One of these departments should be assigned to each employee and be so designated either by his name or number. In small shops where timekeeping is handled in the office of the general foreman, the departments on the right, numbered 1-100, 101-200, etc., can be used as a permanent file for piece-work cards.

At the end of each month, a sufficient number of cards (one for each day in the following month) should be stamped with the department, the employee's name, and placed in the proper "pigeon hole" in the case. This can be done with one blow of a rubber stamp with movable type, by having the block so constructed as to fit the blank spaces on the card. A bright, active boy can accomplish this work for 250 men in about two days.

The shop, office, or booth in which these cards are kept should be opened 15 minutes before the whistle blows and the person entrusted with this work must be on duty ready to give out the cards as the employees call their name or number-numbers are preferable because when a man leaves the service the person employed to fill his place can take the original number without any change whatever in the filing case. As each man passes the window arranged for this purpose and calls out his number, the card should be taken from his respective department in the case, the date and time of entering service stamped on it with a rubber stamp and passed out to him. At 12 noon the window is opened and the cards received from the men as they pass on their way out. During the noon hour the cards should be distributed in the case, and at 12.45 P. M. the window is opened again and each employee receives his card after the time at which he commences duty has again been stamped on it. This is his certificate to show that he was in the shop and ready for service at the time prescribed by the company. 6 P. M. these cards should be collected at the window from which they were received by the workmen, approved by the foreman, and turned in to the office of the general timekeeper, where they should be properly entered in the daily time book.

At

At precisely 7 A. M. and I P. M. the windows should close, and any employee coming in after that hour may be required to apply at the office for the card, which should have marked on it in red ink the time at which he enters service. Any workman entering service without his Daily Time Certificate" properly marked should be liable to lose the time for that half day, subject only to the discretion of the shop superintendent.

The card used to check employees in and out of shop will answer in every department of railway repairs, both cars and locomotives, in making daily record of all shop or day-work time,

The only difficulty to be guarded against in handling this work is in securing the proper charge. If the cards are allowed to pass unchecked by the gang foreman of the department, the men are liable become indifferent and careless in fixing the exact number of hours against each engine or account where their work 15 of a miscellaneous nature. These cards should be carefully checked each day by the foreman in charge to obtain satisfactory results. In shops where a part of the time is on a piece

To handle this card successfully it is necessary to have piece-work inspectors to inspect the work and use this card in making a proper record of the time. The piece-work inspector or time inspector as they are called in some shops should personally see each man who is paid by the piece, at least once a day, inspect the quality and amount of work which he has done, and by use of the schedule referred to on a previous page, make a careful record of the number of pieces and the price per piece, extending it as indicated on the card.

This inspection should be repeated day after day until the piece-work record card is full of items when either the total amount can be carried to the top of another card and the operation continued or the card may be totaled.

The piece-work inspector should know his men and the position in which he will find them in going from one machine to another and from one gang to another in the shop and he should be provided with the necessary means in the foreman's office to arrange the cards accordingly.

When these cards are received in the office of the timekeeper they should be numbered consecutively from one up for each department, commencing with the first day and continuing through to the end of the month.

The above illustration shows a leaf of the time book for recording day-work and piecework time.

Best results will be obtained by entering all shop time once each day, and in shops where charges to different accounts are numerous this book can be printed so as to use one page for piece-work and the opposite page for shop time; or, the book may be made large enough to provide ample room for both entries on same page.

In making out the monthly distribution of the various charges for work done in the different departments the form below will be found very convenient.

This sheet can be printed in a size to meet the requirements of the shop and a space left at the top of each column for the engine number or other charge. By the use of these sheets

This book should be printed in a size which will meet the requirements of the plant.

The time recorded on the piece-work card should be entered in the book according to the card number and to the man who performed the work. Where two or more men work together on an operation covered by a piece-work price, the number of hours worked and the amount earned by each should be entered in each case against the card number.

In recording the shop time where the cards are turned in each day, the distribution of the different charges should be made when the time is entered in the book and the cards filed in a case arranged in alphabetical order so that they will be readily accessible in case of error or dispute.

A combination piece-work and day-work

the charges on the piece-work cards can be transferred as often as they are sent in from the shop, thereby distributing more evenly the office work through the month. WM. S. COZAD,

Shop Specialist, Erie Railroad.

Railway Signals. The subject of railroad signaling (with fixed signals) falls under three heads: the block system, concentration of switch and signal levers, and interlocking. The second and third may be considered as one. Block signals are used to maintain an interval of space between trains following one another. The regulation of trains by the maintenance of an interval of time, at stations, is imperfect because, if, in the case of a curved line or when the engineman's view is obscured by fog or falling snow, the foremost of two trains is unexpectedly stopped and delayed between stations,

a collision may ensue in consequence of the negligence of a flagman or an engineman, or failure of lights or torpedoes. The block system at first was maintained by the employment of signalmen at each station, who, by telegraphing one to another, regulated the movement of the trains. The high cost of this system, due to the necessity of employing an attendant night and day at every station, led to the invention of automatic signals, which render the signalmen unnecessary. The large item of wages being saved, the block sections can be made as short as may be desired, thus increasing the capacity of the railroad by enabling trains to follow one another more closely.

The levers working a group of switches are concentrated, primarily, to save the time and labor of the switch tender, who otherwise must be continually running from one switch to another; but the principle is applicable, of course, to any number of switches within workable distance, say 500 to 800 feet; and at a city passenger terminus one man is able to attend switches which otherwise might require a half dozen attendants. The levers working the signals are of course likewise concentrated, and all are supported in a frame together. Interlocking is necessary where levers are concentrated, because moving a number of levers in wrong sequence may lead to a collision of trains. At a crossing of one railroad with another, for example, the attendant might inadvertently give clear signals on both of the lines at the same time. By locking the levers, one against another, so that he cannot do this, such an error is made impossible. At a drawbridge the signals controlling the movements of trains are interlocked with the apparatus by which the draw is locked in position. At drawbridges, and also at most crossings, a diverging track or a derailing switch is provided, so as to divert a train in case its engineman disobeys the stop signal.

The Telegraph Block System.- In this system, communications are made, in England, with apparatus like the needle telegraph, and in America with the Morse telegraph. A short code of signals by electric bells answers all ordinary purposes, and this is used in many cases. The telephone is also used to a limited extent, and is used as a convenience where the bell-code is the main reliance. The diagram (Fig. 1) represents the block signals at a single station, which we will call station B. The east bound track only is shown. The principal sig

WEST

left.

may put signal b in the all-clear position and permit the train to enter the section between b and s. If the last preceding train has reached station C and has been reported clear of the block section B-C signal s may also be cleared, indicating that the road is clear to C. When both b and s are cleared, the distant signal, d, may also be cleared, but not otherwise. The distant signal, when its arm is in a horizontal position, indicates that the train must stop at b, but when the arm is inclined downward it indicates that b and s are both clear. In case of fog or snow-storm, or if the engineman's view is obscure in consequence of a curve in the line, this distant signal obviates the slackening of speed which otherwise might be necessary to enable the engineman to make sure of a clear signal at the home signal b before passing it. The signals referred to are semaphores, one of which, with a wooden post, is shown in Fig. 2. On American signals the arm or blade always extends to the right; in England to the The upper arm gives the indications, as just described, for the main line. The lower arm is to give indications for diverging tracks (supposing there were such a track at T, Fig. 1). The casting at the left hand end of the blade is fitted with a red glass spectacle for giving the "stop" indication at night. When the arm is inclined downward, to indicate all-clear, the spectacle is lifted, disclosing the white (uncolored) light, the all-clear signal. Where green is used for the all-clear indication at night, a double spectacle, with both red and green glasses, is provided. The counterweight c, one for each arm, serves to return the arm to the horizontal or stop position in case of breakage of the wires. On some railroads the semaphore arm is made to take any one of three positions: horizontal for stop, vertical for all-clear and half-way between, meaning "caution." On certain other roads the arm is inclined 45° upward from the horizontal to indicate caution. Where signals are required for two parallel tracks they may be set on a "bracket-post" as shown at A (Fig. 2). At B (Fig. 2) are shown home signals for movements in the same direction on two parallel lines, and distant signals for the same lines, the distant signals regulating the approach to home signals farther on. For lowspeed movements, as from a siding to a main track, a dwarf signal is used (C, Fig. 2). Where signals are required for more than two tracks side by side they are usually set on a bridge spanning the tracks above the tops of the cars.

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ъ

Signals are further explained below, under Interlocking.

To provide against errors of signalmen, W. R. Sykes and others have devised electric controlling apparatus, so that to admit a train to a block section it is necessary to have the concurrent consent of the signalman at both the entering and the outgoing ends. This arrangement is called "controlled manual" or "lock

A

FIG. 2.-Semaphore Signal 24 ft. high; arms in position to indicate stop." C, counterweight; L, lamp. Signals on bracket post for trains moving in the same direction on two parallel tracks. B-Home and distant signals for parallel tracks: home for the section immediately in advance, distant for the section beyond. CDwarf signal, tor slow movements.

Electric Train Staff.- For signaling on a single track railroad, where it is necessary to provide not only against collisions between trains running in the same direction but also between trains running toward each other, the apparatus of Tyer and of Webb & Thompson is used. In these a "staff" of wood or metal 20 inches long, or a round tablet about 3 inches in diameter, is delivered to the engineman as a

symbol to give the train the right to the track from station to station. Possession of this emblem assures the engineman that no other train is in that section. A magazine filled with staffs or tablets is provided at each end of a block section, and after one of these is taken out (at either end) no other can be taken out, at either end, until the first has been replaced at one end or the other. This control is effected by a lock, governed by a polarized electro-magnet. The magnets at the two stations are electrically connected by a wire, and withdrawal of a staff at either station locks both magazines, while the return of the staff to either unlocks both. The staff system is modified by a "permissive" staff or a staff with tickets; then two or more trains may follow one another in the same direction, while still the entrance of a train from the opposite direction is forbidden. A semaphore signal, giving permission to a train to enter a block section is in some cases interlocked with the staff apparatus, so that the signal indicates "stop" to entering trains until the staff has been taken out of the magazine and used as a key to unlock the signal. These single-track devices are used in England and Australia much more than in America.

Automatic Block Signals.—These are controlled by electro-magnets actuated by an electric current flowing through the rails of that portion of the track which constitutes the section to be protected. From a battery at the out-going end of the section the current flows through the right-hand rail to the signal at the entering end; thence through the coils of a relay at that signal, and back through the left-hand rail to the battery. The track being free from all vehicles, the relay is energized by the current; and by means of magnet s, explained below, it holds the signal in the all-clear position. The presence of a train (or car) in the section deenergizes the relay by making a short path for the current, through the wheels and axis, from one rail to another, and this allows the signal to change by gravity from the all-clear to the "stop" position.

The connections for a simple automatic block signal circuit are shown in Fig. 3. The current flows from battery 12, at station C, through the rails on one side to station B, thence by a wire to the relay r, through its coils, and thence back to the battery by the rails of the other side of the track. At the ends of block sections (a) the rail-ends are insulated one from the other; and all the other rail joints are fitted with bond wires to insure a good electrical conductor throughout the section. At a switch, as atv, the track circuit is run through the rails of the side-track for a short distance so that if a car on the siding should be left standing so as to foul the main track, the current would be short circuited, throwing the signal to the stop position. As the insulation of the rails is poor, the battery for a track circuit must be of low intensity. The usual battery consists of two cells. gravity. In many cases the wire 13 by which the relay r controls the signal magnet s is extended, on poles, to the switch v, and to all switches in the section; and the setting of the switch for the side track is made to set the signal against approaching trains. In other cases the breaking of the track circuit at v is relied on for this. On a single-track railroad auto

Manual Switch and Signal Levers. The locking, back of the levers, is arranged in a horizontal frame. The arrangement in fig. 10 is for a vertical frame.