Show on the wrecking train upon the great railroad systems the wrecking train Is as carefully ar ranged as the apparatus in a fire corn banys house ready to go into action as soon as the message is ticked upon the sounder in the dispatchers office coupled together the cars stand upon a convenient switch track that Is always connected to the main line no other cars are allowed to be placed upon this switch at any time some companies reserve ore of the fastest locomotives purposely to haul the wpc king train and keep the engine in the roundhouse with fire ally in the firebox prepared to up at a moment s notice the train Is made up of four sometimes five cars the rear one being occupied by the officers and wreckers with a portion reserved reer ved for the rope and chain n aich are always taken along the officials have a sitting room with a table and benches where they can consult on their ay to the scene of the accident the men s quarters are turn shed with a few stools aad a bunk for each man so that if called during the night they may have a chance to tal e a nap on the way the next car in front is called che block car and contain a small sized lumber yard filled as it Is with pieces of timber ranging from wedges to be hammered under the wheels or jacks to square pine posts of various length used for propping since the invention of the wrecking crane hand tackle Is not employed as much as in former days but hun of feet of rope r nging from sizes the thice ness of one s finder to cables two inches thick are car ed in coils with huge wooden pulleys as are also chains strong enough to haul a hundred tons on the next car are three sets of extra trucks with wheels attached to replace any stat might have been broken for the low er part or gearing of rolling stock suf fers more in an accident tl an any other portion sometimes I 1 Is completely from the car iteld the wheels brol en ou the axles 01 damaged in some other way that it is fit only for scrap iron next to the locomotive au the crane car on which swings S great steel arm whose muscles of chain will ra se fifty tons at i time and spirg it through the air doing t e ork of a hundred pairs sf hands pearson s magazine |