On Being a Railroad Signal Maintainer, circa 1913

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

This is a very interesting "Complete List of Maintenance Tools Required at 
Electric Interlocking Plants," as given in General Railway Signal Co's book 
"Electrical Interlocking," published 1913 and reprinted in 1930, pages 369-370.

The list is a commentary on the life of a railroad signal maintainer during 
that period.  And do observe that all this pertained to that much-improved 
state of life after "electricity" started doing things like throwing switches, 
which,  just a few years earlier, had been done by brute muscle power through 
levers, rods, cranks, compensators and chains.  Holy smokes !

And, mind you, despite all the heavy capital machinery this fellow was given 
to work with, he wasn't "making" anything... he was just "maintaining" it !

-- abram burnett


COMPLETE LIST OF MAINTENANCE TOOLS
REQUIRED AT ELECTRIC INTERLOCKING PLANTS (1913)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLACKSMITH TOOLS:
1 -  Anvil
1 – Forge
1 – Set of tools, including 10 pound hammer, cold cutter and ¾” punch
 
CARPENTER TOOLS
1 – 18” square
1 – Jack plane
1 – Brace with set of bits
1 – 13/16” single lip car bit 14” long
1 – ¾” wood chisel
1 – 26” No. 9 hand saw
1 – Hand axe
1 – Adz
1 – Claw hammer
 
ELECTRICAL TOOLS
1 – Soldering furnace pot and two ladles
1 – Small soldering copper
2 – Screw drivers, 6” and 10”
1 – Aligator pliers, 8”
1 – Side-cutting pliers, 7”
1 – Binding-post wrench
2 – Socket wrenches for ¼” hexagon nut
1 – Wrench for signal circuit breaker
1 – Crank for switch motor
1 – Hydrometor <for testing specific gravity of acid in batteries>
1 – Portable volt meter
1 – Solid wrench for ¾” hexagon nuts
 
LINE CIRCUIT TOOLS
1 – Belt with safety
1 – Pair 16” climbers
1 – “Come along” with blocks
2 – Connectors
 
PIPE TOOLS
(For pipe connected detector bars)
1 – Stilson wrench
2 – Pipe rivet punches
1 – Pipe cutter
1 – Stock with 1” right hand dies
 
SWITCH FITTING TOOLS
1 – Machinist hammer
1 – Center punch2 – Cold chisels
1 – 12” tommy bar – bent on both ends
1 – 20” tommy bar – bent on chisel end only
1 – Packer rachet with 11/16” and 13/16” drill
1 – “Old man” for drilling rail
2 – Switch adjusting wrenches
3 – Two-man “T” socket wrenches for ¾” square and hexagon nut, and 3’4” 
lag screws
2 -  “T” socket wrenches for 5/8” and ½” lag screws
4 – Solid “S” wrenches and 5/8” and ¾” bolts with square or hexagon nut
1 – Solid wrench for detector bar clips
1 – 14” monkey wrench
2 – Reamers, 5/8” and 7/8”
1 – 14” Stilson wrench
1 – 6” Wescott wrench
4 Files: one-14” flat bastard, one-10” round smooth, one-12 inch half-round 
bastard, one-12” round
4 Files: two-6” rat tail, two saw files
 
TRACK TOOLS
1 – Spike maul
1 – Spike puller
1 – Claw bar
1 – Track wrench
1 – Track shovel
1 – Barn broom
1 – Railroad pick
 
TRACK-CIRCUIT TOOLS
1 – Bonding drill with twelve 9/32” twist drills
2 – Channel pin punches
1 – Channel pin set (slotted)
 
MISCELLANEOUS
1 – Workbench with combination vise
1 – Drill press with drills
1 – Set taps and dies with stock ¼” to 1”
1 – Breast drill with set of drills 1/8” to 3/8” by 32nds.
1 – Bench emery wheel
1 – Hack saw, 12 blades
1 – Large spout oiler (1 quart)
1 – 9” spout oiler (1 pint)
1 – 6” spout oiler (1/2 pint)
2 – Water pails
1 – Canvas tool bag
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