, 1906-01-25
HOURS DELAY
TROUBLE CAUSED BY TRAINS IN
DEAD HEAT"
Dispute Over Right Of Way In the
Early Days of R~aiIroading Led to q
Radical Change in Method Of run.
ming Curves"

When the Pennsylvania railroad
started It's e~ighteen-hour, special" be-
tween New York and Chicago its old
est surviving locomotive engineer.
Thomas Ridley, vas invited to accom-
pany officials and others on the first
trip, lays the Pittsburg Gazette. Mr..
Ridley shook his head and said:
mo. That's too modern for me. I'd
rather go back to running curves"
That remark brought out al inter.
esting story and acquainted some OF
the older officials with a bit of rail-
road lore they had conned.
Running curves" indeed, and what
might that mean?
When the Pennsylvania railroad vas
started there was nc telegraph. A
canal boat, trailing behind a husky
mule, was rapid transit Train orders
were given at one terminal and fol-
lowed until the other terminal was
reached. There we're fixed rules about
the passing of trains on the single
track line and eternal vigilance was
the price of safety and progress.
At the middle of each sharp. curve a
post was planted. When train ap-
preached from either direction 1t
stopped at the beginning of the curve,
the 1agman went forward to the post,
and If he found no one there signaled
his train to come on, as 1t had the
right of way. Often two trains going
in opposite direction would reach a
curve about the same time. The flag
man that reached the post first Sc
cured right of way for his train, so
the other must back to the first siding
20 pass. 1t might be put in a second or
third timo by other trains following.
That was running curves"
Naturally this system led to keen
rivalry. A fiagman with reason to
anticipate a meeting with another
train would work up over the draft"
so that when his train reached the
curve he would leap from the pilot of
the locomotive and race at top speed
for the post.
On n occasion two flagmen racing
from opposite ends of the curve met
at the post. Each claimed priority.
1hcy Wldn6leu. III ldCty lnty. olluCh
some blows. Their respective crews
came up and the argument grew ami
mated. Other trains fell in behind,
including passenger trains. The crew
at the post explained, but the deadlock
continued. Seven mortal hours and
then one man arrived who had sufn-
cient authority to decide who had the
RIGHT pf UNIV II ra1rJfrod onnfhpr
ave hours to unite the knot, back.
ing forward, getting in and out of the
sidings, to give each train its rightful
place.
From that awful experience come
the rule:
Train westbound and having odd
numbers have right Of way trains of
the same class eastbound having even
numbers. Train southbound having
odd numbers, have right of way owe
southbound, even numbers. Passen-
ger trains have right of way oyer
freights in either direction.
Mr.. Ridley was a fast runner" in
his time, after the introduction of the
telegraph. He made a record for the
Pittsburg division-Altoona to this
city-that stood for years as the
beacon to venturesome engine drivers.
He was running the famous John Bull
locomotive and his time was a little
more than five hours. Engineer Cour-
son holds the record now. He brought
No. 20 over on its third run In two
hours and five minutes. This record
NAV Stand nc 1nnO 40 Rfd1oy'Q oc a
Quarantine order has been issued
making two hours ten minutes the
limit of speed for the division. The
schedule of No. 20 is two hours twenty
minutes.