The Traveling Engineers Association

The Traveling Engineers'
Association

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Title: The Traveling Engineers' Association To Improve The
Locomotive Engine Service of American Railroads
Author: Anonymous
Release Date: February 17, 2006 [EBook #17783]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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THE TRAVELING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION
To Improve The Locomotive Engine Service of American Railroads

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
For Firemen for Promotion and New Men for Employment :-:
Copyrighted by W. O. Thompson, March, 1911 Revised January, 1919
* * * * *

=PREFACE=
It is the policy of railroads to employ firemen who will in time become
competent locomotive engineers. This requires that a man should have
at least a common school education, good habits and be in good
physical condition. He should be alert, with good reasoning faculties
and a man of sound judgment. Having these qualifications,
advancement will come to those who are conscientious in discharging
their duties and who devote some of their leisure hours to study.
As an aid to this end, and that the railroad companies may derive the
highest efficiency from the man employed as a locomotive engineman,
a code of questions is given him, and it is expected that the preparation
necessary to correctly answer the questions will indicate how well he
has progressed.
The list of questions is also intended as a guide to the matters on which
he should be correctly informed, both during his term of service as a
fireman and for future promotion to engineer.
When a man is first employed as a fireman he will be given a list of
questions on which he will be examined at the end of the first year;
having passed this examination successfully he will then be given the
examination questions for the following year; having passed this
examination satisfactorily, he will be given a third and final set of
examination questions on which he will be examined before being
promoted to engineer. All these examinations will be both written and
oral. The third year examination for promotion will be before the
General Board of Examiners. At any of these examinations, if he fails

to pass 80 per cent. of the questions asked, another trial, not less than
two months and not more than six months later, will be given him to
pass the same examination; if he fails to pass by a percentage of 80 per
cent. he shall be dropped from the service.
Where the examinations consist of both air brake and machinery, the
candidate must pass 80 per cent. in each to be successful.
Firemen passing the third and final series of questions will be promoted
in the order of their seniority as firemen, except that those who pass on
the first trials shall rank, when promoted, above those who passed on
the second trials.
Engineers employed who have had service on other roads, will be
required to pass the third series of questions before entering the service.
It is not expected that the man will pass these examinations without
assistance, and in order that he will understand the use of locomotive
and air brake appliances properly, he is expected to go to the Master
Mechanic, General Foreman, Road Foreman or Traveling Engineer,
also Air Brake Inspector or Instructor, or any other official, and ask
them for such information as may be required on any of the questions
or on any points in connection with the work. He is not only invited,
but also urged to do this, as the more knowledge of his business a man
possesses, the better will be the results obtained. He will have ample
time to study each set of questions; there is no doubt that with a
reasonable amount of study each week, supplemented with close
observation of the working of the locomotive, the information
necessary to answer satisfactorily the entire list of questions can be
easily mastered in the time given. In regard to breakdowns, it is advised
that he carefully inspect each breakdown or disabled engine that comes
to his notice, see where the parts have given way and in what manner
the work of blocking up it done. It is not expected that all the
breakdowns which may happen to a locomotive will occur on the
engine that he is with; therefore it is good practice to observe how other
men care for these breakdowns. In connection with these examinations