Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-11-19


Take three blocks ar the hagirrirc,
- 9 me with train in each Train
~ HIst must not move to second until
as. Tram In second goes to third and
n NH IN. IN second must not go into third
dhtn thlrd moves to fourth
AS number three goes into fourth II
els Tram In two ii has done so and
t Tram IN two going into block three makes
IL ste movable arm say to train in one,
SoIne on. I've gone into block two
AS an Illustration, let's take three
SoIinectlns rooms at your home, COM
nIunicatlng without doors Now attach
On On me right Thanksgiving from the front
TO the back-of each door frame a NOV
able stick which can be pushed r. right
ahsIes with the door frame, or pointed
uoWn ABOUT as you would point volr arm
al a spot on the floor two feet from YOU
~. ihatf Your stick represents the
SeHlaphofe, or arm. Now, then the
middle room is your private office Your
servant knows by the arm being at right
angles she must not enter. and when
you are not in there the stick will point
usher visitor in
All very simple you say; but on
puSy morning you rush in your office
and forget to change the arm to denote
occupied. The servant ushers in the last
person in the world you want there lust
Ineh-and the scheme is a disastrous
failure Then you improve SO the stick
LETT to itself will remain firmly at right
angles. Can't forget that, you figure.
Next thing you do is to forget to change
the position of the stick The empIoye
sees signal occupied and turns away an
important client with disaster almost
equaI TO that caused by admitting the
one she shouldn't.
You change things so the stick will
move from right angle to pointing to
the floor. when you are not in your
once. You can in walking from the
front room into your office release the
arm. which will go to horizontal it will
stay in that position as long as you are
IN there; and when you walk out of
your office into the back room it will be
pulled down to Indicate you have vacat-
ed ana your employe may take the next
caller in.
I'm other words you have changed this
device from possible human forgetful-
ness to positive mechanical perform
ance; you have an automatic signal
Substitute the consecutive lengths of
a railway for your rooms. and you have
the block signal"
Then. as / understand it. a sema-
phore arm located at the entrance to
block set at right angle to the post is
signal to an approaching train to stop
and when pointing diagonaEly toward the
ground means keep on going?" Yes"
You call it alt0matic?"
TT is Just ats your stick is kept at
90 degrees incline, when your office is
vacant. so is the sen4aphore arm ON the
line when block is unoccupfed. When
a train enters block 1t affects the en-
ergy which is part of automatic sig
mailing, so that the arm goes to and re-
mains horizontal as long as the block is
occupied
you build these signals so their nor
NAL position is stop and then you apply
a force that makes them show keep
going. Why is that?"
Because the trains must keep going.
They have not only the problems of
safety. but OF hurry up. They work by
In
is safety. Having that cinched the au-
tomato hangs out the signal to keep
moving. Only when something occurs
does this scheme cause signal to so to
stop position"
Whats the energy you referred to?"
from?' Battery near each post" "IIow
is it worked?" ''The rails of each block
are made just as if all one piece, by
connecting all joints with Wire Then
connecting the extreme ends forms a
complete circuit. The current flows in
this circuit. Machinery made out of ex-
perience, wheels, springs and things is
moved by this current; and it's move
ments either hold the arm down or per-
init it to stay horizontal
with no train in block, the current
makes the mechanism pull the arm down
and hold it there. When a train enters
a block it destroys this combination. The
wheels and aXles combined with the rails
make a shorter circuit. Electric current
deserts the longer for the shorter way
round. The energy that held the arm
down is withdrawn, and up it swings to
horizontal.
Each block is Independent of all other
blocks. When the last wheels of a train
leave it, the current resumes it's flow,
and the signal arm away back at the
entrance is pulled down to proceed. Be-
fore the hind wheels have ceased doing
what I've just stated. the front wheels
of the locomotive have entered the next
block and repeated what it did in the
previous blocks"