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771,335
grammatic representations of roundhouses-
as, for instance, at 9-shops 10, and red and
blue switch-stripes 11 and 12. The switch-
stripes are associated with such divisions of
5 the road as require the services of switch-en-
gines, and these stripes, as well as the round-
houses and shops, are provided with peg re-
cesses or sockets for the reception of the en-
gine-pegs. Pegs representing those engines
to in switch service are inserted in the sockets
in the switch - stripes at appropriate points,
and engines in roundhouses or shops are simi-
larly indicated by pegs in the roundhouse and
shop plans on the map. Thus it is not only
15 easy to determine the approximate location
and condition of all the locomotives in train
service, but a glance at the map will also show
what locomotives are acting as switch-engines
and at what points and also what locomotives
20 are out of service and their exact location in
the roundhouses or shops, as the case may be.
In addition to the route-map of the railway
system concerned the board may bear other
data--as, for instance, other railroads, whose
25 lines are preferably indicated in dotted lines,
as shown.
The engine - pegs 8 are preferably con-
structed as shown in Fig. 2. A cylindrical
portion 13, having one side flattened, as indi-
30 cated at 14, is designed to be inserted in the
socket and is equipped with a head 15 at the
extremity of a neck 16, between which and
the cylindrical portion 13 is an annular flange
17. This flange is designed to rest against
35 the face of the board, so as to leave the head
and neck protruding to afford a handle by
means of which the peg may be manipulated.
As has been stated, each peg represents a
particular engine and bears upon its head an
40 identifying-rnark-as, for instance, the engine-
number-for example, 0183. It is also desir-
able to have each peg bear certain descriptive
data by means of which the leading charac-
teristics of the engine represented by the
45 peg may be instantly determined. Thus
the head 15 is painted a color indicative of
ownership or title, different colors being ar-
bitrarily selected to indicate that the engine
is owned, leased, rented, or borrowed, as the
50 case may be, the head of the illustrated peg
being yellow, which in this instance indicates
absolute ownership by the road whose sys-
tem is indicated on the board. Below the
engine-number on the head of the peg is a type-
55 letter indicating the type of the engine. For
instance, the letters "A" to "1" may be selected
to indicate four, six, or eight wheeled switch-
engines, an eight-wheel passenger-engine, a
ten-wheel engine with trailer, a Mogul, a ten-
6o wheeler, a consolidation, and a Columbia,
other letters being employed to represent
such additional types as may be in use. The
pin illustrated in the drawings bears the let-
ter "F," signifying to one who understands
65 the symbol that engine 0183 owned by theroad is of the Mogul type. The head of the
peg also bears a symbol-as, for instance, a
black crescent-which has been arbitrarily
selected to indicate that the engine is an oil-
burner. On the flattened face 14 of the peg 70
are indicated the diameter of the cylinder and
the stroke-for instance, seventeen by twenty-
four is shown--and on the extremity of the peg
are imprinted numbers indicating the outside
diameter of the driving-wheels in inches. Of 75
course in addition to these various symbols the
peg may bear any other information desired.
For example, I have shown the peg sur-
rounded by a bright - colored annular collar
18 of somewhat greater diameter than the 8o
flange 17, so as to- be easily observable when
the peg is inserted in the board. This collar
may be given any desired significance-as, for
instance, that the fire-box of the engine needs
attention. 85
It will thus be seen that when this peg is
properly placed in the board an official may
see at a glance to what division engine 0183
is assigned, that its condition is good, fair,
or poor, as the case may be, that it is a Mo- 90
gul burning oil, and that its fire-box needs
attention. If then he desires to know the di-
mensions of the cylinders and drivers and of
the stroke, it is simply necessary to remove
the peg from its socket in order to secure the 95
desired information.
After an engine the position of whose peg
on the blue stripe indicates first-class condi-
tion has made sufficient mileage or has de-
teriorated from other cause the peg is trans- 100
ferred, to the gold stripe, indicating fair con-
dition, and after further deterioration is re-
moved to the red stripe, indicating poor con-
dition, from whence it is removed to one of
the shops. During these changes the peg will 1no5
always indicate the location and condition of
the locomotive, and after repairs have been
made the engine will be broken in in a round-
house and finally restored to the road in good
condition, the peg indicating at all times just a1o
where the engine may be found and in what
shape.
The subject-matter thus far described con-
stitutes a complete embodiment of my inven-
tion in one aspect thereof. It is desirable, 115
however, to equip the board with keys ex-
planatory of the information - symbols dis-
played on the pegs and charts for conveniently
ascertaining the assignment of locomotives
by type and class of service and the totals by 120
divisions, service, and type, as well as the to-
tals of each type temporarily out of service,
&c. Thus at the upper left-hand corner of
the board is displayed a locomotive classifica-
tion-key 19. This key consists of a series of 125
letters indicating the classes or types and op-
posite each letter an illustration of the wheel
arrangement of engines of that particular
class or type-for instance, "A-2," drivers
td a. side; "B-3," drivers; "C-4," drivers, 130
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Symons, Wilson E. Distribution And Information Board, patent, October 4, 1904; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth511925/m1/3/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.