As they go past the station, Sam leans out of the cab and snatches a hoop from the station agent’s hand. Quickly Sam takes a piece of paper from it and tosses [Illustration] the hoop out again. In the meantime the agent hands another hoop to the conductor in the caboose. The paper that Sam takes off the hoop is a train order, called a flimsy. On the flimsy the station agent has written instructions for the train’s crew. Orders come to the station by telegraph. Sometimes they tell the crew that the train must make an unexpected stop at the next station. Sometimes they give information about other trains that have been delayed. Bigger stations often have train order posts that stand beside the track, but small-town agents hoop the orders up by hand. Usually the agent has to walk along the track and pick up hoops that the crew toss down. But the one who gave the orders to Sam has a dog trained to chase hoops and bring them back! [Illustration] Sam and the engineer and the brakeman read the orders to be sure nobody makes a mistake that might cause an accident. Back in the caboose the other brakeman and the conductor read their copy of the orders, too. Then the conductor goes to work at his desk again. The caboose is really his office. There he checks the papers that tell where every freight car in the train is supposed to go. [Illustration] The brakeman pours himself a cup of coffee that’s been heating on the stove in the caboose. Then he climbs to his seat in the cupola--the little tower with windows through which he can watch the train. Squirrel cage is a nickname for the cupola. The caboose has the most nicknames of all. Crib, crum box, crummy, bounce, doghouse, parlor and monkey house are some of them. Safety is everybody’s job on a train, and each man in the crew knows the rules. If the train makes an emergency stop, the men take care that no other train will bump into them. One brakeman runs out ahead and the other runs back along the track with signal flags to warn the other trains. At night they take along fusees, which look like giant firecrackers and burn with a bright red warning glow. Torpedoes are the best warning of all. [Illustration] The brakeman fastens torpedoes to the track with little clamps. Then, if a locomotive runs over them, they explode with loud bangs that tell the engineer to stop before he runs into the stalled train ahead. The first regular stop for Sam’s train is a station where the tender is filled with water. The long string of freight cars waits here on a siding while a fast passenger train goes by. On the next part of Sam’s trip, the train has to climb some steep grades. One engine alone can’t do all the work, so a helper engine couples on just ahead of the caboose. On the days when Sam’s train is extra long and heavy, two helpers are needed. Going downhill in the mountains is work, too--work for the brakes. In the old days, the brakeman had to run along the tops of freight cars and “club down.”