Mower County transcript., 1905-09-06
fSAFET in LLISlUNs.
Experiments with New Friction Draft
Gears Show; Interesting
Results. 3

an ordinary rate of speed does nc1
necessarily mean shat one or bcI1
trains need be reduced to kinillng
wood and the passengers and tram
men be killed, crippled, MANNED and
burned to cinders, says the New York
Herald. In recent experiment al
East Pittsburg before 500 people a
train travelling 40 wiles an hour ran
into train standing still. The col
lision resulted only in coupling up
the train, making a whole train OF
the two sections, which, according to
experience, should have been twisted
into all sorts of fantastic shapes, the
rail twisted into curves and the train
crew compelled to either jump for
their lives or be buried amid the
wreckage.
It was trying moment for the 500
people, about 800 of whom were prac-
tical railroad men from abroad, here
attending the International railway
congress. Most of them had expei-
enced wrecks in some shape and they
we're dubious about this Westinghouse
exhibition. Most of them kept a safe
distance away from the tracks at the
Interworks railroad, which is stretch
ed between East Pittsbucg and Will
merding. A train of so cars had been
coupled to locomotive. This train
was divided into three equal parts.
The locomotive took one-third of the
cars up the track about two miles,
then backed down on the motionless
section at speed of 40 miles an hour:
It is doubtful if any but George
Westinghouse and his employees saw
what happened. Everybody else shut
his eyes involuntarily as the engineer
opened the steam whistle, which gave
an unearthly shrek. Some noticed
that he also brought the lever back,
giving the engine it's full head OF
steam, evidently intending to brush
the obstruction ahead aside, just as
the old engineers did when COW got
on the track. The maxim: IF you
have to hit it, hit it hard.''
The moving train rushed at the
one standing quietly on the track with
terrible momentum. Spectators con.
tinued backing away. Crash-the NOV
ing train bore down on the motionless
cars. and the whole train, both Sec
tions. shivered and surged, and tug
ged for an instant, then bounded down
standing on the track few hundred
feet away, for the two trains had now
become one, and in spite of the loss
of shock in the first collision there
was enough momentum left to demol-
ish both trains in the second shock.
The spectators rushed to see the re-
suit of the second collision, having
been emboldened by the first shock
and it's result, but the train was too
quick and the whole 40 cars we're
out the spliatering of piece of steel
or the chipping of a piece of cast iron.
NIr. Westinghouse had been vindi-
Gated. The engineer and train crew
remained in their places unrufHed.
Hidden under each car back of the
coupling were two friction-draft gears
The collision had spent its force on
these and the cars remained on the
track: they did not crowd one an
other but kept the train moving in
the original direction without urging
backward and all the couplings. or
valves. air hose and mechanism re-
NAMED intact and at the command of
the engineer.
The friction-draft gear is hollow
malleable iron cylinder of 12 inches
in diameter and 80 inches long. 1t
contains numerous pieces of springs,
steel strips. wedges and pins. which
hold together many parts and cause
the whole to work automatically with
out further attention from the en-
gineer after the train is made up.
The "a steel strips, shaped like a v.
do the work of taking up the shock
of collision. They are tightly fitted
into grooves and it requires the tre-
mendous force of blow from a steam
hammer or moving train colliding
against similar obstacle to force the
strips back into the grooves. The "a
strips work Independently of each
other, each fitted to a segment inside
the main cylinder. But the force of a
collision sets the "a strips in motion
at the same time and forces them
back into the grooves.
Back of each strip is a spring, and af-
ter the pressure on the strip is relieved
this spring shoves the strip back into
it's original position ready for anoth.
er shock, or even a recoil from the
original shock. Inside of the seq
ments holding the strips is a larger
spring fitted on mandrel, which
takes up the ordinary pressure from
the chain. The coupler of the cal
rubs against this steel spring while
the train is moving or being made up
and does not come into contact with
the friction strips unless greater
pressure is exerted than the steel
spring can Withstand. In such a case