[kens]

On the IBM 1401, there wasn't an operating system so compiling a program was like you said: you put a stack of cards with the compiler and your program in the card reader. The compiler ran in literally 63 phases since there wasn't enough memory to do very much at one time. Compilation took about 3 minutes plus .76 seconds per statement. Your executable got punched onto a stack of cards that you could then run.

Things were faster if you had a tape drive. Your source code would normally be on cards, but the compiler would be on tape.

You can see a video of FORTRAN II compilation on the 1401 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFQ3sajIdaM

Other comments described a later system such as the IBM System/360, where you had an operating system so you could use a card specifying Fortran compilation and you were set.

Description of the compiler: http://ibm-1401.info/1401-IBM-Systems-Journal-FORTRAN.html