A RAILROAD AT WORK

[Music] there is something about a train going by a train run by people and carrying people that has a strong appeal not only for small boys like Johnny but for all of us just about everybody likes to watch trains Roar by and travel with them in imagination Johnny doesn't know it trip to the West his local agent made a sleeping car reservation for him through the called the reservation Bureau this businessman from an eastern city had his reservation made for him through his local ticket office and this young couple at the suggestion of a passenger traffic representative at the City ticket office these Honeymooners are going to Seattle with a stop over in Yellowstone Park all of their sleeping car and hotel reservations were arranged in advance Johnny doesn't realize that public appreci appreciation of these services not only creates passenger Revenue but increases Freight earnings as well however like to watch the trains go by for there is also a strong appeal in Long freight trains pulling so many cars loaded with merchandise or with Farm produce or livestock and there are many reasons for that appeal for railroads affect our lives far more than we realize the Milwaukee Road brought in materials equipment supplies and people to help build the town where Johnny lives and the road continues helping the area to grow in population and wealth representatives of the Agricultural and mineral Development Department discuss problems with farmers in the area counseling with them about livestock advising them on soil conservation markets and shipping and helping them make the most efficient use of their lands geologists connected with the Department Aid in the development of the mineral resources in various sections of the 12 States through which the road operates all of those Services affect Johnny's life and the lives of many millions of people along the railroad his bicycle was shipped to town over the Milwaukee Road but that story began more than a year ago and several hundred miles away when a representative of the roads industrial Department called on a manuf ufacturer who is interested in finding a site for a new plant how do you doing Mr janison C's my name oh yes you're from the Milwaukee Road that's right I glad to know you Mr cobbert have a chair thank you well have you found a site that you think will answer our needs yes I Mr janison I brought along some Maps show you the exact location now here's what we had in mind for you particularly this plot right here right along the main line if you will notice Colbert described the parcels of land in detail and explained the availability of power supply water materials and Manpower in the area later on he talked it over with the general agent of the Milwaukee roads Freight traffic department well Jim that's the site the Jon Products company has chosen it's right on our main line fine Joe I'll make an appointment with them right away to go over the traffic features and check into their sources of supply and distribution areas a janison gave me the name of their contractor yes here it is Jim I'll get in touch with him and try to get the construction material routed our way and I want to learn about the kind of power and heating they'll use then we'll be able to suggest the sources of fuel supply that are on our line I told janison some of the advantages our road can offer but of course I left most of that for you okay Joe I'll give him a thorough explanation of the roads facilities and show him how we can serve his interests within a few months the site was purchased from its owners the new plant erected and track laid from the main line all as a result of the services given by the industrial and traffic departments manufacturing was begun and in due time the first shipment of merchandise was put into a Milwaukee Road train and sped to its destination in one of those cars was Johnny's bicycle a milestone in his young life but there is much more to the story for shipments of freight required Main cck and cars with engines to pull them for nearly a century the Milwaukee Road has been laying and maintaining track here from a Foreman's track motor car we see a maintenance crew at work these men are removing old ballast which has become muddy and is no longer suitable as part of Maintenance worn out ties are replaced with new creative hardwood ties Engineers from the safety department continually check working conditions and teach workmen and supervisors safe practices as a means of preventing injury to employees here we see the unloaded building is new ballast from specially designed cars which distribute it evenly between the rails and outside the rails as required a power jack is used to raise the track so a new ballast can be tamped under the ties special power machines Tamp the new ballast solidly and after it is leveled in the center of the track a power dressing machine is used to shakee the shoulders leaving a clean smooth Road bed the work of Maintenance requires many thousands of skilled and competent employees to keep the track in top condition over nearly 16,000 mes of main line and sightings the work of other thousands is required to keep the traffic moving at the freight houses less than car load lots are loaded in station order shipments must be handled carefully and properly stoed to save loading space and to expedite unloading at other Freight houses and Route car inspectors carefully check loads to make sure that shipments are properly secured inspectors from the claim prevention and Refrigeration Department make sure that cars are properly iced or otherwise protected against hot or extremely cold weather at a large Freight House bills of blading for LCL collect shipments are photoed making it possible for the bill of lading to move with the shipment instead of a way Bill a way bill goes through many hands including the receiving clerk route clerk check clerk agents office rap clerk revising clerk counter Bill clerk auditor and sometimes others depending on the nature of the shipment after the cars are loaded they are made up into merchandise cranes for outbound movement directly from The Freight House other cranes such as time Freights or dispatch Freights are made up at the freight yards loaded cars brought in by transfer runs from other lines or from distant cities and cars loaded by local shippers are combined into trains for outbound movement they will be hauled by one of these Giants being raided at the r roundhouse where the roundhouse foran knows the class of engine required for each train and when it will be needed he and the boiler Forum make a final check of available power and select an engine that can be serviced and made ready for an ontime departure the locomotive is fired up then moved out of The Roundhouse to a turntable to be directed to the proper track for final servicing this includes taking on coal and water the engineer and fireman climb aboard and head for the train yards while at the yard Master's office the conductor signs the register checks his watch and gets his orders in way bill later he checks watches with the engineer and gives him a copy of the orders which the engineer reads back to him the engineer then hands the orders to the fireman to read while the conductor walks back to the Caboose and this train is on its way the conductor will check his orders with the brakman then put his way bills in order as the train rolls out to the main line taking products and material those millions of people whose lives are interwoven with the services given by railroads up at the head end the engineer watches the signals that give him a clear track and all along the line other employees are doing their jobs among these are the signal maintainers who make sure all automatic signals are operating properly the dispatchers who direct crane movements record them on crane sheets and keep the traffic flowing on schedule and there are the Telegraph and telephone operators who forward information on Trane movements all of these are helping to keep the trains moving safely and on time on sections of the line operators at centralized traffic control boards direct traffic up to 100 m away and from the changing lights know the location and movement of all trains within their sections Johnny knows a little about how trains are kept going or he operates his own line in a small way and he knows that equipment and maintenance are required to keep any Railroad in operation perhaps as he fixes a part of his toy train he visualizes similar activities on a grownup railroad if he does he might see the mils largest of several that the road has built in a number of cities where new passenger and Freight cars are equipment and material maintained and reclaimed here as well as everywhere on the railroad the safety department with its staff of safety Engineers is continually promoting safe practices and devices to prevent injury to employees here are large foundaries where tons of metal are melted down from giant B ladles the mile fluid is poured into pouring ladles from which the skilled Foundry men pour it into molds to produce car wheels and other parts for cars and engines there are machine shops where huge pieces are fashioned in the parts that fit perfectly in the erecting shop the boilers and Machinery of the locomotives are repaired or rebuilt when completed the engine is moved out onto a transfer table and taken to a track leading to The Roundhouse here at The Roundhouse locomotives are continually being serviced given routine light repairs or heavy classified repairs which are essentially a complete overhauling there are blacksmith shops where huge parts are heated in forging furnaces then placed under steam hammers to be roughly formed before final Machining these parts are used for engine and car repairs maintenance of freight cars is also continually in operation either at the shops or on repair tracks in several sections of the country repairs made by people whose careful work results in better operation of the road the Milwaukee Road builds its own cars thousands of them of all types box cars gondolas Passenger cars mail cars diners Beaver tails and special equipment such as snow plow our friend Johnny would like to come here and see a fake car being built he'd see the main seal brought in this is the backbone of the underframe he'd see the huge underframe turned over ready for mounting on the [Music] trucks he'd see the Trux lowered into place and the underframe lowered onto them then the welding of the underframe the sides and ends moved into position and finally the new cars coming out at the rate of one every hour or less sometimes 90 or more cars a week possibly he realizes something of all this as he waves to train Crews for he knows that somewhere these trains are built and maintained but he can't visualize the enormity of the work or know the requirements for the purchase and storing of thousands of Parts the purchasing and stores Department of the Milwaukee Road sometimes spends $50 million in one year for more than 880,000 items many of these parts are held only as safeguards against any emergency or unusual conditions others are used frequently still others are bought for improvement purposes with so large a stock careful planning and handling are necessary to a avoid loss or waste from 40 to 50,000 carloads of material are moved each year through storehouses located in 33 towns the main stock of locomotive tires for the entire Railroad and the main stock of car wheels are maintained here at Milwaukee in the lumber yard an average of more than 5 million ft of lumber is unit piled for fast handling and this is duplicated at many other Points each year approximately 2 and 1/2 million ties are purchased given preservative treatment and distributed to take care of necessary renewals the stores department has charge of the purchase storing and movement of coal and many other operations in yards over the entire line over $4 million are spent each year for lubricating oils and fuel oils which require special handling for protection against fire leakage and low temperatures at this enormous Milwaukee plant and in several other smaller plants the work of building and maintaining equipment goes on endlessly so trains will run on schedule and the road can serve the needs of millions of people not only by transportation in the several States through which it operates but also by the the circulation of money through expenditures for purchases payrolls and taxes Johnny doesn't know that the Milwaukee Road helps to pay for his education by payment of taxes used for maintenance of schools and for other useful purposes in the territory served but he does know that there are such things as addition subtraction Division and multiplication and while he works on how much a should paid to be the milwauke road is busy on somewhat larger problems of accounting and finance the department of accounting and finance employs about 1,500 people and occupies a six-story office building plus the office of the controller in the Chicago Union Station it receives reports from all over the system and accounts for expenditures for labor materials Fuel and supplies these records are made by punch ing the information into cards on key punch machines which also prepare the base data for payrolls other machine installations are used for the accounting of freight and passenger Revenue the punched cards are fed into accounting machines which prepare summary reports and detailed lists these machines also produce the payrolls from the cards previously punched and automatically make deductions for such items as income tax where railroad retirement tax board Watchers and so on still another machine is busy turning out paychecks thousands upon thousands of them complete with name and all other pertinent information office of the freight auditor and the auditor of Passenger accounts records of freight and passenger revenues are kept and Interline settlements made for the railroads portion of the revenue earned for service rendered and in another office car records are maintained from daily reports making it possible to know at all times where cars are located and when cars are received from or delivered to connecting lines reports are received by the transportation department from the chief dispatchers of each division so that cars of the right kind may be made available at the right places to take care of the shipping needs of the railroad's customers it is known when these cars will again be available to shippers and the transportation department will arrange to have them where they are needed ready for loading at the proper time the location of Passenger cars and their availability for regular and special trains is also known this train carrying mail baggage Express and people is now in the Northwest on the electrified line passengers look out over fabulous seames of mountains of extravagant colors coming brightly through the thin clear atmosphere some will stop off at Gallatin Gateway for a vacation in Yellowstone Park this most famous of American [Music] resorts meanwhile this honeymooning couple have been enjoying every moment of their trip the clean crisp Linens the excellent food on the diner and the courteous service they may wonder how these services are accomplished perhaps not right at this moment but they'll remember when the is over part of the answer would be found at the commissary in Chicago where about 100 tons of need and poter and 1,500 cases of eggs are provided for the diners every month the Milwaukee Road serves nearly 2 and 1 12 million meals each year the service of these meals requires clean fresh Linens and the road's own laundry provides them here are three of the largest washers in existence modern and electrically operated and ironing is also a large scale mechanical operation for all Linens must be ready for outgoing trains those clean white jackets worn by waiters and porters are pressed six at a time on these steam presses and that's only part of the job of getting the cranes ready for the comfort and convenience of passengers in the coach yard cleaned inside and out and diners are stocked with the finest of food on trains such as the Olympian it's up to Milwaukee Road employees to see to it the passengers are provided with every Comfort this is equally true on the Pioneer limited and on all Milwaukee road trains on the high office for example the Comforts made available through the kamarian laundry are continued through prompt courteous service on the diner the same type of service is available on the luxurious beaver tail cards appreciation of these Comforts by businessmen frequently leads to Freight re here's an interesting card a tip on a large number of salesmen call to the General headquarters of their company located in the Twin Cities let's see what happens to it after it is received by a passenger traffic representative all right thank you and Mr Greg since we've learned your company is arranging a sales meeting with representatives of your various offices I'm here to offer the services of the Milwaukee Road I'm glad you stopped in just going over the plans of that meeting got any ideas yes sir now with the majority of your men coming from points east and south of Chicago I would suggest that they all leave Chicago together on our after afternoon Hara I know that you've used that train yourself and are familiar with it yes good train they give you good service they certainly do and it would allow your men to renew old acquaintances mhm how about tickets and reservations oh we can take care of that very nicely Mr Greg we'll arrange to meet your representatives and see that their tickets and reservations are all in order all right that would relieve me of a lot of detail uh by the way would you mind telling me how you learned about this meeting not at all Mr Greg you see we have about 40,000 employees who are on the alert for new business they uh send in tip cards about passenger travel and Freight business I hear about well that's a great idea think I'll introduce that among our own people and it is a great idea many tons of freight and thousands of passengers have been carried as a result of tip cars and millions of dollars in Revenue brought to the office of the treasurer later to be dispersed in operating expenses and paychecks to employees the thousands who work together who are bound together in one effort to serve the public with better Freight and passenger Transportation his people although they work together have never met one another and do not know what sort of work the others do there is however one more Railroader who does know all of them and whose job it is to help bring them together he is Mr PR which is short for public relations this little fellow is responsible for keeping employees continually informed about what others are doing and what the road itself is doing he issues press stories on matters supervises the tip card plan provides speakers and and helps find entertainment for employee and public groups through the Milwaukee Road Service clubs in the preparation and conduct of their meetings and he publishes the Milwaukee magazine which is sent to employees he does his best to bring them together for all the thousands employed Milwaukee Road are together blending their efforts toward one result that of building the road's reputation courteous and expert performance of duties for these people are the Milwaukee Road it is a railroad people and operated by people for the service of people [Music]