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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1929)
Friday, March 8, 1929. LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER ' Pa) Eleven VOTES ARTICLE ' FOR MAGAZINE 4 f . R. Williams, of La Grande, Tells of Work on O.-W. Railroad George R. v William. s of La fninde, road foreman of engines btl who has worked with loco- utlvea for the last 20 years, has h article In the March lgsue of the fnion 1'aciflc Magazine. Tlio title of the article Is "A .in on This Job Must Know En- flies." The article follows:, A locomotive engineer, a passtn t ;r conductor, a, crossing: watch- flun, a station agent. . a Hectton li-emun and other have shown roiiKh articles in the Magazine at their work, when explained opurly, is very Interesting to oth- claHis .of employes. The ar- fries have helped us to under 1 land them and their work better an Detore. , There is much Interest also In nc work of a road foreman of eii Jnoa, and It may be that I can onvey some ot this interest as the thors have done, and contribute omethtng in the way of under landing of the road foreman's ork. The first objective of our oper ting department is to gat trains ver the road safely, on time, conomically and w ith a maximum ' satisfaction to the patron, jsat- -j-l '.mllv n nrime factor In nccom- Itshlng this is the locomotive; and lo to It that tho locomotive does f. :h iob nroncrlv is tho work of the oud foreman of enffinesvv t :$ The proper instruction of engine- urn Is an essential . part of his ,4 .'ork. Tho careful selection and $i nstruction of new inen entering m x his service is another. -JOnglne- r iien are dully coins- ro school. very time they go on the Job, they tarn something new and while the pad foreman is endeavoring to klp them In this respect, he is In urn learning from them and-with Improvements Tliat Havo - ;, lt volullmlwil the Locomotive The locomotive of today looks in general way like the locomotive if the past. But to those who mow it, it is. a very different ma Iilno from the locomotive 'o'C;, even few years back. One of tho great Improvements recent years is the superheater, his is a device by which-the keam, after being drawn from the loller, is further "heated bjefore t. outers the cylinders, tho effl iiency of the steam being there-- y iy greatly lncreused. Tf; Another improvement Is the i - M-lck arch, which is built intothe4 irepox in sucn a way as to pror f ince iriore perfect combustion and Jo force the flames against the ! lack surfaces of the firebox, reduc-; 4 y-fiK-snarkH and smoke and protect m . pf? the flues. ) The feed water pump utilizes cx-,-, liiust steam from tho cylinders, ti; 'hlch was formerly wasted for jiating the water -before it goes 4 pto the boiloT. In this way, with ho incoming water thoroughly ,f fcated, the boiler tuinperuturo is ot Interfered with. 'lie automatic stoker, or meclt- nical fireman, has not only light ned tlio fireman's task, but it has do It possible lo build big loco- iiuwvcs wiin iu vkh i irtwuxi's. tltci "lloosU;r" Adds Heserve Power Not the least among the large t of uppllahccs that have been Idded to the modern locomotive is no booster. This Is really a small, uxfliury engine, built into the ruler trucks or trailer trucks. Its hiving wheels are smaller than he regular drivers of the locomo Ive and have therefore a special -ulue in starting a train or in pro- telling it slowly. It may be nought into action, 6r Its use dis continued, by the -manipulation of j h'vor in the. engineer's cab. On ! rudes, it frequently eliminates tho iced for a helper engine. In start ng. It helps the locomotive make quick get-away with smoothness jnd east;. 1 All of these and other modern rutures have increased the of fl uency of the locomotive to a very real extent, and have lessened to ngineer's worries. As I look back over my early ttys on an engine and note the wntrast with the present, I can jeadily understand that a man ioming Into service In recent -earn would have a hard time be leving that so many things could e dono to a machine to improve t. 'irifu; mi I Jiglne, Then ami Now Twenty years ago, when firing fo would strip ourselves down as f we were goins: into tho firing lit of a battleship. When the mail rain was fJ rat put on, the ached -le was fast and the train heavy nr the size of the engine. All fir ig was done by hand through a rrie door: that is, the top part f the fire door was dropped down n a hinge, leaving an opening of bout 18 Inches wide by 8 Inches cop. While the engineer was trying to ' Maintain the schedule on a two fc-rcent grade, and was sweating ver the water level in the boiler, he fireman was also sweating on he deck berause at every oppor unlty it would be necessary to put n a second water injector, and the atra cold water going into the oiler would pull tho steam pres tire down to around 180 pounds. Ince 200 pounds pressure was veiled to keep up train speed. It 'ok necessary for the fireman to rdouble his efforts In order to i-gain his lost pressure. ; Today you see none of tills In he cab of an engine. The engln rr does not worry about his water ven though he In working the nglne up to Its fullest capacity be a use with the modern means of applying the boiler the manrin of opacity is so widened that he has iways sample reserve means of de vering the water. With the large uioinatlc stokers the fireman does ot have to worry or sweat regard as of how hard the engine is orked. Ijtiuiemvu Admire the 'tmov Among all the engines I Jiave ridden In my twenty-three years' railroad experience, the 4-13-8 Un ion Pacific type (9000-claaa) is supreme, not only In beauty of lines and workmanship, but in the way it meets all the requirements of the road. This monster that dwarfs all other engines, is amaz ing in Us flexibility of operation. The ease with which it starts heavy trains on mountain grades Is phenomenal. - This not only lessens the worry of the englnemun but it also lessens the wear and tear on draft gear. This engine, due largely to the Ale mite method of lubrication and the uniform application of power throughout - the entire revolution of tho driving wheels, rides like a Pullman, and- the enginemcn cannot help admiring this ma chine because of its adaptability to tho sorvice. In addition to his duties per taining to personnel, tho road fore man of engines functions as a con necting link between the road and I lue snop. inargeu wmi mo re- Biuiipiuiiiiy ui icivi uik iv uiu su perintendent and the master mech anic regarding the Dcrfonnance of locomotives, . he keeps In close touch with tho machines, making" hlmself familiar with any operat ting conditions that might cause interruption of service and, re porting these conditions to the proper officials, lloari I'reiimu Knows luich Kiigtno Individually - 1 It Is up to the road fqremau of engine snot only to watch the per formance of the engines, as a group, but to come to understand each of them individually. In or der to do this, ho must ride each power unit as an observer, and as a willing listener to the construc tive criticism offered by the en gine crew. This direct observation must be made of ever unit in his district, be it switch engine or freight or passenger engine. To get the utmost efficiency out of all of the power units under his supervision, the road foreman of engines must be equipped to. command ony situation that may arise. Not only that, but from tho background of past experience and study ho must be able to judge -whether a given engine is proper ly performing Its work,- If it is not, lie must be able to report what needs to be done. . A Typical OtaorvaUou Trip Under all circumstances, the road foreman must do the thing that, wilt keep the engine moving with out delay, consistently with safey. To give a better picture of the actual worlt of a road foreman: while on duty. 1 shall outline brief ly a typical trip. I leave my terminal In the Blue Mountains on the engine pulling the Oregon Special. I watch tho performance, make notes of the engine to a point where a helper is picked up at the foot or the two per cent grade, calling attention of the englnemen to anything that may come under my observation which I think will help get better performance. Dropping back, I get on tho helper engine and watch its performance on the. heavy grade. If the- train f does not handle as I think it should 1 walk over the train to the point where the slack occurs. I then check the tonnage on each side of the. slack to ascertain if each engine is hand ling its proper proportion of the load. At a point on the opposite sldo of the mountain where a helper Is picked up by trains in tho opposite direction. I leave the Oregon Spe cial and get on the engine of one of our eastbound manifest .- trains, making the same observations as before, also checking the helper. After this, I leave this train at an open telegraph office and while waiting to get out of this point,. I listen In on the dispatcher's phone to keep posted on - the operating conditions along the line. , . As I. listen to the information passing back and forth between the different operators and the dispatcher I readily pick up any conditions requiring attention. ' If engino Is needing help, I piny be ablo to prevent a delay by getting the Information about it soon enough, In this way. u " As tho road foreman spends most of his time on the road, he has little or no use for n office, His work requires him to keep pretty steadily out on the firing line. The transportation and air brake rules are the road foreman guide. The more they are studied and the more they are applied in the con duct of the service, tho more effi cient and safo Is the service, and the more plain it la that these rules are sensible and necessary. To maintain fast schedules, it is necessary to have adequate braking power. With this our locomotive and cars are equipped. And It Is necessary for all- concerned with their operation to have a thorough knowledge ot the air brake appli ances. Tho only thing a railroad has to sell Is service In the way of trans portation of passengers and freight, and In order to glvo the best, the equipment must be kept at tho highest possible point of efficiency. Ko re most in the equipment Is the locomotive, and the well earned reputation of tho Utolon Pacific for on-time performance has beeu made possible becuuso our locomo tives as well as our other equip ment and our tracks are kept In the best of condition. loo.oo rou new V. IV GRAIN 1HXS PORTLAND, Ore., Mr. 8 Six concrete grain ' bins, costing ap proximately 1100.000 and having a capacity of about 200,000 bushels, will be added to the Union Pacific grain terminal at Portland, it wits announced here by J. P. O'Brien, general manager of the O. W. II. R. & N., following a conference with Peten Kerr, of Kerr, G if ford and company, who are lessees of the property. Work will commence this month on the new bins and It Is ptunned to finish construction by Nov. 1, 1929. It Is understood that Korr Clif ford and Company will spend an additional I2&.000 for necessary equipment. If you y see the whenevei the Twain meet . IV.. Ill NEWCOMERS to tho West should make a particular puiut of writing at -ouce Tor the famous ' "Sweet Sixteen".' Packet of Recipes a remarkable group ofsmartnewwaysto ; use chocolate . Mothers especially . should secure these ' recipes at once for they afford nuner- -i. , ous ways of introVtfi,, duclngthemilkquo-i j a 1 iL.. .L!l B mi way inti ciui j i. l KVS The "Sweet Sixteen" I Recipe Packet isree I all you need to do I is to ask for It. Write I to D. Chirardelli Co., j ,900 North Point St., I San Francisco, Calif. I The recipes are all vprize winners . . . the pick of A .everyone's pick. rya4nd they are in a novel ana con. venient form on cards for Your recipe file or to f paste into your : cook book. Write for your set today .it's free GIIIRARDELLl'S GROUND CHOCOLATE m Fix that brooder, house and save the little chicks ' We have the best materials for it priced right; C Home Lumber & Coal Co. Successors ta Claude C. Pratt A Phone MAIN 248 . 1 .its HILLS BROS Coffee i You won't find tlie Arab, Hills Bros.' trade-mark, on any other coffee. And you won't find any other coffee that tastes like Hills Bros, because Hills Bros. Coffee is roasted a few pounds at a time by a patented, continuous x process. No bulk-roasting meth od can produce such flavor. HILLS BROS COFFEE Fwk from the enr inai vat hum P4ci. Juuily optntd yitk l key. 12 full size hiscuits m every : padtage for a ftiltof-lliealtth brea!dkst in a snmgls eKPsfekng dlisSii eat SIHIIHIEIIPBIEIID WDflMir the original SHREDDED WHEAT comes m this package Tuna in on the Shredded , Wheat program every Mon , dajr nioralna: at 1 OiSO, K H KPO-KGOhGW-KOMO- LOOK OVER OUR WANT ADS FOR BARGAINS Listen for GhlrardVMI hoar . . Radio KUT Fridays at 11 iM a.m. 20 YEARS FROM NOW What will the years bring your1 little ones? -Health and Happiness or interminable visits to the doctor? It's entirely up to you. The best road to health and happiness lies through their diet, and Mother Hubbard Bread insures a wholesome, body building diet. Ask your grocer today for your supply. Special Saturday Boston Cream Pies Real Whip Cream, 25 each ANNOUNCEMENT! EXTRiRDINAlRY: In order to introduce the product of The Oxford Blue . Serge Tailoring Co., We will offer for FRIDAY & SATURDAY iMarch8th and 9th Two All-Wool Suits or a Suit and a Topcoat in new SprUtg patterns, materials and styles, tailored to your individual measure for the price of one Suit or Top coat. :. V'." ; ,:v - ''''':Yri'r-'J.J.;' Two f or Ome Two Suits, or Suit and Topcoat tor the Price of one $39-50 S)50 $ Gwilliam's Electric Bakery Opposite Observer C. A. DONAHUE For over two decades with Ed V. Price Co., but now salesmanager for this territory of the Oxford Blue Serge Tail oring Co. will have per sonal charge of this sale for us and will devote his time for these two days to it. Mr. Dona hue is thoroughly train ed in the tailoring business. Fit, Workmanship and Satisfaction Absolutely Guaranteed , Big Assortment of Fancy Patterns Thin exceptional offer is made possible through the cooperation of the Ameri can Woolen Mills (the World's lutyest exclusive manufacturer of woolens), the Oxford Ulue Serge Tailoring Co., and Winans and Company, ull of whom are sacrificing their profits during this sale to introduce this nationally known line of clothes to La Grande. Realizing that nearly every family contains some member who will need a new outfit for Easter or, . Graduation orders will be accepted for' future deliveries for a small deposit; V Stetson and Lee Spring ' Hals Ready $5 lo $8.50 Trotter's QUALITY CLOTHES SHOP The Store for Every Man ' "Successor to Clint's Clotliiciy" Opposite Foley Hotel. ' New Shirts '$1.85; 3 for $!ir0 - ... ' d-t :
