CONDUCTOR
The
Conductor is the leader of the train crew.
He takes tickets from the passengers and maintains order on the
train. He has the final say in
decisions about operating the train. |
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FIREMAN
The
Fireman’s job is to keep a steady fire going so the water in the boiler will
get hot enough to create steam to power the engine. His job is very hard—he shovels up to 200
pounds of coal per hour into the furnace. |
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BRAKEMAN
The
brakeman operates the brakes on the train.
On the old trains, he ran along the top of the train and turned a
wheel on the top of each car to engage the brakes. |
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SWITCHMAN
The
Switchman is responsible for hooking the train cars together. This is a very dangerous job and many men
were killed or seriously injured doing this job. |
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ENGINEER
The
Engineer drives the train and is responsible for keeping the train running on
time and making decisions about the safety of the train and its passengers. |
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DISPATCHER
The
dispatchers communicated with the train crew about changes in routes or
dangers on the track and with the depot agent about schedules or problems
with the train. He communicated in
Morse Code a series of dots and dashes (each being an alphabet letter) over
wire. |
