job description

greenspun.com : LUSENET : ACL and SAL Railroads Historical Society : One Thread

Have found out that gggfr was with SAL Railway Co. for 52 yrs. He died in l929 and he roadmaster at the time of his death. His obit said that he was presented with a gold medal from the hands of President Powell of the Seaboard in Norfolk Va. in recognition of his long service with the road. What is the job description of roadmaster? Would appreciate hearing from anyone on this. Walter Elmore

-- walter r. elmore (walter@e-machines.net), March 21, 2001

Answers

In the early days a roadmaster was over all the track structure in a given area or division.However,he had subornates working under him such as section gangs,that did the actual work.IE,section gang (laborers)section foreman,roadmaster,division engineer,super etc.

-- Joseph Oates (jlosal@mindspring.com), March 22, 2001.

Walter, The roadmaster was the man in charge of a section of track, usually a subdivision or part of one. It was his responsability to monitor the condition of the track under his jurisdiction, then to assign workers to repair it when necessary. A lot of these old roadmasters could lay the side of their head on the rail and see imperfections with alignment, they were so good. This would explain the use of the term "captain". Those who worked under him revered him and called him captain out of respect.

-- Doug Riddell (railroaddoug@erols.com), March 21, 2001.

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