AT the very beginning,
I want to make it plain that the term "section foreman,'' as used in this article,
belongs to the man who is a foreman in the full sense of the word; and not to the one who
merely thinks he is. There is a vast difference between the two-the real foreman does his
duty as he sees it, and those duties are numerous and varied. He does not loiter around
the section house or depot, nor does he meet the back end of the train during work hours
to see the roadmaster. He knows his place is out on the track with his men. Nor will you
find him sitting down on the end of a tie watching his men work. He knows that by being
among his men and giving a hand here and there and showing them how to do the work
properly, that he gets more and better results.
Of course, no foreman can be with his men always, as witness the following: The president
of a certain road had the habit of making yearly inspections, and his car was shoved along
ahead of the engine. He had operatives go around a few months ahead and find out things
for him, and these things would be brought up as he went along. All the officials from his
office down accompanied him and, believe me, some of the things these operatives dug up
caused many a poor superintendent and roadmaster some uneasy hours. This particular
operative stayed over night at a small town and here is what he reported: The section
foreman went to the tool house right on time next morning and sent his men to work,
carefully instructing them where and how. Then the foreman returned to the section house
and helped his wife put out a big washing, taking his bucket at 11 a. m. and going to his
gang. The operative also reported that he learned that the foreman's wife was a
semi-invalid. When the inspection party reached this man's section, the president asked
the roadmaster if he knew the foreman's family. The roadmaster said, "No, sir",
and wondered "what the heck" the president was getting at. He had not long to
wait for the president then told him that this foreman took three hours of the company's
time every week to help his wife do the washing, and the roadmaster or other division
officials had never caught him at it. Yet he was a good foreman and kept his work up to
standard. He wasn't like the big lazy foreman that laid down against a sand bank one warm
September afternoon and fell asleep. The roadmaster came along on a light speeder and
stopped near him before he awakened. Jumping to his feet, he said: "Mr. -, did you
ever have the heartburn?" The roadmaster said: "Yes, but I'll be darned if I
could ever sleep with it." That foreman would never take any prizes for having the
best section.
WHILE a foreman's duties are many, his
first duty always is to know that his track is safe for trains; and to my mind, the next
is the care of company material. Railroads spend a vast amount of money for material and
it should be properly looked after. Ties should not be thrown down dumps and left to be
covered up with weeds, etc., nor left too near road crossings for unscrupulous people to
haul away. Bolts, spikes, tie plates, rail anchors, etc., should be stored at tool houses
and taken out as used. Any surplus should be returned at night and not hid behind large
rocks, trees, etc. Many an otherwise good foreman does this with the idea of using it next
day; but probably he will be called away and then the material is forgotten, and that much
of the company's money is actually thrown away. On a certain railroad, I found 3000 tie
plates that a foreman had trucked out and piled in a ditch to keep an inspection party
from seeing them. Later, he left the road and they were lost. In these days tie plates
cost 12 cents each. No, he wasn't a section foreman. He stole $360 of that railroad's
money, and made them pay for the labor it required to truck it away; and the time he put
in idling around the station while his men were killing time would have put the plates on
a curve, thus strengthening his track and probably averting a wide gauge derailment.
The dollar-saving should be the greatest aim of all section foremen.
They should pick up all the scrap they find as they find it. Most railroads have
reclamation plants now, and it is astonishing the money that is saved. Old bolts can be
straightened and rethreaded. Different sized nuts can be used again. Many valuable parts
of engines loosen or break off, and these should be sent to the nearest roundhouse.
Thousands of dollars can be saved annually by foremen in the proper use of tools and
material, and the cleaning up of old material; and it is the best way to make a showing
that track men can do. When a foreman sees to it that his track is safe at all times, he
avoids accidents and derailments which are a large drain on the railroad's money. He does
the same thing when lie sees that the men under him do their work right; thus saving time,
which runs into big money.
For instance, in putting in ties, the new bed should only be dug deep enough for the new
tie to go in. Some foremen will allow a man to dig three or four inches too low, which not
only destroys the roadbed, but takes twice as long. That much labor is thrown away, and
labor costs money.
Another important thing is watching the safety of men. Every time men engage in a
different job, its dangers should be pointed out. Great sums of money are paid out for
accidents, 99% of which could he avoided by a little forethought on the part of the
foreman. When you see a man raising tracks who has one hand on top of the jack, you know
he might get two or three fingers mashed if the jack slipped. It means a trip to the
hospital. This means loss of time and money when a few words of caution would have
prevented it.
SOMEONE asked what was the most
important of a foreman's many duties. To my mind the keeping of track in gauge is one of
the most important. This should never be neglected, and he must be familiar with the
flagging rules and know that men whom be sends out to flag trains also know. Switches need
looking after continually and should be examined regularly; fences should be looked after
to keep stock out, thus saving money for stock claims.
It has been said that section foremen all go to Heaven when they die; but you can't make a
claim agent believe it when he gets off the train and walks two or three miles in the mud
and rain to see an old farmer about a cow that was killed, and the farmer shows him where
the fence was down.
Foremen should do their work in such a manner as to gain the confidence of the officials,
and officials should notice and criticise the work the foremen do and compliment them on
their good points.
To my mind, the foreman on the track is a mighty responsible man, and should get all the
credit that is his due. The human interest that is more manifest today than formerly is
having its effect upon track men more than ever, and it pays big dividends to the railroad
and also to the foreman; for the kind of track men I have written about in this article
always have a job and their rights, which I have mentioned , are looked after by the
officials who know them to be good men. If you don't believe it, let something happen to
deprive the company of some good foreman's services-one who has been there for years-and
you will see all the officials going to his support.
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