he end of the run. There are
provided, therefore, at various places along the line, tanks eighteen
inches to two feet wide, six inches deep, and a quarter of a mile long.
These are filled with water and serve as long, narrow reservoirs, from
which the locomotive-tenders are filled while going at almost full
speed. Curved pipes are let down into the track-tank as the train speeds
on, and scoop up the water so fast that the great reservoirs are very
quickly filled. This operation, too, is controlled from the engine-cab,
and it is one of the fireman's duties to let down the pipe when the
water-signal alongside the track appears. The locomotive, when taking
water from a track-tank, looks as if it was going through a river: the
water is dashed into spray and flies out on either side like the waves
before a fast boat. Trainmen tell the story of a tramp who stole a ride
on the front or "dead" end platform of the baggage car of a fast train.
This car was coupled to the rear end of the engine-tender; it was quite
a long run, without stops, and the engine took water from a track-tank
on the way. When the train stopped, the tramp was discovered prone on
the platform of the baggage car, half-drowned from the water thrown back
when the engine took its drink on the run.

"Here, get off!" growled the brakeman. "What are you doing there?"

"All right, boss," sputtered the tramp. "Say," he asked after a moment,
"what was that river we went through a while ago?"

Though the engineer's work is not hard, the strain is great, and fast
runs are divided up into sections so that no one engine or its runner
has to work more than three or four hours at a time.

It is realised that in order to keep the trainmen--and especially the
engineers--alert and keenly alive to their work and responsibilities, it
is necessary to make the periods of labour short; the same thing is
found to apply to the machines also--they need rest to keep them
perfectly fit.

Before the engineer can run his train, the way must be cleared for him,
and when the train starts out it becomes part of a vast system. Each
part of this intricate system is affected by every other part, so each
train must run according to schedule or disarrange the entire plan.

[Illustration: TRACK TANK]

Each train has its right-of-way over certain other trains, and the
fastest train has the right-of-way over all others. If, for any reason,
the fastest train is late, all others that might be