Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-11-06
PREVENTING TRAIN COLLISIONS
Another simple Means of AvertinR
Disaster on single Track
Roads


western reader has lately called atten-
ton to the lucky escape OF a passenger
train on the Denver g. Rio Grande rail-
road. The operator at one Of the stations
on the line had been o, dered to hold q
night passenger train there until freight
which had been sent out from a station
farther down the line could come up and
pass the passenger train at that point
The operator forgot to act on the order
and let the loaded passenger train go by.
He knew that the freight was coming on
and that a collision which would kill many
people must be inevitable. IL he only had
means OF communicating with either train
the terrible accident could be averted. But
be had no such means, of course and
waited In fearful torment for the crash
meantime sending out hurry calls for ply
Eicians and a wreoking train But IL
CHANGED that in that precipitous mountain
region there was point where smooth
lodges rose above the track and were OBJ
servable at quite q distance along down
the line. As the passenger train swept
along toward the passing Of the lodges It's
electric headlight threw a glare upon the
rocks which was observable by the freight
engineer some miles away He knew at
once what Il meant, brought his train to a
halt sent out men with warning signals
and started the train back to the station
It had just left. So the passenger train
was saved, but the negligent operator had
had an experience ne never wanted to re-
peat or never would have been given a
chance to repeat had he not Immediately
quit the service for another business.
This singular escape from a great rail-
road disaster has called attention to a
suggestion advanced by George A. Rankin
in book entitled AN American Trans
pOrtation system for the prevention Of
the many collisions which result from mis-
takes in dispatching orders, or from fail
ures to act on orders to hold dispatch
trains or from failure to heed stop signals.
His plan Is thus given:
suppose that an electric light wire was
strung along the telegraph poles always
found close to the railways. At each pole
red light bulb was attached These. are
connected with storage batteries in each
station. BY simply turning a switch these
red lights could be flashed on between the
two stations and the trains brought to a
standsull. The device would cost little
more than the wire Of a telegraph, line.
and the electricity, being only required for
emergency, would amount to but little, pro-
I 'ANNN - ShpA@bb bhNNeIy toulu ne USED.
| Such an arrangement would certainly fit
cases Of the character above described. and
they are numerous enough it would seem.
alone to call for its adoption on single
| track roads. Every little while we read of
deadly collisions which might have been
prevented had any means existed of get
/ ting into warning communication with
| trains running between stations. Ingenuity
has long been at work to devise a plan
of keeping in telegraphic touch with train
! all along its course. That will doubtless
come some time, but here meantime Is a
| simple and Inexpensive method of main
! tanning warning communication with run
ming trains for the correction Of mistakes
| and oversights and neglects in train dis
patching. Laymen may we'll be dlffident
about expressing positive opinions in such
a matter, and the very inexpensiveness OF
this device raises the question whether
its practical value can be as great as would
appear, where subjected to expert examina,
ton. Yet railroad managers are rarel,
very quick to move away from a heater
path, whether the cost be small or great
1t at least remains for them to demon
] strate the valuelessness OF this simple de-
vice for keeping in warning communication
with trains along the road.-SpringfieIt
Republican.