Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-20
Preventing Accidents

it must receive another order before it
can proceed. The Northern Pacific has
found that 1t can move it's trains over the
road in 20 per cent less time with the A B
c system than under the old block signal
neutrality-suspicious. system. Yet even this
new system has its weaknesses. The theo-
retical stopping place is at the tower post
approaching the system. Two trains COM
ing head on will. theoretically. stop with
only the width of the signal post between
their pilots. Sometimes the brakes may
fail to work. Sometimes the dispatcher
confuses his orders as to which train shall
take the station siding and which keep the
main track. Two collisions resulted in con-
sequence of such confusion, and these accl-
dents led to the adoption Of a rule that
every train shall stop at the end of the
siding it first approaches. If this rule is
obeyed there can be no collisions.
On some Of the New York traction lines
automatic block signal systems with auto
matte train stops nave been installed, and
with these safeguards the trains are OPP
Grated at a speed of fifty miles an hour,
with only ninety seconds between them in
busy hours. The railroad officials declare
that not once has a train cotton by the
NOALAbAAlaNlOu VI Budl-dHu-SIOD WlGn the
order was for a stop. on the marlborough
the device has worked many million times.
Another train-stopping device that is be-
ing experimental with consists of a heavy
iron bar suspended over the track. It is
of such weight that when 1t is struck by
a lever on top of the engine cab it pushes
the lever far enough out of position to put
on the air brakes and stop the train. An
nfh1r An1sfna u,o hoe ,,., % I.aIAz -.
tricity. A heavily charged wire is placed
along the track and it will transmit enough
power by wireless to operate the brakes,
turn on a light or ring a bell.
To give the dispatcher direct connection
with the engineer, as well as with the sta
ton, is the aim of another device that is be-
ing tried out. At each signal station there
are contact bars arranged so that a shoe on
the engine comes into contact with the bar,
just as the shoe on an underground trolley
car comes In contact with the bars in the
slot. In the engine cab and In the station
there are green and red lights, and by
these the dispatcher orders the engineman
to proceed or stop. In addition there is a
telephone in the cab by which verbal orders
can be given. The success of such a sys-
TEN is SAID to be questionable in foul
weather and under high-speed conditions.
Cab signals ars used in Europe, but not
in America In England the Great Western
is trying out a cab signal system which Is
said to work well, all of the errors made
being on the side of safety. A wire and
a contact shoe furnish the means Of operat-
ing a whistle and a bell in the cab. While
European tests with cab signals and Ameri-
can tests with automatic stops have proved
highly successful, the general attitude of
railroad signal authorities in the United
States is that neither is feasible.
Once the Interstate Commerce commits
sion finds satisfactory appliances, it will
recommend to congress that a law be
enacted requiring the railroads to equip
their service with such appliances. This
will be fought to the bitter end, but finally