14

BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES OF AMERICAN RAILROADS

CHAPTER III.

SECTION HOUSES.

THE name “ section house ” on a railroad generally applies to the dwelling-houses sup-plied by the railroad company for the use of the men employed, more particularly on thetrack, as foremen or track hands. It is very essential that the men employed on track-work live on their section, or as close to it as feasible, so as to be always on hand in case ofemergencies and to avoid loss of time in going to and from their work. Where the route ofa railroad does not pass through thickly-settled districts, a railroad company is forced, forthe reasons mentioned, to build special houses, known as “ section houses.” The distinctionbetween these and “ dwelling-houses for employes ” lies mainly in the different styles andsizes of the two, the section houses being usually much smaller and built on a cheaper scalethan the dwelling-houses proper. The latter will be grouped under the heading of “ Dwelling-houses for Employes.”

The general requirements for a section house are that it be cheap and built to suit thelocal climatic conditions. There are two kinds in use, namely, one for the accommodationof one or more families and the other for a number of men. The section foreman and themarried hands who have their families with them generally live in the first-mentioned styleof house, while the single men or men without their families are expected to club togetherunder one roof.

Section houses, probably in all cases, are frame structures, roofed with shingles or tin,and sheathed on the outside with upright boards or horizontal weather-boarding. Accordingto the importance and the locality the exterior is more or less elaborate. The designs vary inthe different sections of the country, and the influence of the prevailing types of farm-housearchitecture on the designs adopted for different localities is clearly perceptible. Accordingto the fuel, large, old-fashioned chimneys for wood fires or brick and iron flues are used.

In the Northeastern States the country is generally so thickly settled that the railroadcompanies have not paid much attention to adopting standard section-house plans. Wherebuildings of that character are required at a few isolated points along the line, it is very easyto build a small dwelling-house similar in its principal features to the general style of countryhouses in vogue at each place. In the Western sections of the country the standard designs,while practical and economical, are as plain and as cheap as possible. In the SoutheasternStates the designs indicate a tendency to finish the buildings more comfortably and neatly.