The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1902-12-03
NOVEL SWITCH DEVICE
;,aw Mans Invention to
20 n.svent Railway Collisions.
.,,rnrRFUL PIECE OF MECHANISM

Left Open by Negligent
n,oyees Closed by the Train It
Unclaimed the Apparatus WIN
save Millions Of Dollars to the
n.,,road Companies.
o,+omatic switching device, the
Al oso of which is to prevent railroad
p ulp1Tt resulting from open switches,
+hs product of the brain of a sagi-
w nTicb) man, Mr.. David j. Sulli-
ID" 0avs the Cincinnati Enquirer. The
van n I are controlled by f. H. Harper
Pr ~ T. Fish of Saginaw, protection
s s.0n, infringement having been OBJ
IT, Ia in every country in the world
'A L.o railroad building amounts to
"I +,irg The attention of capital
a.. o,roadv being drawn to this life and
,o ~" saver and it is impossible to
plog g,ot tbe enormous benefits, which
pl IN ho +he result of it's use. This mech
.nisr automatically closes railway
.,4ohos which have been accidentally
Intentionally left open when, in the
Snorotion of the road, the conditions
w s,ch as to require them to be
olosed Simple and effective means
ore nrovided for automatically lock
mo the switch tongue in either of its
nnsitions to prevent casual displace-
ment.
A further object of the invention is
20 nrovide means whereby the switch
onersting mechanism may be made
temporarily imperative for local
s,ritcbing purposes between a main
and branch track, and, in case Of the
failure of the trainmen to reset the
onnoratus and close the switch, the
mechanism will be automatically reset
nv the departing train, or, In case
+.ain approached while train was on
+be switch, the approaching train
would make the system operative and
close the switch, thus preventing
collision. This system is not intended
for ward switching, but only for branch
roads leading from the main line and
for switches along the line for the use
Of handling freight and to allow trains
to pass.
The locking bars or levers tilt up
ward from the middle of the track, SO
that when struck by a train they are
thrown down and the switch closed.
They guard the approach to the switch
from every direction. When the switch
is closed, the bars lie fiat and ordina-
rily a train does not strike them. A
train on the switch can pass to the
main line, but should it back up after
going on the main track it strikes the
lever and it would be impossible to go
on the switch again unless the lever
was fastened back to an l. shaped
piece Of steel, which is part of the de-
vice. Between the lever and the track
is spring which is struck by the
lange of a wheel. This spring is To-
Gated an eighth Of a mile down the
track and is connected to the L shaped
piece Of steel by cable. A train an
eighth Of a mile away strikes the
spring, which releases the lever, and it
flies into position to again guard the
switch.
1t will thus be seen that it is abso-
lutely impossible for a train to run
into an open switch. If the system IS
made temporarily imperative for
switching purposes, it is made opera
tive by an Oncoming train striking the
spring an eighth of a mile away. The
fitting levers are then in position, and
the switch is thrown before a train
can reach it. The train passes on with
out being obliged even to slow down.
The levers, springs, cables. etc, IN
this device have been made practically
unbreakable. The springs have
strength Of 300 to 700 pounds, while
the breaking tension of the cables Is
"a tons, where only 300 or 400 pounds
must be shifted. Inch cables are used
and fiyeeighths Of an inch chains.
One of these switches has been IN
operation on the Pere Marquette rail-
road in Saginaw, and it was demon
Srated to be a success. Michigan's
state railroad engineer has approved OF
It, and many railroad men who have
examined it pronounce it to be a great
success. Tired and overworked rail-
road men make mistakes and often
neglect to close a switch. The new de-
vice makes it absolutely safe for all
trains to pass switches, as it allows no
errors to creep in.