Fireman (railway)

“ As it was moving at a high rate of speed between Bellevue and Menden, the axle of the foremost of these two locomotives broke, letting the body of the engine drop to the ground. It instantly stopped, and the second locomotive was then driven by its impetus on top of the first, crushing its engineer and fireman, while the contents of both the fire-boxes were scattered over the roadway and among the debris. Three carriages crowded with passengers were then piled on top of this burning mass, and there crushed together into each other. ”

“ When oil burners and automatic stokers have revolutionized the fireman's duties, when train orders are unknown, when the position or color of a signal is the only instruction, we may transfer the command of the train to one of the men in the engine. When we so protect our trains by block signals or other devices that to send back a flag is an absurdity, our trainmen will become starters, and perhaps collectors, with duties not dissimilar to those of guards on elevated roads. When the much-needed motor car for suburban and branch service is perfected, other changes will come. ”

“ Tramps and other careless persons are so numerous that the casual passenger in a locomotive cab generally cannot [408] ride fifty miles without seeing what seems to him a hair-breadth escape, but which is nevertheless treated by the engineer as a commonplace occurrence. These heedless wayfarers do, however, occasionally carry their indifference to danger too far, and they are tossed in the air like feathers. [35] Doubtless there are those who, like the fireman who talked with the tender-hearted young lady, regret the killing of a man chiefly "because it musses up the engine so;" ”

“ An engine-driver on the Pennsylvania Railway yesterday saved the lives of 600 passengers by an extraordinary act of heroism. The furnace door was opened by the fireman p. 271to replenish the fire while the train was going at thirty-five miles an hour. ”

“ We would not have the fireman straining his back to shovel fifteen or twenty tons of coal while a different breed of cat, a brakeman, rides on the fireman’s seat and forgets to ring the bell when the train starts.
We blame the unions for expensive lack of interchangeability of function. ”

“ It was 11:50 when they passed Good-night, and two minutes later the fireman was startled by that dreadful word which almost every fireman has heard at some time or another: "Jump!"
It is as natural for an engineer to call to his fireman to jump and save himself for he is of no use on a locomotive about to be wrecked—as it is for the engineer to remain at his post.
"Jump!" shouted the driver; and the fire man glancing ahead saw a confused mingling of horns, hoofs, and tails between him and the track. ”

“ His fire is attended to, and its make-up regulated,—the kind of coal used, the train to be pulled, and the character of the road on the start. With an easy or down grade, for a mile or two on the start, the fire does not need to be so well made up as when the start is made on a heavy pull. But every intelligent fireman gets to understand in a few weeks just what kind of a fire is needed. It is the capability of perceiving this and other matters promptly, that distinguishes a good from an indifferent fireman. ”

“ It is no slight task, firing a heavy locomotive over 100 or more miles of grade-climbing, curve-rounding railroad. It is a task that fairly calls for human arms of steel; for some firemen handle some 17 tons of coal in a single run. The appetite of that firebox is seemingly insatiable. There is hardly a moment during the run that it is not clamoring to be fed, and that the fireman is not hard at it there on the rocking floor of the swaying tender, reaching from tender coal to firebox door. ”

“ The two machines were running almost neck and neck now. The trolley cried, hissed, and spat fire in her mad effort to pass the locomotive. A few stray sparks went out of the engine-stack, and fell upon the roof of the racing car. At intervals of half a minute the fireman opened the furnace door; and by the flare of light from the white-hot fire-box the engine-driver could see the men on the teetering trolley,—the motor-man, the conductor, the sheriff, and his deputy. ”

“ When a fireman has fired four years, and is worthy of promotion, and fully competent to run a locomotive, there may be no vacancies in the engineer force on the road by which he may be employed. In that case we recommend that he receive a small amount more per day than the senior fireman (say from fifteen to twenty cents per day more) , and be ranked as veteran fireman. ”

“ He has not the responsibility resting on him that there is upon the engineer; but it is [Pg 71] required of him, when not otherwise engaged with his duty of firing, to assist the engineer in keeping a lookout ahead. His position is one of the most dangerous on the train, as is proved by the frequent occurrence of accidents, where only the fireman is killed; and his only obituary, no matter how earnest he may have been, how faithful in the performance of his duties, is an item in the telegraphic reports, that a fireman was killed in such a railroad smash. ”

“ Breathless, each [Pg 341] man struggled to keep his footing, momentarily expecting to be dashed into eternity. The minutes dragged as hours, until at last, from somewhere in the rear of the train, the fireman returned with a wrench, and throwing his whole weight upon the padlock, quickly snapped its staples. The door burst open, sending him flying headlong. Through the car poured a furious gust of wind and snow, blinding, suffocating, and into the midst of this jumped the engineer, and, clambering desperately upon the tender, disappeared. ”

“ The first of them is passed at speed; but gradually, as the engine and train approach the second, the driver slightly lowers his regulator, and the guards, both at the fore and hinder parts of the train, take their breaks in hand; so does the fireman, at his powerful break on the engine. The second signal is passed; white takes the place of green at the third, if all be right; but if not, and there be any sudden obstruction at or near the station, vivid red lamps by night, bright red arms by day, appear from half a dozen places almost with the electric flash and speed of lightning. ”

“ Two sharp, shrill, and sudden whistles from the engine tell the guards that danger is a-head—that is, should they not themselves have seen it; an unlikely circumstance, [235] for they are as keenly alert in their break-vans as driver and fireman are on their engine. In a moment three powerful men are applying, with utmost energy, the immense break-power at their command—so powerful that the passengers often feel a concussion that awakes the dormant, and almost hurls them against their opposite neighbours, and the train is pulled up within a space varying from 200 to 400 yards. ”

“ The automatic fire door would also serve to protect travelers upon highways crossed by the railroad at grade. For the fireman is required to aid the engineer in keeping a lookout, and with use of the old type swinging door this is not continuously possible. ”

“ As passing through the occupation of fireman was the only way men could obtain practical knowledge of engine-running before taking charge, railroad officials16 all over the world gradually fell into the way of regarding that as the proper channel for men to traverse before reaching the right-hand side of the locomotive.
KIND OF MEN TO BE CHOSEN AS FIREMEN.
As the pay for firemen rules moderately good, even when compared with other skilled labor; and as the higher position of engineer looms like a beacon not far ahead,—there is always a liberal choice of good men to begin work as firemen. ”

“ The dragon is insatiate. The fireman is continually swinging open the furnace-door, whereat a red shine flows out upon the floor of the cab, and shoveling in immense mouthfuls of coal to a fire that is almost diabolic in its madness. The feeding, feeding, feeding goes on until it appears as if it is the muscles of the fireman's arms that are speeding the long train. An engine running over sixty-five miles an hour, with 500 tons to drag, has an appetite in proportion to this task.
View of the clear-shining English scenery is often interrupted between London and Crewe by long and short tunnels. ”

“ A great many idle young fellows, ignorant of railroad affairs, imagine that a fireman’s principal work consists in ringing the bell, and showing himself off conspicuously in coming into stations. They look upon the business as being of the heroic kind, and strive to get taken on as firemen. If a youth of this kind happens to succeed, and starts out on a run of one hundred and fifty miles with every car a heavy engine will pull stuck on behind, his visions of having reached something easy are quickly dispelled. ”

“ To trainmen and experienced travellers, the unmistakable shock which tells of brakes suddenly applied is always a signal to brace themselves against the more violent one which may follow in a moment. Often this simple precaution means all the difference between life and death.
But in this case, the train came shrieking to a stop without any shock more violent than the first, and the conductor hastened out to investigate. He found the engineer and fireman standing in front of the engine, staring at a fusee burning red in the darkness, and questioning a young fellow who stood near by. ”

“ Once in a while a fireman performs some heroic act that brings him into a momentary notoriety, and opens the eyes of the few who may be cognizant of the case, to the fact that, on a railroad, all men are in danger, and that [Pg 72] the most humble of them may perform some self-sacrificing deed that will, at the expense of his own, save many other lives. ”

“ Ours is a model train, and a model fireman furnishes the power to keep it going. He throws in four or five shovelfuls at each firing, scattering the coal along the sides of the fire-box, shooting a shower close to the flue-sheet, and dropping the required quantity under the door. With the quick intuition of a man thoroughly master of his business, our model fireman perceives at a glance, on opening the door, where the thinnest spots are ”

“ The engineer and fireman, and the occupants of the second passenger car, were less fortunate. The former were found crushed under the locomotive at the bottom of the canal; while of the latter ten were killed, and not one escaped severe injury. Very rarely indeed in the history of railroad accidents have so large a portion of those on the train lost their lives as in this case, for out of ninety persons sixty perished, and in the number was included every woman and child among the passengers, with a single exception. ”

“ Freight trains in going through stations should reduce their speed and do so under control, as per Rule 6. The fireman, as well as the engineman, should be on his seat keeping a lookout, and not engaged in waving a signal to some one on another train or elsewhere, or putting in a fire, and the engineman should see that he does this. On the double track when you are going to meet another train at a crossing, try to get the engine over the highway before the tail end of the other train gets by it. ”

“ The men arose, quietly, as if nothing startling were about to happen, left the car, and walked hurriedly to the head of the train. “Each man to his post,” ordered Andrews. “Ready!”
In less time than it takes to write this account the seizure of the train was accomplished, in 126 plain view of the puzzled sentries. The two men who were to act as engineer and assistant engineer clambered into the empty cab of the locomotive, as did also Andrews and Jenks. The latter was to be the fireman. ”

“ Our model fireman manages to consume these gases as thoroughly as they can be consumed in a locomotive fire-box.
THE MEDIUM FIREMAN.
John Barton is considered a first-class fireman by some men. He works hard to keep up steam, and is never satisfied unless the safety valves are screaming. He carries a heavy fire all the time; and, when the pop-valves rise, he pulls the door open till they subside, gets in a few shovelfuls more coal, closes the door till the steam blows off again, and repeats the operation of throwing open the door. This man has learned only the half of his business. ”

“ They don’t talk about the run when they get to the accident. They pile off the train and get to work quickly. Every man is a trained wreck-worker, as a fireman is trained to his peculiar business. In such hours as they are not out on the road, the wreckers are repairers of cars. It keeps them busy during the long seasons when the line is lucky and has no wrecks, and it gives them the skill with which to tackle the difficult problems that confront them after a smash. By day these men—eight or ten or twelve of them to a crew—work in the yard close to the waiting wrecking-train ”

“ It is not expected that all the breakdowns which may happen to a locomotive will occur on the engine that he is with; therefore it is good practice to observe how other men care for these breakdowns. In connection with these examinations the work done by the fireman during the year and how the work compares with that of other firemen in the same class of service will be carefully noted; his record as to the use of coal, supplies and attention to duty will be taken into consideration. ”

“ No wonder, that, with such treatment, leaky flues, weeping stay-bolts, and pouring mud-rings, make their own protests, often reiterated on the pages of round-house work-books.
WHO IS TO BLAME FOR BAD FIRING?
The destruction inflicted upon the heating-surface of locomotives by the changes of temperature due to bad60 firing, should be charged to the engineer. The fireman commits the havoc, but the engineer is more to blame for allowing it to be done. Engineers often permit firemen to do their work badly rather than have words about it. ”