the head brakeman Is at leisure lie may spend the t time at billiards or cards with his fellow oinnloyOfs or in loafing around the roundhouse swapping yarns with the ilremon and loeomotlvc hostlers Usually Usu-ally after his long hard trip he retires early and sleeps late in the morning Sonicllmes he has a 1 room rented by the month at some Inexpensive hotel or if I lie is I economically inclined he may sleep In the caboose of his train There Is a little oil stove in the caboose anti he may cook his meals there If he desires de-sires Promptly at 7 on the following even 1 I J LI hi I I I I I 11 j = = = u > 0 wIns AI rJ Ins he Is hack in the yards with his lantern again nnd the homeward Journey Jour-ney to Salt Lake begins It Is a repetition repe-tition of the first and the weary crew reaches the Utah capital early In the afternoon Then the head hrakenmn goes home with his empty lunch bnskit and 1 his lantern and has thirtysix hours of leisure before another roundtrip round-trip begins Nearly nil of the t freight trains on the line travel at night so far as possible 1 Chances for Financier The head hrnkuman Is paid by the trip and his wages arc usually about 85 a month If lll is gifted as a Ilnan del liowovor he frequently I gets a greater Income than this from boomers boom-ers The boomer Is nn Individual who cares more for chcjipness than luxury when In travels He Is willing to forego the delights cf plush cushions and polished brass handrails if I he can find a berth in a wellconslructod boxcar box-car This can be easily arranged with I the head brakeman If the hitter Is that kind by paying him a dollar Then the boomer climbs Into the car the door Is closed nnd he is free from molestation molesta-tion until the end of the line Is reached What becomes oC the dollar Well this kind of a head brakeman Is a thrifty soul and he manages to find a use for it He cannot pay It over to the company because there Is no provision pro-vision authorizing him to carry passengers pas-sengers and collect fares and his honesty hon-esty would only lead to investigation and unpleasant consequences In fact it I Is strictly against the rules to allow anyone to ride on the freight train at all I t 1C T fire time boomer from the train he may light and L might geL hurt argue the head brakeman and I get no reward for my zeal except a pallor pall-or black eyes If I let him ride free and It Is found out I lose my Job If I let him ride and take his dollar and it is found out I lose my Job no quicker The dollar compensates me for the risk of discovery Boomers Are Profitable On a single trip from Ogden to Pocatello Poca-tello recently a brakeman had twenty throe boomers In a single car getting a dollar a piece from them During the month he collected over S200 In this way After that he laid off foi two months so as to get It chance to spend his money The summer months are the time of rich harvest In this trafllu as so many tourists are on the way from the const to Butte and other northern cities The boomer must not be confounded with the tramp ammc the hobo The latter class object even to the payment of the dollar and secure a reservation on the brakcbcam or the blind baggage bag-gage The boomer is not infrequently infre-quently an honest industtlous laborer seeking work who chooses the freight train as the only mqans of transportation transporta-tion within his power of purchase Of course the head brakeman takes chances on this trim Ihic Just as in any other financial venture where tho rewards re-wards are big But he feels reasonably I secure from tho fact that the conductor Is supposed to remain with the rear end of the train and steps out of his bounds when he goes forward to visit the engine crew II L |
