Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-14

over the bridge section of this strip a r run trains of the Wabash
and the Burlington.
Handling these trains through the yards, or, to be more exact.
over the miles of track that stretch between the easern limits of
Council Bluffs and the western limits of Omaha. is accomplished
with absolute safety and certainty, and without delay, by means of
an elaborate system of interlocking switches, controlled by operators
stationed in towers from which the movements of the trains and the
designation of the tracks on which they are to run is made with
mathematical certainty and mechanical accuracy. The network of
tracks making up the terminals of the Iowa lines on the eastern
bank of the Missouri and the equally confusing maze of tracks that
make up the great passenger yards" on the western bank, into
which converge the main lines of eight great railroad systems and
over which hundreds of passenger trains pass daily, to say nothing of
an endless number of freight trains, are but units in the great prob
lem of how to assemble and dispatch the trains without delay and
with needed regard to the avoidance of accident. The presence of the
Union racine Dridse n III long approach from Inc Iowa side COM
plicates the local problem to some extent, for it makes a necessarily
congested district of extreme Importance in the very middle of the
great switching yards But In the overs 1t the Council Bluffs
transfer station and at the Omaha Union station is established the
control of all these matters, and long before the train is in sight at
either depot the operator has taken 1t under control and has sci the
switches that will. let it in on the designated track. The engineer
proceeds with confidence, for he is well aware that at any point along
the line where he enters a danger zone he will be notified by an I'M
failing signal, and that 30 long as this does not flash on him he has
a straight way into the station. 1t may be the way will lead him
across many switches and crossings and through puzzles that seem
inextricable. but the switches have been set by mechanism and not
by man. and collision is impossible, for once the operator has set a
combination u switches he cannot add another to 1t without first
breaking the whole.
In the switch tower the operator has a huge map of the yards.
with each track numbered and each switch designated. He gets
from the yard foreman or the depot master the number @" the track
onto which the approaching train is to be shunted, and the levers
are pulled. the devices that actuate the points are set in motion by
electricity. the operation is complete and the train proceeds safely
1t is very simple, but it calls for vigilance. At the switch points a
series OF levers driven by an electric motor move the switches. The
motor is driven by current generated at the central plant and its OPP
Grafton is controlled by the levers in the signal tower. Nothing
could be more simple or more certain. The operator knows where
the train is to go. the engineer knows, the operator knows and the
time is preserved that would otherwise be wasted in sending a man
ahead of each incoming train to set switches and otherwise prepare
the way. Old-time engine men will understand what an advantage
this is, for they can easily recall how much they had to trust to luck
as they sped with heavy trains through great switch yards, where the
main" line was more or less of a myth and where the element Of
human fslnbnity entered tremendously into the problem. A single
mistake by a careless switchman meant a wreck, If nothing worse,
and the engineer didn't know until he got out of the yards, lover
the switches" and into the country beyond whether he could o # not.
The interlocking switch eliminates the human factor and the engi-
neer now proceeds in perfect faith in the simple mechanical device
that controls the switches.
In a similar way the matter of railroad crossings is also pro-
tected. Formerly it was required by law that trains be brought to
a full stop when approaching railroad crossings, and that two long
signal whistles be blown before proceeding. Even with these pre-
cautions accidents at railroad crossings were numerous and deadly.
BY means of the interlocking switch the railroad crossing is con-
troled. The operator in the tower gives the train having the right
a clear track and sets the signal against the other. II the engineer
of he latter should attempt to disregard the signal he encounters
q cute little derailng device that sends his train of the track. This
positively prevents the collision. 1t has been tried often enough to
prove its positive action. The adoption of these means for insuring
safety in operation of trains is but one of the modern developments
in the railroad industry.
So general has become the interest In this campaign for safety
In travel that the Interstate Commerce commission has appointed,
under authority from congress, c board Of experts, called the "block
signal and train control board" the members of which are Prof NJ.