Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-01-27

chapter 205, Laws of 1907 which pro-
vide that the board of railroad COM
missi0ners shall examine into the
causes and circumstances of each
wreck, accident or casualty and
prescribe reasonable requirements
calculated to prevent the recurrence
Of such wrecks, the board recently
decided to call together, to general
conference, the operating managers
of all the railroads doing business
in the state, for the purpose of re-
viewing the reports of wrecks for the
past year and of ascertaining the
causes of such wrecks and determin-
ing, if possible, whether anything
could be done in the future to reduce
their number. This meeting was held
in the Commercial club rooms at
Fargo, January 18th. and was atten.
ded by the following railroad repre-
sentatives:
J. NJ: Gruber, gen. manager, Great
Northern Railway Co.
w. D. Scott, superintendent, Great
Northern Railway Co.
James Robinson, division frt. agent,
Great Northern Railway Co.
F. E. Allen, Superintendent, Great
Northern Railway Co.
George A. Goodell, gen. manager,
Northern Pacific Railway Co.
B. o. Johnson, superintendent, North
ern Pacific Railway company.
J. H. Foster, assistant general su-
perintendent c. M, & st. Paul Railway
company.
E. F. Potter, assistant general man.
ager Minneapolis, St. Paul and 8. s..
NJ. Railway company.
c. T. Dixie, general superintendent
Chicago = Northwestern Railway COM
pany.
President Stutsman called the
meeting to order and stated the OBJ
ject of the conference and what was
hoped to be gained by it. Taking up
tabulation of the wrecks of all the
railroads for the past year, he started
the discussion by calling attention to
the fact that three trainmen had been
killed and six injured, and three pas
sengers had been killed and sixteen
injured. as q result Of derailments
due to broken or defective rails, and
asked for the opinion Of the railroad
men present as to whether the in.
crease of the weight and efficiency Of
rails was keeping pace with the in
QEsasea-NeiGat %, enGnesiAn Trains.
Mr.. e. F. Potter, assistant general
-, n =, - IN On Tos,n no - y
who has had twenty-five years ex-
perience in tie matter Of rails and
equipment, stated that the American
Railway Association, which comprises
all the railroads of the United States,
has for years been employed in ascer-
tanning the most efficient rails and
Of testing and curing defects in them.
He felt that it was q matter that
could be safel left to this organiz-
alton which is sparing neither time
nor money to investigate thoroughly
this situation and to bring the steel
rail to the highest possible degree Of
efficiency.
Mr.. Potter gave an interesting talk
along this line describing some of
the defects and causes Of trouble in
steel rails which could not be ascer-
tanned by testing or experimenting,
but could only be discovered by use,
and often times only after an acct
dent. He stated that some rails de-
velope An interior defect which
spreads like the decay of tooth and
grows and increases until it weakens
the rail, but which can not be dis
covered by preliminary tests. He
described what is called the pipe
rail-" a rail that has an invisible de-
feet, caused by gas bubble in the
mold When the molten metal is pour
ed into the mold a particle of gas may
be unable to escape and works its
way up through the center Of the rail
and after the rail is rolled it spreads
out over the entire length of the rail
and can only be discovered by saving
the rail in two. This was the cause
of the recent disastrous wreck at
Sharon On the Great Northern, and
General Manager Gruber had a num-
Der Of photographs taken Of the defec-
tive rail which caused this wreck. In
these photographs the defect or "pipe''
could be distinctly seen in a half a
dozen places where the rail was sawed
in two transversely. Some times this
pipe" can be discovered by means
of dark mark along the top Of the
rail. but this was not the case in
the Sharon wreck and the commission
was satisfied that this wreck was
caused by this defect, which was en-.
tirely invisible and could not be an
ticipated.
The wreck at the penitentiary at
Bismarck on the Northern Pacific
several weeks ago was also caused by
a similarly defective rail which had
been inspected not over five minutes
before the accident.
The conference also developed the
fact that broken rails are caused often
times by flat car wheels which, pound.
ing over the tracks, will invariably
find the weak or defective rail and
break it.
The railway men present all agreed
that government inspection Of rails at
the foundry would not add anything
to the degree Of safety now enjoyed.
because eminent experts Of many
years. experience are continually busy
trying to detect defects by acid tests