The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-08-13
ABOLISH IT.
The Senseless and Useles
Whistle on a Locomotive
A Nuisance to Passengers and
Every body Else.
1T is BAD ENOUGH
To Endure Smoke, Cinders, Bad
Smells, Etc.
On a Railroad Train Without
Having
A Continual Shrek in Your
Ears Without Purpose.
WHISTLES NOT BLOWN
Until the Road Crossing is
Passed, Anyway.
Substitute Elecltic Bells For
Ear Cracking Whistles.
WHISTLES NOT BLOWN
Until the Road Crossing is
Passed, Anyway.
Substitute Electric Bells For
Ear Cracking Whistles.

what is the engineer whistling for?'
asked one passenger of another on the
westbound train coming up from Kan
sas City today.
For the road crossing we have just
passed" said the one addressed who
was more familiar with railroad usages
than his companion.
The last remark was brief but dectd-
eddy to the point. It not only answered
the question correctly but at the
same time deservedly ridiculed a Gus
tom which to nine-tenths Of the people
who travel is more OF an annoyance
than the dust and flying cinders, and
possibly an unnecessary one at that
While the shrieking of the engine
whistle every few minutes is unpleas-
ant and annoying to travellers at any
time, it is the greatest bane of travel
a night. Then it is that the t-o-o-t,
t-o-o-t, toot-toot of the whistle as the
trains swings by every road and lane
that crosses the railroad track either
renders a passenger unable to sleep
and leaves the unfortunate one to toss
about through the night, or if success
has crowned the efforts to secure rest,
startles the worn out traveller with
particularly vicious blast and makes
further sleep an impOssibility.
Hundreds of thousands of passengers
will testify to the nerve racxing an
noyance of the shrieking of a locomo-
tive whistle while they We're attempting
to talk to their fellow passengers. a
hundred times in an hour it
seems may conversation on a railroad
train be interrupted by the senseless
bawling and whoOping of the 1ocomo-
tive. It does no good and is an abso-
lutte injury to the peace and comfort of
the passengers.
WhistIing at road CROSSINGS seems to
a n
that many engineers fail to pull the
whistle cord until the engine is almost
upon the crossing and sometimes not
before the train is passing the crossing
cases 1t has no worth as a warning,
and simply serves as an annoyance to
the passengers in the train.
As far as warning is concerned,
the rush and roar of the train
as speeds along the track is plainly
audible before the whistle is sounded
even if the engineer pulls the cord at
the distance from the crossing he is
supposed to, and with the exception of
cases where drivers of vehicles have
been deaf. it is very much of question
II the engine whistle has ever been the
sole means of saving life.
But conceding that a warning at all
road crossings is necessary AS is the
general belief, why not equip the rail-
roads with electric bells. It is true that
It would be a considerable expense, but
this is an age in which railroads are
supposed to cater to the comfort of the
travelling public. and certainly in no
other way could they score such a point
in this direction.
Electric bells are now in operation at
several of the crossing along the lines
OF the Santa Fe, Rock Island and Union
Pacific roads in this state The bells
are located directly at the crossings.
and work automatically, the wheels of
the engine truck starting the electric
current which sets the bells to ringing
2 jTG frs1Tp1 n
tance of 5000 feet from the crossing. AS
the train passes the crossing the wheels
strike a second track instrument which
closes the circuit in the same manner
as the instrument on the other side of
the crossing opened it.
The bells have a clear, loud tone but
by no means possess the annoying
and awakening qualities of the engine
whistles Besides the circuit is closed
and ringing ceases before the first pas
senger car in the train strikes the cross
ing.
The bells now in use at the Santa Fe
crossing are said to have cost between
$4,000 and $4,000 each. The patent COM
prlses the greatest portion of this
amount, as officials state that the ma
terial and time necessary to equip a
crossing with a bell, would be no more
than an expense Of less than 10 per cent
OF that amount.
If the enormous amount paid for the
patent deters the railroads from equip
ping their crossing with bells and in
this way doing away with annoyance
of engine whistling, the officials Of the
mechanical departments of the roads
should feel it incumbent upon them to
perfect apparatus which would answer
the same purpose of the crossing bells
now in use, in this manner providing a
way of eQuipping their track with bells
at nominal expense.
Tt is certain that at the present time
the railroads could take no step towards
making travelling a pleasure more than
anything else that would be so thor
oughly appreciated by the travelling
public as to put an end to the whistling
nuisance.