, 1874-09-03

to aolf Ills firolnnn forward 70 lho crobsE, sno
TO ho absolutely sure that tho way Ia oloar De-
AZ o,soegs1Sas JuNur1oNe. AND SWITCHES,
and al all points and under al croinlBtanceH At
which or By which special cnro In tho handling
Of tratna IL maa necessary W must seSaroI IN
an oxact discharge Of thoro'ghly-unt torstood
duty by Intelligent, cnrablo and conscientious
1ilotl.
forms, a1moHt as tllore aro railways; and tho
rnloB Tor operating thotn nrc by no means unI-
form throughout lilo country. Special attention
iB called to Tho necessity for
UNIFORMITY IN SIGNALS.
and for thu adoption by tho rondB Of tho country
of Hoine hyhtenr upon Which their rrtos affecting
Signals Bl,atl bu based. Signals BY motions OF tho
hand, by muttons Of l,n1,l-lnmps, or OF flags;
by variation of tho positions Of targrts
10 son Is , by wh,istlos tt or 6els, Or gonrs, or tor.
poaocB mud by variations OF color, aa Of bulls.
targets, or la1nps,--nre IN universal uao ; bit
thoro IL TO uniformity in tho soyoral sotB Of rlcH
governing tho manipulation Of thoeo things OH
tho several roada OF thocountry.
CoLgIsIoER At CROSSINGS
occur quito frequently, and III 1llost instances
ca,lBo mitch dalnaEe. When passenger trans aro
involved, loss Of lifc gc'ora!iy follows auc col
liaions. All collisions Of this kind arc Invariably
tho result Of some o6scurity or inHslflcionoy Il,
tho rulos intonaed 10 goycrn tho sfgnal-nlen and
tzain-tnan Il Is not always the fact That
only tho Superintendent directly In charge OF
crossing aro responsible for ouch inBuiEloioncfoa
Of apparatus and iniudieiotta solcction Of meil.
Worry often bad apparatus and inferior men arc
kept at such CROSSINGS In spite Of tho Efforts ot
such SuperiutendOntB. Tho HnperintondontH IN
cl,arge arc however, to 10 hold Responsible tor
tto ollieancy OF their rules, aud for tho diselp.
ino Of their men. III moving tfnsna OIL n fail.
nay wo should not rely upon signals addressed
to tho pyG nlOno,
TIfE FOLLOWING RULES
for operating signals ut crossings deserve
Bt,ccial consideration:
ta) The rules generally requires trains to stop with
tn Il certuu elWcucd diHance Of the croaAinB, as
within iOo feet p on some roads trains required
to stop at sorne point mot more than soo foet nor
The cg,,,ccr should be required to bring hls engine
to a.anstil! exactly opposlto cortnin post sot M
i,ost aloald 10 ses ut point from which t6e yiew
across to tlo atopp!ngtost on the opposing soaa as
entirely mil9bstfnrtes.. 4,,
storping-.luco further tllan this tint llc nlhy stap
brfore e cacrs thc post provided It "a necessary to
sl,cn ic reaches IL. Tho orlcr for stopping opporo
tie post and before passing II ahoula e s's,sa'.!sos
Tho nte.! Ii, tnls assange"@sn: @ T. to aea sns sna
lmiwern the rnst mud the crossing, q train csnnot
gather Impetus enough to prevent the immediate
stopping Of It by the hulicJ I'll case Ut ncccsstY Wnat
have our ,r,ins u.,,tcr control at tleHu points.
H. When find rac specifying thut eflon tr7ins
Of liko cuRs at erosAlng tic ttatli Of tho elder
road shall have precedence. nHl that whc1t trains "
t!frcrent clunscs waiting 10 crots ths trai o.
superior clasu tnll tkc tic rnd nl.cna IF tho otler
NO understand itna intonlea IN guido tao signa'-mnn
" the crossing, Whenever shero Is ael sgn7ina: t
Engnse,s At csosss W. wesa sa o.e yaercsa ~ Of nnY
rule establishing precedence; md tho man 1n chargc
Of The crossing ellanf1 not ho halnrered by any
rc rerjrE hin Il, discriminate between tratnR sc.
coruu to class or nge of road. Tito CONSEQUENCES Of
tho oxstesee Of such rnto nny ca'tgo him to hesitate
sss !le when he,a,io At , WI ny9ye @ r isasser mo
to the circumstances affecting them respectively ana
ho Should bo abo to decide promptly and IN
tcgently In any Question Of Tic rights Or heceesltca
Of traits in the premises.
te.) 10 crossing should be operated without COM
petcnt sgnancu stationed at tt.
cd by tho Lake Shore l. Michigan Southern Rail-
ruad, nnd should be oufosced by every 1ino In
tho country:
Whenever one passenger train Ia to meet another
passenger train at n station, whether ut regular
mceing pont or Upon M order from tile tran-'lss-
pacher, 10th trains ilrst 10 Fun stop between
tho switches ut the place Of meeting.
Several An,arican roRds have adopted RHO
intended to Euard against Incidents OF tho kinds
caused by misplaced switches, which orlers tint
no train may l,asB any station without coming 70
atop, nlIless white signal bo shown at tho Gil
trance switch; and all trains mist approach tho
entrance switch under tlo full control Of tho Gu
ginoor.
UluAE tA4a 0ult t1HIlc Gtt4NuN W pt1t
ut certain station need be whitc-iiaggt ut that
station. 1850
On some roads express trains aro not limited
aa to Rpeod when passing tho entrance switch and
the station, provided thoy are whito-1laggud at
the entrance switch.
Tho more cautious practice is undoubtedly tho
beat.
"a At some points this signal indicating that no
tran may rass' Is always sct Immediately afcr tho
pausago Of u trniu on either llno and re1nafuB
BLOCK signal until after Tho sasecodlng train hsa
arrived and stopped noar tho crossing At
ohsr on's II Is ssd only wlSn o On hS
hc train R1gnalled IL moving 10 blocied-ss when
draw is open, or the like.
scei,tng gradient, Telegraph s'guaHtation should
be established or beyond the gradient at distance
Of milo or moro from the crossing then whom tho
o1secting road o viii telegraph tho man at t4c station
aforesaid, who will block tic fno Mt his station until
he receives afgua tlat tho crosafng clear.
Whenever train approaching tho crossing pakec.
the sguastaion, ths operator satoned tl.ere will
notify tho man at tho croRsing who will Of course then
the train Of which hc bus received notice sha1 have
rived and stopped near tho crossing.
Under tho operation Of the semaphores. nov
In 1,se OIL tho Atlantic l. Great Western Limo,
they arc as FREQ from accidents ut crossings sH
any road in the country. Attention il called 10
A MECHANICAL CONTINUANCE,
| by tho uao OF which tho approaches to the
| crossings OH either road aro offectually blocked
Wheneeer Tho hppRrhtna IL Bet Tor nnsslng trhlG
OH the other ruad 20 that Il collision OH the
crossing Ut trains Of tho intersecting roads is q
| physical inpospibilty. but I would not Btronu'
o,lsly advocate the uso OF this contriyante
| (which would bn costly in construction, though
| inexpensive in operation whom once bui!t), 10
cause ! believe that by tho uso Of proper
inexpensive 1ncanH we nay avoid accidents.
Let the for or snow be nj thick ua it mny, ever,
experienced engiucor kaows,. within a few ll,1n
dred feot, whore no Is approaching
crossing, and can Except In oasos ol
brcakago or insuflicieney Of engine nut
train apparatus beforo spolton Of
| come up to tho Htoppng-poatB, cstalllhllod u
before suggested, with lia train fully undor con
troll. If NO put brilliant lights on tho stopping
posts at night they viii he aiscernlblo At = con
siderable distance In the thicleAt weather. Then
tho rulu being in forco that oyery engine mus
stop at tho post. nlyiHe that tho watchinan al
tho crossing bo required to 60 to each ongino ir
sur,, aud to get on tho ongino md pilot Il,
engineer over tho crossing; and that 10 OIL.
gine he allowed to pass tho 0roBHlug ul1oBs witt
the duly uniformed and badgcd watclInan ol
| board.
1t will DO necessary, Perhaps to modify th
general rule 30 M to adapt it 10 use In yards, IN,
tho pilot should always DO Oh or with tho cross
ing engine.
| tn,ntn rand In IN Ioao NJ f}ry,n r1o, thfu '