The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-28
RACK IS WEAKEST
|PO|NT OF RAILWAY
he Foundation of Transporta.
ton Has Fallen Behind in
Race. Say Officials.
OST ACCIDENTS ARE DUE
T0 OUT-0F-DATE R0ADBED
nation Seems Almost lmpOs.
,ibIe to Correct, But Change
Is Greatly Needed.

-lery building in the world was. ac-
Ing TO Alfred Henry Lewis. evidently
X from the ground up. not from the
X down. said a railroad official In
II Lake yesterday.
But this does not apply 10 modern
|.0adipg so far as l can see" lie con-
la. The foundation OF the railroad
Ihe track. and today our track Is
a makcshift. the same old track
NJ when the first little toy steam
les and Toy wagons ran over them
u werc called trains. Rails are
Ifer. stone is used FOR ballast. bigger
Imorc tics arc used; but Stil the fact
Eins that today The track is a back
&ber compared with the engines. the
King and dining cars, the block sig
and the telegraph and telephone.
Dur tracks today arc not d fraction
M inch wider than they were when
Engines were only half as high and
than onc-third as heavy. Today an
Inc practically balances on a light
D called n railroad track.
Tic rails arc nailed 10 wood. AND this
is expected 10 stand the
ain of hundreds of thousands OF
jnds applied like blow in tho small
ction OF a second for thousands of
1ce Such principles went out of use
long ago, Suppose the mod
skyscnpcr or bridge were merely
led together. Yet railroad track to-
n Is In Just this condition.
Seems Impossible to Change.
''rhc situation seems almost impossible
chang Everything is today built
j the basis OF The standard track, and
Ideally 10 change the track would work
almost prohihitiVe revolution all along
q al Of re
= infested in locomotive shops To make
<|1es along certain general lines. The
ns Is true OF car shops and tho rail
l& To try 10 change the track from
gf It now is into something new would
nge all these concerns and many
he railroad is by far the largest and
vital business in the nation. II
My affects the daily life OF every
Dr.. and to upset railroad affairs as
s1ical change in track construction
ID do, is hardly TO he thought of.
hut what is 10 he done? Most acci-
9 are due 10 the track. We have
3dy practically passed the limit Of
present track design, 1'Ee greatest
lem before the railroad man OF the
/ futur@--onc might almost say OF
present timc--iS the track"
the Railroad Age Gazette appears
tier by J Drinkwater. district road
lei OF Ilir I IcllllSkanln& y @Nbf'il'tll
srio. 10 which this leading publIca
of the railroad world dcvotes con-
r1blc editorial space. beginning The
ernl Indictment OF some features Of
american railway permanent way
y BY Mr.. Drinkwater. in q letter in
Hcr column, is interesting. II cs-
being commonplace. although Ii
|nlates what everybody knows.
N DrinlSwater's letter follows:
Drinkwater' Letter.
fithout heing too pessimistic or
|chiuS blue ruin, and while ] believe
making us" Of every known device
will accomplish ends eXpedicutly and
, labor. nevertheless | believe thcrc
matters Of great Importance facing
y ono interested in the maintenance
Tay on our Canadian railways. At
/ ] am Inclined To believe that w
g nothing thai should bo called per-
lent way, a Term that Is very often
He'd 10 what We call track.
have seen track for the last thirty
years being built and put up in what
called hrsl-class shape, and in a
| short iime IL had gone To pieces
10 be gone over and rebuilt.
Tho old - and G0-poiInd rail have
b place to tho S0 and Sj-puund. and
nmc places The l00-lh. rail. but We
..fhn game lack of pormancDCv ex-
y did with tho Lighter rail aud our
~ BIS practically no better than il
\ fFcntN five years ago.
|H plates have be"u introduced 10
N tlos. bat they do not save them.
'TUulv Increase the life OF Ia. tic pos