The national whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1847, 1847-07-31
CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS ON RAIL
ROADS.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS ON RAIL
| ROADS.
As the accidents which daily occur upon
rail roads give rise to much suffering bodily
as well as mental, we think the following
synopsis, prepared by the London Spectator,
of long communication to the London
Times under the signature Of Gan Engine
Driver,'' shelving the causes to which they
may be referred will be read with interest.
The letter is too long for our space, or
its rudely vigorous style would induce us
to take, it entire. It is not scholarly but
| It is the production Of man with much
natural shrewdness, and power Of impart-
ing the result Of his observations in plain
and forcible terms. We must be conten,
with extracting the principal points in a
condensed form. The sources Of danger
are these
"Making engine drivers keep the same
pace with their engines whether the weight
of their trains is increased or not by eight
OF nine more carriages" under pain Of being
areportedn and mulcted on Saturday night
The mixing up Of heavy loaded and emp
ty carriages when that is done, ssthe whole
train is inclined to roll and strike out, and
no mortal man can tell what may come Of
litp'
/ When the rails are not kept well up
70 the right level, sleepers will often sink
down, trip up on either end, and the carri-
ages will run off Lines after four or five
years will be found to 60 shaky; and hard
running soon tells on the sspermanent way. 2
ssIt is not the down pressure which hurts
the rails so much as the side or thrusting
out pressure, which is always very great
i We are now running engines Of eighteen
tons weight "Nearly all the rails laid down
in England were laid down for engines Of
eight or twelve tons, and are not meant to
stand the sde-plunging Of engines of eigh-
teen tons.o
4 erals Of about eighty pounds weight
per yard will last about Ten years, with en-
gines Of moderate weight;o but heavy Is
ton engines will make them shake before
their time Every year of these ten years,
a railway becomes more insecure; and a
hard-ridden railway soon becomes danger
| Gus.
"Now, Government should make proper
men see to the rails being always kept level
and square with each other; and to do this,
heavy eighteen ton engine should be made
to 60 at slow walking pace upon the line,
and the Government men should 90 behind
her and, walking upon each Of the rails
Hay their hands upon the buffers their
feet will then tell whether the rails are
inclined to trip or slide in or out, and the
buffers will shake their hands when the
wheels jar.
"Colonel Sibthrob says that seventy lives
have been lost by railways during the last
three weeks-a good round number; but
the time for railway accidents comes on
when the rails have been hard ridden by
your eighteen ton engines and we shall
soon have some very terrible accidents.
"Another great danger comes Of coupling
driving engines the chances are always
against one speed being pitched right -
"the only way is TO let the best engine lead
OFF,
Misunderstanding driving-engines be-
hind a line Of carriages, and buffer driv
ing them on the neck-or nothing principle. !"
sPart of the train will be bored off the
line" "When the buffers do not meet each
at their proper centres, the buffers may take
to riding, instead Of butting on each other
and then the fore-whcels Of the riding car
rage would spring of the rails, and scene
Of blood would at once follow.''
"The real and true cause of much of the
loss Of life upon railways is their being so
few brakesmen allowed to train. The
whole system ofapplying brakes when weare
running into an accident is a complete sham.
A very great check can be given 10 railway
accidents by having brakesman allowed
to each railway carriage. Steady aged men,
beyond hard work, would make cheap, We,
good brakesmen.n
"The House Of Commons should call be-
fore them engine drivers as we'll as railway
clerks and suchsort Of people; they would
then learn the real cause of many acci-
dents.o
CALL YOU THIS BACKING YOUR FRIENDS o.
We learn that, few days since, friend Of
President Polk IN whorn ho b,d Y,rox,;.ad or