TOURING the South to be introduced to many of the railroaders whose lives and health it will help preserve, the Southern's new safety car is spending many days in many different cities. It has already been visited by thousands of Southern Railway folks and many thousands more will see it during its System-wide tour. That made it hard for Ties to choose the place where it would tell the story of "a day in the life of the SA-1." What finally tipped the scales in favor of Spartanburg, S. C., was the consideration that the visit. would be a sort of homecoming for SA-1. The safety car was built at Hayne Car Shop.

Although the first safety meeting was not scheduled to start until 10 a.m., three safety representatives arrived early at Hayne Car Shop on the Monday following Easter to add finishing touches to the preparations for the first showing. H. S. Thompson, general safety supervisor, and James S. Shelton, safety supervisor, both of Eastern Lines at Charlotte, N. C., were accompanying the safety car during its initial visit to Eastern Lines, while Kenneth E. Crank, assistant safety supervisor, Washington, D. C., has the assignment to go with the car wherever it travels on the System to operate the moving-picture and slide-film projectors and the sound equipment used with them.

At 10 o'clock, with the Hayne Car Shop safety committee in the lead, shop men began to file down the aisle of the new safety-theater-on-wheels to take seats for the Spartanburg "premiere!' Like other programs presented during the 90-day "get-acquainted tour"-now about two-thirds completed-this one was not planned as a regular safety meeting but as a special introduction to the new safety car and to furnish a sample of future safety motion-picture programs.

Men who scrap old locomotives and cars at Hayne board the safety car for an afternoon meeting.

Relatively few Southern Railway folks had the opportunity to see the new car christened at Alexandria, Va., on March I. The program "took them there" with a series of slides showing scenes at the dedication ceremonies and with a recording of the remarks Vice-President Harry A. DeButts made at the time. A motion picture, "Miracle of Paradise Valley ," gave the audience an idea of the kind of film on general safety subjects that they could expect to see. And, there was a Southern Railway-produced film, "Riding on Equipment-Safely" as a sample of films dealing with safety on the job.

General Safety Supervisor "Herb" Thompson outlined briefly the future of the car-how it would become the traveling headquarters for safety meetings of employees throughout the System. Whenever they saw the car, and the sign "Meetings today," the welcome mat would be out. He didn't have to say a word about the building of the car. Most of his audience had a hand in building, upholstering or painting the SA-I. Although the men at Hayne Car Shop might well feel that, in a special sense, this was "their car," the ownership was one they were glad to share with other Southern Railway people who would use it as a place to talk and think "safety ."

After a 1 p.m. meeting-same setting, same program, but a new audience of storehouse men-the safety car's staff waited for the yard engine to move SA-I to the passenger station in time for a 4 o'clock meeting at which businessmen and city officials were guests.

Members of the Spartanburg city. council, and representatives of police and fire departments climbed the steps of SA-I that afternoon. Bankers and businessmen managed to find time from well-filled appointment books for a look at the Southern's new safety car. George W. Adams, general manager, Eastern Lines, Charlotte, N. C.; E, M. Tolleson, division superintendent, Greenville, S. C., and a number of the Southern's local supervisory officers were special railroad hosts.

Safety committee: (l. to r.) H. L. Price, assistant foreman upholsterers; lrl. Go Chearwood. freight car repairer; Bo W. Stacey, blacksmith; A. G. Terrell, sheet metal worker; P. E. Dills, machine hand; G. E. Baxter, W. E. Cause and S. D. Warts, coach carpenters; W. E. Shirah, Sr ., coach painter .

Mr. Adams welcomed the guests; Mr. Thompson told them something of the planning and building of SA-1, and what the Southern hoped to accomplish in saving life and preventing injury through the films that would be shown and discussed in the safety theater. Although the car belonged primarily to railroad people-and would find its greatest use as the traveling classroom for their regular safety meetings-railroaders did not intend to forget that the more safety is shared, the more there is for everybody. Wherever the car could help in school or highway safety programs, or in any of the public safety endeavors in which the Southern had a share, SA-1 would be glad to oblige. On the film program for this meeting, the Association of American Railroads' color motion picture "You and Your Railroads" re. placed the more technical "Riding on Equipment."

After that, the metal sign hanging beside the car door was changed to read "Meetings Today-7:30." This Monday evening affair was a real "car-warming" for the SA-1. It was a general meeting for railway people, their families and friends, and the people of Spartanburg ~a wholesale invitation limited only by the seating capacity of the car. After seeing the regular program, the A. A. R. motion picture and several other reels, the guests were finally ready to call it an evening.

Their hosts on the safety car, however, had no immediate prospects of calling it a day-there was still another visit to make with the car at II p.m., a visit to the yard crews at Hayne Yard. By the time the car had been switched, and the yard crews had a brief introductory glimpse of the new safety car, the hands of the yard office clock were inching toward midnight.

Literally, that was the end of one day in the life of the SA-1. Since being absolutely literal about it would mean missing part of the story, let's go on for a moment to the afternoon meeting Tuesday, where young people from the grade school and high school safety patrols were guests. In the meeting that preceded the motion picture program some of the youngsters only smiled shyly ill response to questions, some spoke up with assurance. All of them listened intently to what the safety representatives-and T. C. Blackwell, general superintendent of transportation, Eastern Lines-had to tell them: that railroad rights-of-way, yards and terminals were dangerous places to play; and, if railroading held potential dangers against which even skilled railroad men must maintain their guard, how many chances of accident lie in wait for the inexperienced child or youth!

Hosts at the 4:30 p.m. meeting: {left to right} E. M. Tolleson, Charlotte division superintendent; H. S. Thompson, general safety supervisor; and G. W. Adams, general manager, Eastern Lines.

A few minutes before the meeting began, there appeared at the car steps a pair of young fellows who thought that they were unbidden guests. One of them, a redhead about ten years old whose freckled face was partially obscured from time to time by a relentless assault on a large, juicy apple, paused between bites long enough to ask a question of the man standing in the doorway.

"Say, mister, does the school have to send you? Or can you just come because you want to!"

There's only one answer to that. "Sure you can come in because you want to. It's the best reason of all." And it goes for Southern railroaders everywhere. Whenever the meeting sign is up, the door is wide open ; nobody ever needs a special invitation. SA-1 belongs to railroaders in every shop, yard and office on the Southern. An incentive to use its programs and meetings to save lives and prevent accidents may be found in the words with which Mr. DeButts ended his address at the dedication ceremonies:

"The life you save may be your own!