Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 303, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1912 — Much Detail In Work. [ARTICLE]

Much Detail In Work.

• Ten movements are Involved In the delivery of a special train order: Telegraphing the order to the stations; writing down of the order as received; repetition of the order by the station operator to the dispatcher; O. K. on the transmission by the dispatcher; acknowledgment of the O. K. by the operator; comparing copies with the recipients of the order and receiving their signatures; telegraphing the signatures, to the dispatcher; acknowledgment of the signatures and permission to deliver order; indorsement of this reply on the order, and final delivery of the order to the trainmen. Not until the final step in this round has been taken is the order considered complete. After it has been finally sealed the operator makes triplicate tissue copies, one of which he hands to the conductor, one to the engineer and the third he keeps himself. Some roads demand that the conductor read hls copy to the engineer In the presence of the operator. On some it is the custom to deliver the order only to the conductor. When his order has been carried out the dispatcher draws a blue pencil line through his copy book and signs his initials. If he is relieved before all steps have been completed hls relief signs the order to show that he understands it. The process of making orders and delivering them is as simple as a primer after a little experience. But when freight Is heavy and excursions are running, the business of a division entails many combinations.