When I was a youngster, relatives knowing of my interest in Trains (I already had the classic Trains Tracks and Travel) gave me a wonderful hard-cover book, an autobiography of a DL&W engineer, whose railroad career spanned the time from before the introduction of air-brakes and the automatic coupler to the classic days of steam and heavyweight limiteds. At the time he wrote the book, probably the early '30's, he was still a regular engineer on the Lackawanna Limited. The book could be compared with Doug Riddell's "From the Cab" in many ways, and it gave a wonderful human interest and behind the scene's view of the railroad industry. Do you know that during much of this period, a second section of freight or passenger train could get an order to simply follow the marker lights of a first section without signal protection? The author describes such a trip in a nearly blinding snow storm. Presumably, if the first section had to make an emergency stop, the rear brakeman would throw a lighted fusee off the back platform of the caboose or rear coach. I still recall his desription of the Lackawanna's Utica, NY, branch, where he fired and ran for much of his career, and of Utica's Schyler Street, and the Grover Cleveland - Harrison election campaigns, and a chartered train, and the descriptions of a few of his firemen. I have not had the book for a long time. Has anybody else read this book or have it?
Excepts would be wonderful material for either Trains or Classic Trains. I would have also posted this on the Classic Trains forum, but Kalmbach has not yet received my renewal check, and I just got the issue telling me it is time to review.
Regarding the railroad "tailgating" refered to earlier, of course dispatchers did use common sense. I light engine move or a short freight or passenger train could run as a second section to a heavy long train, but not visa-versa. And even through WWII, dispatcing trains one after another on a single track line without signal protection was practiced frequently. Trains of equivalent stopping power would leave a terminal or yard with a half hour intervale. If the first train made an emergency stop, the rear breakmen would run back a half mile or mile or so, with a red flag by day or a red lantern by night to stop the following train in time. There were just a whale of a lot more people running the railroads in those days.
I think the author grew up in Richfield Springs, moved to Utica, and then to Morrisotwon or Summit or some other New Jersey town in commuting distance from NYC.
The name of the book is CLEAR THE TRACK, Joseph Bromley was the author, and it was published in 1943. More details are available on the CLASSIC TRAINS Form site.
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