The Dickinson press., 1905-05-06
Block Signal Improvements on tn Northern
Pacific,

President Howard Elliott has author
lied important Improvements tending to.
increase public salty which will place
the Northern Pacific system second on:
the list OF American railways in the in
stallation of block system for the current:
year.
The new improvement will afford con-
tinuous signal protection over all the.
principal districts of heavy traffic from.
the eastern Terminus at St. Paul through.
to the Pacific Coast. Construction has:
already commenced and will be rushed
forward to completion. The districts;
over which new block signal protection.
will be afforded are as follows:
Minneapolis to Staples, MINI. ....... 1911 miles
Livingstone to Lognn. Mont. ....... 80
garrison tn Dixon. Mont. -. ..11R
Spokane, Wash: to Paseo, Wash. ...145.7
s ssssG tG II E41ll ss.nn ;wWssh.....,...'3s.s
The total Of 6I3.5 miles of new block
signal will be exceeded only by the
Pennsylvania Lines west of, Pit,shurg,
this year. Following the Northern Pa
cific in order of amount of new block
signal Improvements for the year are the
Great Western with 434 miles and the
Southern Pacific with 1888 miles.
The improvements planned. by the
Northern Pacific between Minneapolis
and Staples. Mimi, will supplement the
existing signal protection bet Sta
Piles and jamestown, N. d., giving con-
tinuous protection over 343 miles Of the
eastern end of the main line, a district
over which traffic is especially heavy.
The Improvements on the Montana di.
vision will give protection between Liv-
ingston, at which point branch connec.
ton with the entrance to the Yellow
stone Park at Gardiner is made, and
Logan, where the main line splits, one
branch running west via Butte, and the
other running west via Helena, both
lines joining again at Garrison. This is
a district Of mountain grades over which
there is a continuous movement of
"helper' engines returning light, and a
very heavy volume of traffic. This dis
trict carries the coast traffic of the Bur-
lington-Northern Pacific route.
The block system being installed is
the telegraph block, a manual block
system operated pursuant to the rules
of the American Railway Association,
already found satisfactory on other long
stretches of Northern Pacific main line.
The usual double armed semaphore is
utilized, the signals being operated from
block signal stations in charge Of
operators. The adoption Of the system
requires the employment of additional
telegraph operators and the stringing of
special telegraph wires connecting the
block signal stations.
The construction OF the new signal
system is being pushed under the d.
r%ection of Chief Engineer E. J. Pearson,
who has supervised the location OF
sidings. the building OF block stations
and installation of signals.
"Under this system said Mr.. Pearson.
protection against collisions is sale
guarded by the watchfulness of the sig
nal operators and the care Of the train.
men, an error requiring the concurrent
oversight of two signal telegraph opera.
tors. A train cannot be admitted to or
released from a block without the know.
ledge of both operators, one at either
end of the block. If one operator makes
an error the other will detect it, and nat.
ural conditions under which the men
work make it practically impossible for
both to make the same mistake at the
same time. Where we have used the
system we have found it remarkably eff
fcient.