User:RalphOnTheRailroad/Sandbox/Ralph in the switch tower

Ralph in the switch tower is the second volume in the /Ralph of the railroad series. The book was also published as the second of the four books in the eleventh /Ralph on the railroad volume.

Ralph Fairbanks is the son of his father, John Fairbanks, and his widow mother, Mrs. Fairbanks. This volume covers Ralph's service in the switch tower and his promotion, at the end of the book, to locomotive fireman. As the story evolves, he solves several mysteries some of which are "carried over" from the previous volume. The book introduces new characters as well as carrying over many characters from the previous book. Parts of the first book are summarized at the beginning though other parts are only introduced as needed later in the story. The conclusion therefore sets up the third volume in the series /Ralph on the engine.

Named characters in the book

Page	Characters with first or last names	Description
1	Jack Knight	"Head towerman of the Great Northern Railroad at Stanley Junction" (p1) for ten years who "controlled the main rails, switches, and sidings, like a woman would the threads of an intricate knitting piece." (p2-3)
1	Mort Bemis	Ex-leverman (under Jack Knight) fired for laziness, crushing Knight's hand during repair operation, etc. "He was unreliable, disagreeable, and unpopular." (p.3) Later teams up with Ike Slump
4 (1)	Ralph Fairbanks	The hero of the series and the man promoted to take Mort Bemis' place.
8 (1)	John Fairbanks	Ralph Fairbank's deceased father.
8 (1)	Mrs. Fairbanks	Mother of Ralph Fairbanks. Ralph lives with her and takes care of the property.
9 (1)	Gasper Farrington	Wealthy, miserly magnate. John Fairbanks partnered with him but Gasper cheated him out of John's $20,000 in railroad bonds (not resolved in book 1) and fraudulently charged Mrs. Fairbanks with a mortgage that Ralph forced Gasper to rescind in book 1.
9 (1)	James Blake	Master Mechanic of Stanley Junction
10 (1)	Ike Slump	Ike Slump was fired from the round house shortly after Ralph Fairbanks started there in book 1. Ike stole $20,000 worth of railroad brass fittings from the round house that Ralph recovered in book 1. However, Ike was never brought to justice.
10 (1)	Van Sherwin	Van Sherwin is employed by Farwell Gibson. Van lost his reason when Ralph accidentally hit him in the temple with a baseball. But another shock returned him to normal.
10 (1)	Farwell Gibson	Originally partnered with Gasper Farrington to chear John Fairbanks, but Farwell was in turn cheated by Gasper Farrington. Farwell reformed and provided information to Ralph proving Gasper's mortgage on Mrs. Fairbanks property was fraudulent. President of the still-under-construction Dover and Springfield Short Line.
14	Doc Bortree	Leverman at the switching tower that handles Ralph's job on a different shift.
16	Mrs. Davis	A "somewhat portly, red-faced woman of about forty" (p.17), must collect delinquent rent from Mort Bemis or landlord will throw her out. Later revealed to be Farley Gibson's wife who had separated from him and whom Gasper had maliciously convinced Farley was dead.
56	Mr. Brady	Watchman for the section of the yard that included Ralph's tower.
59	Prince	A man "who at one time had conducted eating camps for railroad construction forces." (p.59) Operates a restaurant, rents upstairs room to lodgers and rear rooms to card players.
61	Young Slavin	Young Slavin had "the course, bloated face of a boy about two years Ralph's senior. He was a powerfully-built fellow." Although originally a friend of Mort Bemis, he reforms and becomes an ally of Ralph.
70 (1)	John Griscom	Veteran locomotive engineer who Ralph had helped out as emergency fireman when they pulled railroad equipment to safety as the Acton yards burned in book 1. This action caused Ralph to be recommended for his initial position of engine wiper in book 1.
71	Calcutta Tom	"The largest and fiercest Indian tiger in captivity in any menagerie in the country." (p.71)
83	John Jacob Stiggs	A "simple-faced, smiling man of about fifty." (p.83-4) A switchman who was injured rescuing an express driver. "When he came out of the hospital he was sound of limb, but his mind was affected. He was not dangerous or troublesome." (p.84) While he was provided with a pension by the railroad, "he still imagined that he was in active service for the railroad company" (p.84) and showed up every day for "work" running errands for others. "John Jacob" is mentioned on page 107.
96	Mrs. Stiggs	Wife of Mr. Stiggs.
106	Murphy	Murphy ran a cheap ice-cream shop.
124 (1)	Ned Tallcott	Former school friend of Ralph Fairbanks (though spelled with only one "l" in book 1.
145	Old Joe Bryson	Towerman at the "limits" tower. "Joe" is mentioned on page 168.
190	Mr. Adair	Road detective
212	David	Son of an old woman who lives next door to Mrs. Davis.
233 (1)	Inspector Bardon	Person who conducted safety and cleanliness audits.

"Page" has "(1)" if this character was introduced in book 1. Page number where the character is first introduced, although often the name is not known until a page or two later. The description gives the page number where the name (or first name) is specified if it revealed much later in the story. "Description" with a reference such as "(p. 10)" refers to page 10 in this book.

Ralph in the switch tower is the second volume in the /Ralph of the railroad series. The book was also published as the second of the four books in the eleventh /Ralph on the railroad volume.

>>>Ralph Fairbanks is introduced as a baseball-playing youth who is the son of his deceased father, John Fairbanks, and his widow mother, Mrs. Fairbanks. This volume shows why and how he joined the railroad in the lowly position of engine wiper. As the story evolves, he solves several mysteries and, at the end, earns a promotion to a switch tower operator. The conclusion therefore sets up the second volume in the series /Ralph in the switch tower.

Summary

The widow Mrs. Fairbanks is forced to spend money saved for Ralph Fairbanks' college education to pay off a bogus mortgage to dishonest wealthy Gasper Farrington. Ralph gets a job as engine wiper at the roundhouse to help his mother meet the monthly mortgage payment. Not only does Ralph's home run hit provide his baseball club with a championship, his home run slide enables him to save the roundhouse foreman's daughter from certain death. In return, the foreman gives up drinking.

Ralph acts as fireman to pull cars to safety when the Acton yards catch fire. He takes over for a disabled engineer to push a burning powder car into a pond enabling firefighters to save several railroad buildings.

Ralph runs afoul of Ike Slump who is stealing railroad supplies from the shop; Gasper Farrington who wants to drive Mrs. Fairbanks off her property knowing the railroad will condemn a portion for a right-of-way; and Inspector Barton who has been hired by Gasper to get Ralph fired.

Ralph's home run hit accidentally stuck Van Sherwin in the head causing a mental shock. Van was trying to deliver a letter from Farley Granger saying Farley had been in league with Gasper to steal railroad bonds from Ralph's father, John, but Farley has reformed and has proof that the Gasper mortgage had been paid off by John. Gasper has a false charge against Farley. On a train ride with mentally deficient Van, Van suddenly recognizes Farley and steps from the locomotive cab into the air. When he hits a fence post, Van's memory is fully restored. Ralph locates the railroad supplies stolen by Ike and some of his accomplices are brought to justice. Ike, however, escapes.

Ralph gets Gasper to rescind the false charge. Thus Farley is able to hire workers to build his Dover and Springfield short line. Also Ralph gets Gasper to cancel the bogus mortgage.

Ralph's report is read by the railroad president and Ralph is assured by the road detective that Ralph will have no more problems with Inspector Barton. The story ends with the telegram asking Ralph to report as a tower switchman—thereby leading to the second volume of the series.

Plot

Ralph in the switch tower begins with head towerman Jack Knight chasing Mort Bemis away. Although Bemis had been an assistant leverman until three days ago, the Great Northern has fired him. As well as being lazy and mixing with the wrong crowd, he injured the hand or arm of Jack Knight when he was supposed to hold the spring latch safely back as Jack Knight was making lever adjustments in the lower tower. But when he waved to friends on a passing train, he let the lever slip. Mort Bemis run away to let matters cool off and just now tried to convince Jack to rehire him. Ralph Fairbanks has been promoted from engine wiper (as chronicled in Ralph in the round house) to take Mort's place. As Mort climbs down the interior ladder from the second story room, Mort meets Ralph and develops an instant dislike of him for taking his job.

Ralph has had two days in the tower familiarizing himself with the routine, but today is his first official day on the job. Later Jack leaves his alone, and Ralph sees a woman later identified as Mrs. Davis approaching the tower. Just then, Ralph receives a command to throw a particular switch for a "Chaser" from the limits tower, but the switch is stuck. While straining on the lever, the problem is suddenly resolved and Ralph is able to throw the switch in time. As Mrs. Davis nears the tower, Ralph sees Mort Bemis running away with some electrical wire. He had apparently magnetized the levers and a wreck would have resulted had Mrs. Davis not scared him away.

Mrs. Davis has come to ask the railroad to garnish Mort's wages. He has not paid his share of the rent and Mrs Davis, in turn, cannot pay her rent. The railroad cannot garnish Mort's wages since he is no longer employed. But Ralph realizes why Mort ran away and how Mrs. Davis prevented the wreck. He tells her to go home to his mother and borrow the funds. She can pay them back when she is able. Although Ralph had never met her before, she is quite startled to hear the name Fairbanks.

Master Mechanic John Blake and wealthy mean Gasper Farrington soon enter the tower. Mrs. Davis tries to hide from Gasper but the closet is too shallow. She manages to walk around and descend the tower ladder without being seen. Blake and Farrington are there to discuss a private siding that will be built to service Gasper's up-to-now abandoned factory. Switches must be added to the tower, although the siding itself must be built by Farrington. Blake questions where Farrington has a right to cross the property of a woman living between the factory and Mrs. Davis, and Farrington says he will simply do so without permission. Blake cannot do anything about this since it is not a railroad matter.

Ralph Fairbanks, himself, doesn't want to speak to Gasper because of all the dispictible things Gasper did to him described in Ralph in the round house. But when Blake acknowledges Ralph, they are forced to acknowledge each other. Gasper cannot say very much because he doesn't want to admit to what he has done. Later Ralph learns that Gasper had offered Blake a $200 bribe to have Ralph located to a different tower.

Ralph promised to have nothing to do with Gasper unless Ralph and his mother were able to prove that Gasper had stolen the $20,000 in railroad bonds that Ralph's deceased father that held for them. When Ralph goes home and asks his mother whether she loaned the $10 to Mrs. Davis, his mother mentioned Mrs. Davis volunteered the fact that as soon as she got the $10 from her sister to repay the loan, she would provide information on the $20,000 railroad bonds.

The next day, Ralph suddenly cannot throw a switch and goes downstairs to find that it had been chained up. Ralph asks the depot watchman to keep an eye on the tower. Since Ralph has been looking out for Mort, Ralph figures this must have been done by one of Mort's associates.

After work, Ralph goes to find Mort to warn him to stay away from the tower. Ralph passes a sleeping man in a horse blanket. When Ralph warns Mort, Mort agrees to stay away but says he cannot promise his associates will. Suddenly, Young Slavin, a "juvenile Hercules", attacks Ralph. Unable to defend himself by strengh, Ralph dives for Slavin's feet, tips him up, sends him crashing through a window where he lands on top of the sleeping man—who turns out to be Ike Slump. Ike is another of Ralph's enemies as chronicled in Ralph in the round house. Ralph does not inform the police of Ike Slump or Mort Bemis figuring the commotion will keep them away from the tower.