Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-06


that meeting. and although / cannot tell
tales out of school. I can at least say that
there were several very warm speeches
made and reflections cast that caused sew
eral of the western representatives to
sQuirm In their seats. There were Isl
roads. operating 131,0 miles Of track, rep
resented at that meeting, and IT was self
evident that the action we took therein will
nave an important bearing upon the secur-
ity from danger of the 6o0.o00.OO0 pas
sengers carried annually by the railroads
OF this country.
The block and signal system, which,
when they work correctly, prevent a train
from entering a section of the road until
the track for that section is clear. are
great advances upon the old method or
Geographic orders between stations, as that
was an advance upon the haphazard
methods OF forty years ago. But the cx-
perience has shown that these systems are
lar from perfect, and as you have al
ready told In The Star. my road for one n
trying very hard to better that later sys-
tenn The block system depends upon the
giving OF correct signals to the engineer
and his seeing and obeying these signals.
III any part OF the apparatus gets out OF
order and falls to give the right signal, or
any signal. or IL the engineer through
some inadvertence fails to catch the mean
ing OF the signal, disaster is only avoided
by lucky chance and the public being
startled by a long list of killed and injured.
automatic devices TO supplement human
skill ana foresight are being introduced
on our best roads, and soon will be as COM
mon and recognized as necessary on all
roads as the air brake. 1t is probable that
the extension of electrical appliances 10
railroads will, in the near future, make
travelling on the rail safer than IL is TO
stay at home. That is an old ana broad
assertion, but Notwithstanding the record
or 1888 L think We shall soon see those
conditions fulfilled. Some inventions look
ing to this end are being tested now. It
appears fanciful TO claim that an electrical
apparatus can be arranged which will stop
q Nw-.1-w
the engineer. that will warn the engineer
of an accident happening to the device
itself and its failure to work correctly, and
which viii enable every moving train,
switch ana drawbridge to operate its own
signals.
Help From Electricity.
But that is what We now propose TO do,
and those with me who have witnessed the
marvellous things done by electricity will
back up my assertion. These devices will
warn an engineer in ample time to stop his
train when a train is approaching him on
the same track. tell him when a draw
bridge is open ahead OF him, whether an
accident has happened to any wheel on his
train or cars and whether a trestle bridge
has sagged or fallen down or burned up.
These devices will limit. as far as human
genius can apparently CO. every element OF
uncertainty and leave nothing to human
fallibility or negligence. They will do
everything but talk and for that they will
/ :
| OF songs that will speak as plain as words.
Next to the electrical appliances are the
mechanical designs. which are almost n
| not equally, as effective in preventing ac-
cidents. One of these is the derailment
STOP which consists OF a lever inside the
| driving wheels OF the locomotive and with
4 in the trucks of the cars. whose lower end
depends within a few inches OF the top
surface of the rail 1t is pivoted SO as to
permit OF movement longitudinally Of the
train. and its upper free end, which ex-
| hoy he r.ik- 10 -fa1 % q
link or arm, which in turn is connected
with the handle of a cock situated in the
main train pipe Of the trains airbrake sys-
| TEN. When derailment takes place the
lower end is brought in contact with the
| ground either by the wheels cutting into
| the earth or by a sufficiency of the peri
phery OF the wheel descending between two
| cross ties. BY the forward motion OF the
| train the lower end of the lever Is vibrated
| rearwardly, the upper end moving forward
| from the pivot and by this forward motion
| exerting a pull upon the link connecting
with the handle of the main train airbraks
lever, opening the same and causing the
| air to escape. thus applying the brakes.
| Cooperating with this ingenious device
/ is the drawbridge mechanism. which con-
| sists of a sliding rod lying at ana across
the land end of the bridge terminal, and
projecting out sufficiently to be engaged by
| a bracket or arm fastened TO the bridge and
| moving with IL. This sliding rod has cooled
| upon IL a spring, so arranged that when re-
| lieved from the pressure of the arm or
plate IL springs out, and upon the return OF
4 the bridge IL is pushed back ana the spring
compressed Pivoted TO the cross ties Is q
bell crank whose ends are engaged respect
| lively by the sliding transverse rod and q
line of gas-pipe lever running pareliel with
| the track. This is carried back SUFFICIENT
| distance and there connected TO a crank
| arm, which in turn is connected to a rock
| shaft. lying transversely of the tracks, ana
| to which are connected at suitable places
| sector-shaped trip pieces, which are raised
| and lowered by the rotation OF the trans
verse rock shaft the bridge is opened
and closed through the means OF the nechan-
ism 1 have spoken OF before. These trips.
when in operation or in a raised position.
which is the position they occupy when the
bridge is opened. engage the levers OF the
| air brake system. and by turning them
| back apply the brakes and stop the train
Upon the closing of the bridge they are. OF
course, turned down and out OF their work.
ing position.
IAN engineer approaching an open draw
bridge first passes a signal warning him 70
stop, and failing to obey IT for any reason
his levers are struck and turned back by
the stops and he comes to a standstfll upon
the rails whether he wants TO or not
A Protection Fence.
''The other device / have limited at in the
first part of our conversation is a protec-
ton fence to be placed on trestles 1t is Q
marvel of simplicity and ingenuity. Lying
across the trestle is a series OF 1ointed
levers whose joints are connected by fusibls
plugs. Just outside OF the structure is Z
spring coied upon a rod, exerting a con-
tinual pressure away from the structure.
yet coiled so that IL can itself be compress
ed. A line OF gas pipe lever connects with
the jointed levers and runs back a proper
distance. where IL is connected TO a crank
arm. which is attached 10 a rock shaft. al
right angles, and this rock shaft runs trans
versely of the tracks and terminates In Q
box having fastered TO IL a crescent-shaped
litter, upon which rests a trip having fts
lower surface formed like a cam.
With the apparatus in operation. should
a bridge burn, one or more OF the fusible
plugs would be melted, and the gas pipe
lever. under the influence Of the spring
would move down and back, throwing down
the crank arm. rotating the rock shaft and
raising the trip UP out Of the box by the
pressure of the crescent-shaped nftes
against its under or cam side.
Should the bridge be washed away by {
flood or fall through weakness. the connec'
lions would be snapped. and the same thine
would occur. but IL the bridge sinks through
weakness insufiiciently to part any OF the
couplings, the reverse movement IL impart-
ed, as the connections. having TO cover the
form of an inverted arc, would be drawn
toward the bridge and move the crank arm
, down in the reverse or bridge direction and
cause the trip to rise by the pressure OF the
other litter against its under surface, thus
. providing for two distinctly different move
ments in a way that is at once simple. prac-
teal and cheap of construction
These devices form the principal i'm
provements in railroad safeguards conten-
h.. Inc