The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-02-27
OFFICIALS SEE
NEW INVENTION
Imaginary Train Set In Motion to
Try Safety Machine.
SEVERAL NEW STREET CARS
SHORT LINE ORDER FOR EN-
GINES GOES OVER ONE YEAR.

A group of railroad experts expert
enced the novelty of moving at the rate
of 100 miles an hour yesterday after
noon without stirring an inch. The i'm
mobile journey was taken in the air
brake room of the Rio GEande shops,
where a test was made Of the new
device for preventing accidents and col
lisions. All the air-brake devices used
on a passenger train of twelve coaches
were in operation just as they are on
train. his train of air brakes was
connected with the signal dial which
was described in this department Of
The Herald yesterday morning.
The exhibition was given by William
T. Henry of the New York Air Brake
company. Among the officials present
were Z. Z. Calvin, general superin-
tendent; J. F. Dunn, superintendent of
motive power and machinery of the
Oregon Short Line; Master Mechanic
John Hickey and General Superintend-
ent ]. II. Young of the Rio Grande; C..
A. Trip, he local representative of the
Missouri Pacific, and other railroad
men,
When the danger alarm hangs in the
cab of an engine it is operated from a
wheel of the forward truck by a steel
shaft. This shaft works much the same
as that of a chainless bicycle. 1t runs
along the foot board of the engine and
is enclosed with a pipe to prevent It
from being bent or interfered with. The
dial was connected with the air brakes
and a crank was used in place of a
moving car wheel
Trouble On the Journey.
The visitors then started on their
stationary journey. There was trouble
oil he
posed to have an order to stop at Hoop
er, twenty miles away, and let a train
pass. Mr. Henry raised trigger on
the dial at twenty and then the train
motion was applied to the dial. At one
time a speed of 100 miles an hour was
reached according to the dial. When
the twenty miles had been made the
hand of the dial had reached the figure
p on the alarm gauge. 1t threw down
the trigger and instantly a shrill wills
tie announced that the motiOnless train
was at the danger place. But the en-
gineer was supposed not to heed the
signal. The train sped another tenth
of a mile and a plungeT in the center
of the dial fell.
Instantly there was a roar of escap-
ing air and one after another of the
brakes slipped into place against the
ina glnary wheels There was a grand
ing and creaking of the brake pis-
tons, and jolt as they reached the
limit of their stroke, and the car wheels
were locked in a vice that even steam
could not move, or at least it could
not have moved the train had the
wheels been where they belonged so
that the air brake pistons could have
reached them.
Testing New Device.
Mr.. Henry also set number of
triggers at irregular distances. Each
trigger was placed at the point where
there was a crossing, d water tank a
bad spot in the rails and other danger
points. 1t had now become dark and
foggy, and the engineer was peering
into the black night trying to dfS-
tinguish familiar landmarks. 1t was
impossible. but the hand on the dial
of the alarm signal was pointing out
the places. 1t was pointing to figures
as it reached them on the dial. The
figures correspondent to the figures OPP
pOsite the names of the places on the
chart and the engineer knew where he
was at Once when the train stopped,
and another time when the dial got out
of order. the whistle in the contriv-
ance over the dial blew furiously. It
notified the engineer that the dial was
out of order and put the imaginary
engineer on his guard.
The device worked perfectly and the
officials seemed to be pleased with its
operation. The machines are similar
to those used on the trains of Russia
with success, only the foreign dial
moves around the hand instead of hav-
ing the hand move around the dial It
is probable that the appliance will be
given a trial on the Oregon Short Line
trains. One wreck would pay. it is
said, for equipping all the trains Of
any system in the country.