Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-10-14

traffic for which they were h"' ie''''
and in hurried Preparations ioi '"'i'
ing it. they have had TO si.o:ii'cc 'i"' -
in safety. one railroad il"i'leei
the writer that he WAS ooi'Stu 20
Il man Il locomotive WHO I''" il''" o'''
one years eXpcrierCe as III ei'''"'
What is perhaps more potent i"ct"
than 2,een help. and operating III t"e
! same line, has bean the u!ll!eee"e''''>'
increase in railroad eqG!pfleit' 10 1t
rant %! the policy oi "blSiIeo9' 40 "
vance Of til capacity al the io''''''
ana material. decade OF wv 49,
our roadpeds, including r"Hs anu
DrIg, and all the structures were
designed for cars Of twenty 10 I'M ~
tons weight and for LOCOMOTIVES w
fifty or sixty tons. Now tileH ''ie 10
ing locomotives of one (" ''ii'
and cars of forty To Sixty '"'is -"
fact. the increase in the caH" ="
TIE locomotive is probably l"
eienilicant siugl- aspect of Xeh'
DEVELOPMENT in America t"d;sl 4IS
means a great Increase in mrna3. ''
ana when masses of uc!EfWe4h''
moving at . high rate of sp- fti. 'fone
into collision. the impact Is tffrlne.
This increase i'm the size OF the rail-
ro,1 ;,,,its has NAT been the un@lloNet
economy that it at first s'slit appears.
Even the automatic coupler WHO'S
Abortion on the freight trans IS n'oSt
welcome in the interest "f humanity.
has nad it's bad elects. acr"rd'ilS /"
the testimony o. an experienced rail
road man, to the writer n"t long a2"
Nov chat tie i,eli DO 40 nave to 20
!,ttWrrn tie cars for coupling. tHS!>
netiS are not nearly - c:tft-ul as tht%
u--l IL he III bringing TIE oars To-
gethe". tnd viii, .ae III these monster
locomotives ard long tram,
the SlASilinS that may be seen In any
-frci"'.t yard, in bringing parts OF
train together is something frlghtfuI.
This produces an appalling wear on
the rolling stock which was unknown
in the days of the link ana pm coupler,
with the result that railroad SHOPS are
crowded everywhere ana few roads
can keep up with ordinary repairs.
The life of 2 freight car. in proportion
to its weight is tremendously reduced
by this banging process, to Whicn IL is
now continually subjected.
There are other losses in operation,
from the increased weight OF the loco-
motives and the longer train, to offset
the obvious savings. 1t means more
delay at the stations. 1t is slower to
operate a big train than a moderate
sized one, lust as two or three electric
cars running together will consume
more time in unloading passengers
than a single car. 1t is probable that
the gHaat trunk roads of the East have
kept their roadbeds and bridges fully
apace with the increase in rolling
stock, but this is not true of the coun-
try as a whole. II should be our first
public Interest to thicken up existing
ines, rather than to build new ones.
A recent article in these columns
contrasting the trunk line system OF
the East with the multitude of SINGLE
track lines of the West brought out
the Western criticism that the writer
did not take sufficient note of the ire
mendous freight traffic centering
about Chicago, which only an album
dance of lines could handle In poin,
of fact. two ard four track line in
creaSSS carrying capacity of tracks.
1t is obvious that two-track line
could haul more than twice as many
trains as a single track, because of the
latter's delays on the sidings. The
four-track line brings in a new ele-
ment of advantage in giving pair of
tracks approximately for each of two
rates of speed. What consumes track
age is the clearance for the fast trains.
If all the trains moved at a uniform
speed like the cars on a surface rail-
road, the volume of business that one
pair of tracks could do would be
amazing. But where a sixty miles an
hour train passes along among others
moving at twenty miles, the track must
be cleared for some minutes ahead OF
the fast train. and it will leave a wake
of unoccupied track for some distance
behind; the slower ones which have
switched in from the sidings will all
he falling back by comparison with it.
Those who regard a multitude of sin
gle-track lines as an evidence Of tre-
mendous demands Of transportation
would be quite surprised to see how
many of these enc, four or SiX-track
line could displace, so far as mere
moving of traffic is concerned.
The double-track lines of the East
are considerably safer than the single
track. but perhaps not so much as the
public generally suppose. The danger
OF hedd-on collisions is seemingly re-
moved, but with the greater traffic,
there is the increased danger of the
last tram smashing into the slow one.
1her2 Is also some trouble from inn
parting the accident of one track to the
next. Not long ago train in New
YORK was derailed ard several sleepers
tipped over. bat no one was killed or
seriously injured. Had this been A
slngle-trlck line, the trouble would
nave been over. but as the sleepers
were thrown upon another track an
cn-rushing freight train ground into
them' killing several people
A 1avorite explanation of railroad acct
uehts Is that the employees are over
WORKED nave been on duty too MANY
hours IN succession. This is often true
nut II Is more apt to result from the de-
sire OF the operatives to earn big wages
than from the cupidity of the managers
MOST locomotive work is on a mileage or
time basis and the engineer who
doupies the road" as they say, is thus
very handsomely compensated During
me period of shortage of help of recent
years rallrCad Arrangements have mn
uoub.euly Winked at excessive ne,iods - 6 |