The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-05-15
TRAIN-HANDLING.
How Five Hundred Trains Day Pass Over
Three Tracks Without an Accident.
fPhiladelphIa TImes.l


Trains will begin running over the Scu!,-
kill Valley Branch OF the IennsyiVania ralI-
road tomorrow, and over tue new German
town and Chestnut Hill road about june
Is. General-Agent Latta was asked IL II
would be necessary to make any changes
at the Broad-street station 10 accommodate
the increased traffic.
mot at ALL" he replied. at VIII only
give us a little more to do. Our present
| facilities would accommodate one hundred
trains day more than we have. During
the bi-Centennial we had four hundred
trains day, coming and going, and there
was no inconvenience in receiving ana as
Matching them. The only trouble we had
was with the crowds OF people, and II u
were not for those who came here merely
as lookers-on there would never be any IN.
convenience on that score. We have plenty
OF room in the station to make all our pas
senrers comfortable, but when hall dozen
people come to see each passenger OIL, and
as many more TO meet each one who is ar
irving, there is apt to be crowd some
times.
"Our system OF handling trains Is almost
perfect. We have now All average OF TWO
hundred and sixty a day, inbound and
outbound, and they come and 90 over the
three tracks leading to the station without
an interruption or n mistake. In fact, yon
may say about five hundred trains a day
pass over the tracks between here and the
West philadelphia yard, for as soon AS
| train is unloaded we send it over there to
be cleaned, and il is then brought back TO
20 out again loaded. We have never had
an accident. II you will see Mr.. BARLEY,
the yard-master, ne will take you up into
the lower and show you the system in prac-
| teal operation"
HOW TRAINS ARE MANAGED.
Mr.. BARLEY. young man OF twenty
seven, who directs the movements OF all
trains between the Broad-Street station
and Thlrty-sixth street, was found in his
office at the Seventeenth-Street tower, pre-
pairing schedule Of changes to go
| into elect on Monday. He led the way
to the switch-room. Arranged in two
rows, lengthwise the room, were fifty
six levers. Some OF them were painted
black, some blue, some red, and two
were green. Two switchmen attend
| ed them. In bay-window overlooking
the track was seated n telegraph-Operator,
who was also in immediate charge OF the
| TOOU, ana UflOlt ulil was a HiiNi NiiNt''t
dIal-hoX, containing on the "spots }"
around It's face the names OF the various
divisions OF the road, and "pointer "
| that marked from the centre. Fixed to
| the walls of the room were eight or ten
signal-boxeS. Each box had two bells,
with hammer between them extending
up from an armature beneath. Above the
| legt-band bell was the word "block and
| q 4, ,.;,. to ,unr1 alnpf - 4 vi
| orator was suspended from the top OF the
box, adjusted so that the hammer would
move il when striking either bell.
"This is the SaXby and Farmer system
Of interlocking switches and signals" said
Mr.. BARLEY, San English invention that
| has been in Use over there for ten years. 1t
is the best system in the world, and can be
relied upon with perfect confidence be-
cause 10 is almost entirely mechanical, leay-
ing very little to be done by human power.
OF course, the man who works it must be
intelligent, quick, and obseryant, but the
chances Of accident are reduced 20 the
minimum by the perfection OF the appli-
anccs. Each lever you see here has sim
pie duty to perform, and it can't be
made do anything else. The switchman
has only TO move it al the proper time and
the signals, all worked by electricity, come
to his aid here, so that with even ordinary
care he can make no mistake.
GETTING A TRAIN OFF.
"There is a tower similar to this one at
Twentieth and Thirtieth streets, mt Powell
ton avenue, and at Thirty-siXth. Fifty
second. and Fn'ty-ninth streets. Beyond
that the regular blocks begin. Between
| Thirty-siXth and Fiity-secOnd streets we
also use the automatic signals. To enable
YOU TO understand the system clearly I'll
explain Just how we start out train. One
minute before leaving time the train
starter, whose room is in the station,
over the station-master's office, sig
nails by electric bell to this tower
that 4 train on a certain track in the sta
tion-there are eight tracks there. num-
bered from 0 to lis ready to start. AT
| the same time he signals 10 the ticket agent
| to stop selling tickets over, say. the New
York division. When time is up he signals.
also by electric bell, to the gateman to close
| his gate and drop the gate scmaphore or
signal-arm. Everything is now ready, and
| the conductor Of the tram looks first to see
| if the gate signal is down, and then to the
semaphOres near the tower. Ii they
are down he signals to the engineer to 90
ahead. There's the starters signal now.
A train is coming from Track No.
l in the station, and he wants the right
OF way for it. Now watch the switch
man. He moves two OF the red levers, and
thus drops two semaphores over the track
to show that it's clear. He pulls back
blue lever to unlock switch, pushes for
ward black lever TO give the train its
proper track, and then pushes forward the
blue lever again TO lock the switch the
black lever moved. Here comes the train.
Having passed he moves the red levers
again TO raise the semaphores, and no
other train can pass the tower now until
| the Twentieth street signal-boX on the wall
there throws its hammer to the bell under
| clear showing that the train has passed
that tower. The signals are given in the
same way from one tower to another all
along the road, and the trains are thus
always protected"
PART ELECTRICITY PLAYS.
"You spoke Of automatic signals being
in use between Thirty-siXth and Fifty
second streets; how do they work."
"By electricity. The device is very
simple. A piece Of rubber four or five
inches thick and fitted with brass pin
and socket is put under the rail between
two iron plates. A space OF twenty-five
inches is left between the ties at this point,
so that the weight OF ear will depress the
rail and break the electric current. Awire
leads from the armature under the rail TO
the signal-post, and thence along covered
wooden trough by the side Of the track to
the next post. The passage OF n train
makes the signal show red, and it remains
so until the next post is passed, where
the breaking Of the current turns the first
signal back to white and the second one to
red, and so on"
Z" Are the automatic signals durable and