The Washington herald., 1908-08-16

many are CaA4eQs DlL Few are CHOSEN
is a phrase which aptly describes the
work now being done by the block signal
and train control board Of the Interstate
Commerce Commission Created by the
commission, under special authorization
Of Congress. for the purpose Of investi-
eating the question of safer block signals
and Of train control. this board has been
carrying its Investigations forward so
rapidly that il expects 10 make a com
prehensive. though incomplete. report TO
Congress next winter. The work OF the
board is largely one OF elimination Some
800 block signal devices have been ex-
amired. and all but about twenty Of them
have been put aside as not meeting the
conditions necessary to justify favorable
consideration
The first requisite Of a block signal de
vice such as the board is looking for is
that 1t must signal against its own de
fects as well as against other dangers
ahead Perhaps nine-tenths Of the de-
vices offered for consideration do not pos
sess this essential quality The average
block signal device puts Up the danger
signal when there IS another train in the
block. and under the other operating con-
ditions OF a railroad. so long as there IS
no break in its own mechanism Il is
operated on the open-circuIt principle
The danger signal goes up only when
there Is a current Of electricity passing
through the wire When The current is
cut of or the circuit broken by accident
or malicious design. the semsphore shows
clear Thus. II a malicious person were
TO tamper with the apparatus OF cut the
wires, or II should IN any way get out OF
order and fail 10 carry the current
through the semaphores would signal
clear" no matter what dangers there
might be ahead.
The closed circuit apparatus overcom5s
this The semapEore always stands al
-GanEer' when there IS no current on.
and can be placed at clear" only by
the application Of ,the current As soon
as the current IS broken. by accident.
design. OF by the failure Of the apparatus
TO work properly the semaph0re goes
back 10 danger" and warns the on
coming train No matter what goes
wrong. as soon as there is no electric
current passing through the apparatus
il can be depended upon 10 protect The
block IL IS supposed 20 guard. With the
open-circuit system the very signal that
was placed there 10 protect a train might
proclaim a clear track when the g-avest
OF dangers were ahead; while the closed
circuit. II L errs. makes only the errors
Of caution II may some times stop 2
train when there Is no real danger ahead.
but IL VIII never advise an engineer Of
clear track when there is danger in front
0I him
n addition 20 The bIock-sigraI investi-
cation. The board is investigating the
matter Of train control by automatic
agencies What they are looking for IS
an apparatus which viii automatically
stop a train on safe side Of the danger
line without outside interference Such
an apparatus must not only work out
wei on paper. but e must show Up sat
isfscroriIy under practical trial tests.
Hundreds Of automatic train control ap-
pa-atuS have been submitted. but most
of them have not filed the conditions
which are laid down for their considera-
ton Some Of these are freaks. but some
o. them have SO much seeming merit as
20 lead the board 70 think that there =
hope ot ultimate success in this quest tor
safety apparatus which Is really safe
One of the most interesting devices sub
mittc5. and 5ne which IS soon 10 have a
try-out on the Santa Fe near Los Angeles
IS the Simmons appliance This IS claim
ed by its owners % provide for an auto
matte record Of the movement of all
trains within each ten or twenty blocks
which viii be the territory covered by
each set Of the apparatus In addition
10 this. IL provides for local automatic
protection Of trains In each lOCOmo-
tive cab there Is d bell and a light giving
both an audible and z visible danger sig
nal Besides this. there is an automatic
registering device which registers the ac-
ton Of the engineer the instant he takes
IT, II he rcve-ses his engine and puts on
the emergency brakes. that action Is reg
istered- II he fails 20 do so. that fact IS
shown and the brakes are automatically
applied by the apparatus. The invention
also provides q means of inteTlocked
manual control. which IS so arranged as
20 make any false movement impossible
The invention has been examined by the
board and IS regarded as q device OF
sufficient merit 20 warrant the thorough
test 20 which II viii be put at Los An
geles
Another train-controI invention which
they have passed on to the testing stage
IS the R0welI-Potter apparatus This de-
vice works on somewhat the same p-fnci-
pies as the Simmons invention. but Il IS
not so elaborate This device has been
Installed on q section OF the Burlington
Route lying east and west Of Aurora. Ill
and the details have all been worked out.
so that the test IS about ready to proceed
The board thinks this device 4 promising
one, and some of its members have visited
Aurora 70 look into the preparations that
are being made
There are a number Of other devices
which are soon to have s. try-out under
actual traffic conditions The Buffalo,
Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad is pre-
pairing 70 install the Hoffman system Of
automatic train control on q short
stretch Of its line for experimental pur-
poses. and the Reading Railroad IS az
ranging for a series OF experiments with
the Bowers device for automatically stop
ping trains
There are many other inventions being
brought 10 the attention Of the board
dents Several OF these are intended to
been washed away or damaged Others
are intended 10 automatically signal to
him when there is a broken rail Some
OF them relate TO the coupling OF cars
A new invention has been patented which
ing between cars TO couple the air hose
cars themselves are now coupled without
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