The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-06
THE RAILROAD PROBLEM.

A succession of disastrous railroad
wrecks has focused public attention on
the causes responsible for these disas-
ters and possible remedies for them.
The investigation, official and private,
which has followed, shows that the en-
tire transportation system Of the coun-
try is under such tremendous pressure
gagged in operating the roads, have AL
most reached the limit Of physical en-
durance.
! Some wrecks have been the result OF
sheer folly and incapacity. the disre-
gard of signals and plumbers OF ope-
ratOrs such as are inevitable at any
| time in railroad dispatching, but the
most of them have been due to an eff
fort to handle much more traffic than
the equipment of the roads could safely
take care of. Even the most carefully
managed roads, with the best facilities
cbtainable, have suffered equally with
the roads of less perfect organization.
The truth is-as every shipper knows
that the pressure on the roads is SC
terrific and insistent that no provisions
for safety can suffice to prevent trouble.
One instance cited by a prominent local
official in yesterdays Herald shows
how great the traffic is: In twelve hours
the Hartman system dispatched out of
Green River twenty-five freight trains
When one considers the difficulty OF
+;,,cr IL, toe 1,n y
Of passenger trains, through and local,
the strain on train crews, dispatchers
and operating executives-these, with
the inevitable dangers of train service
in winter, make about as grave prob
lem as an army of public servants ever
confronted.
The public demands quick delivery of
shipments and the fastest possible pas
senger trains; delay in the arrival of
goods means loss to merchants and
communities, and slow passenger ser
vice in these days Of quick transit
would mean an outcry from every trav-
eler in the country. Under such condi-
tions a block signal system is n ques-
tionable protection. and on some roads
has been a disadvantage. because train
crews crowded to the limit by traffic
behind them have taken chances on
disregarding signals and running by
even in disobedience of orders.
The situation confronting railroad
management is almost as difficult as the
old mathematical calculation of the re-
suit when an irresistible force meets an
immovable body. The public is hur-
rying, always hurrying the movement
of traffic; the roads already have more
than they can handle safely; legislation
is limiting the demands that can be
made on operating employes-and the
wrecks give signal that somewhere.
somehow, the pressure on human en-
durance ought to be lightened.
Doubtless the only immediate rem
edy is to let shippers suffer from DELAY
in order that freight movements NAV
be adjusted so the danger of operating
under pressure can be abated. The
most exacting shipper will recognize
from the accidents that have happened
the necessity for patience under the
conditions and bear his share of the
general inconvenience that the travel
ing public may be protected. That and
the limitation of extra service to the
lowest limit ought to remedy the diff
culties OF operation somewhat until the
better conditions of spring and summer
weather enable the roads to clear their
blockaded tracks and improve service
generally by addition of equipment and
construction of tracIage.