Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/73

 railway in perfect working order, a very careful and complete system of organisation becomes necessary, and this, upon the London and North-Western, is carried out in the following manner:—

Three men, with a foreman or ganger, form a gang, and have charge of the constant inspection and maintenance of about two miles of double line of railway, being an average of one man to each mile of single line; but the exact number depends upon the extent of the traffic using the line, and the consequent wear and tear, and the number of junctions and sidings which have to be maintained. Every ten or twenty of these gangs are under the direct supervision of an inspector, who thus has a district of from 20 to 40 miles of railway. Every seven or eight of these inspectors are under the control of a chief inspector, who is therefore responsible for from 200 to 250 miles of railway, and who has also under him travelling gangs of ballasting men and relayers, who are employed in renewing the permanent way and carrying out alterations and additions. Each length has also a full complement of artificers, joiners, masons, bricklayers, painters, blacksmiths, etc., with their foremen and inspectors, and these men repair bridges, tunnels, stations, and all kinds of buildings which constitute the "works" of a railway. All these men, together with the Chief Permanent Way Inspector, and the men under him, are under the direction of a civil engineer of experience, who has also a staff of surveyors, draughtsmen, and clerks, with offices and workshops at the most important centre of traffic in his district. Such a section of the railway is called a "Division," and there are eight such divisions on the North- Western Railway, the eight divisional engineers