Great Northern Depot Malta, Montana courtesy Wahlensten collection - Flicker
Sometime, during the next morning, the phone rang while I was in the kitchen of my parents’ home. The call was from the Chief Dispatcher’s Office. It was just as Joe said. I had three days to be on the job at the Malta, Montana Great Northern Depot. I was to report next day to the Chief Dispatcher’s office to take the Book of Rules test. The Book of Rules test was an oral examination with a railroad official. It dealt mainly with safety issues and procedures used in train signaling. There were three of us in the examination room. I found out later that taking the rules test was required every three years. The others in the room were doing their three-year review.
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When the passenger trains arrived, I unloaded the express and mail car from the train then loaded the freight from the freight house. When my shift began, I was glad I was not working alone. Dean worked with me for a few shifts to break me in. Dean was an affable person, very patient with me and was always curious as to why I would have taken this job. Dean was about 40 years old and lived with his widowed mother in Malta. It was a treat when Dean would invite me over to the house and his mother would cook a meal for us. I was 18 that year. I had no idea that within ten years Dean would be a relative of mine. The telegraph chatter seemed to be constant. Various daily reports had to be completed. Sometime during the early dark morning hours of that first night, the telegraph key began to chatter. It was a train order. Dean went to the operator’s desk. The operator’s desk was built into a small bump out in the depot design. The bump out gave the operator visibility in front of and down the track left and …show more content…
I could not understand how it could to anyone else. The message was copied by hand on to a special light green paper almost light tissue paper; four copies with carbon paper between each sheet. After the message was copied, the telegrapher repeated it back through all the clicks again to the dispatcher for verification. A short cadence was sent again to the telegrapher and the message was complete. He turned a switch on the operator’s desk and a yellow light lit on the top of the semaphore pole just outside the depot door. A small aimed spotlight lighted as well. The telegrapher then reached to the wall and retrieved two y shaped bamboo sticks with strings tied across the top of the y. The train order was placed in a taut loop in the string and the telegrapher walked out to the station platform. “This is what you will be doing from now on so here is how it is done.” He said, as he began a series of steps that I would come to know that if not followed could be fatal. Dean lit a cigarette. With that, he walked to the first rail. He touched the bamboo stick to the main line rail and moved himself back on the stick. Then he raised the stick above his head at a 45-degree angle. He was now about 4 to five feet total back from the track of the
Overall the book Rulemaking was an easy, informative read. It wasn't as dry as most administrative texts and was not loaded down with case after case written in legalese and complicated to follow. Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 7 will get you all the understanding that you need out of the text. It is highly recommended that the reader skim the other three chapters and read any cases/interviews contained within.
Wood, R. (1986). Stringers on a Train. In M.Deutelbaum & L.Poague ( Eds).& A Hitchcock Reader (2nd Ed.).(pp.172-181). Amos, IA: Iowa University press.
Pette, Jack, and Roger Hensley. "19th Century Trains ." Angel Fire . Art Today , 2001. Web. 28 Feb.
Crichton, Michael. The Great Train Robbery. First Ballantine Books ed. N.p.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. Print.
A race from the start, a rider jumped to the back of his fresh pony and bolted from the station, sweating and tired, but always knowing the mail must go through, the young boy spurred the pony on as the station keepers watched the dust rise under the feet of the United States fastest mail transport… Genghis Khan is often credited with the idea of a Pony Express, more however a relay then a mail service. He began the horse relay for provisions, using a station every 40 miles, then there was William “Lightfoot” Visscher, who’s credited with working the mail into the idea. He was a rider from a Boston paper, and used ponies to run for news (Bloss 13). And all the while the United States was growing, with it grew the demand for communication between east and west.
He used a comparison pattern to describe telegraph invention with the internet, and how was more important to invent this device similar to the internet invention. Reading through the book gives a different criterion of the implementation and evolution of the telegraph device in Europe and United States. Although Standage’s book lacks deep technical aspects, he tells the story of telegraph invention in simple and interesting chronical way. In fact, he started his first chapter by mentioning the rumors of inventing a magical device to transfer letter between people mile apart in the late of the sixteen century. By 1791 two French scientist brothers Claude and Rene Chappe invented the first version of the Telegraph. The working principle of this device was mechanical and optical, which had failed in the dark. The Chappe brothers continued their trials until 1793 they succeeded to invent the first dependable device to transmit messages over long distances. At this time, the telegraph first named tachygraph from the Greek word tachy which means fast, then they changed to telegraph. The new invention became fully operational by 1794, where it played an important role to send a report of the capture of town from the Austrians and Prussians. The success of using the telegraph in civilian and military matter encouraged Napoleon to build wider telegraph network by 1804. During the nineteen century, the telegraph machine evolved to a wider global communication network to cross the continents especially in England and the United States, where Samuel Morse developed a newer version of the telegraph by
... in London and it was read out aloud. Then they would prepare the letters to print in the journal. The typewriter had not been invented during this time, so the letters were handwritten. Gutenberg had already invented the printing press a few centuries before, so the Royal Society was able to use the nice print to put the letters in.
Rauktis, Mary E. describes rules as “Youth defined restriction as “rules”. The rules were about what youth
Ting walked the line to where Coal Train 6476 stood counting down the seconds until a local train, a train without passengers or crew idled from Astringham Vale on track 12. Both trains oblivious of the monster train Allegro Middleseton blowing smoke rings of rage racing to catch up with its usually impeccable timetable.
Samuel Morse contributed many things to American society. In 1832 when returning from Europe from a period of art study on the ship Sully, Samuel overheard a conversation about the newly discovered electromagnets and came up with the idea of an electric telegraph. By 1835 he had his first telegraph model working in the New York University building. In 1837, he acquired two partners to help him develop his telegraph. Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail were the two men that he chose. They applied for a patent in 1837 for the telegraph, which included the dot and dash code.
Shay’s message alludes to a long and flat roller coaster. It is revealed that these are railroad tracks, although Tally does not refer to them as railroad tracks as she is unsure of what it is. Her issues arise from her lack of familiarity of Rusty culture. She surmises that these tracks were for the locomotion of goods for trade. When Tally discovers these railroad tracks, in a matter of conjecture, she suspects that the utilized this system “to move trade from town to town” (Pg 147).
Today I interviewed an elderly woman who is a resident in the County Nursing Home. As I entered her room, she was sitting up awake and alert. As we talked, I explained to her that as a nursing student, I'm required to complete a paper on any person over the age of sixty-five. I asked her if it would be okay to interview her. She enthusiastically agreed, therefore, I proceeded with the interview.
quickly became a close friend. He shared his experiences working at summer camps and volunteering in
“Right this way,” He said after a moment of silence. When he stood up, he was taller than I expected, at least six feet and eleven inches tall. He had to duck when he walked through the door to the right of me. I followed, just like he said to, and kept quiet.
In the story the signalman is shown as being powerless to stop the horrible accidents involving the train just like humans are powerless to prevent train crashes from happening.