The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-10-21

I WrSck as 1nQlcdJlVe or the wreck D01nS 1 due to some part of the train becom- l ing broken. He said he believed the | rails, wheels and parts of the train would point to defects which might have been contributed to the wreck | Records of the members of the train crew were offered by Vice-President Buckland to supplement MT sWood- wards testimony. MT. Woodward was l asked if larger crosover would have | prevented the wreck. He said he | built to take the high speed of 50 or | 50 miles an hour. He figured that a crossover would take 35 or 40 miles an hour with a fair degree of safety. He said that in his division there were about dozen crossovers limited to maximum speed of 25 miles an hour 1 Witness said that these crossoyers could be taken at rate of 35 miles 1 an hour without serious danger though Witness considered that it would be dangerous to run a train over a cross- over at 40 miles an hour. Witness would not want to be responsible for issuing orders to go 50 miles hour over any crOssover.
 MT. Woodward said that he did be- 1 lieve that some of the New York, New Haven & Hartford trains do run too l fast. He said that the public demand l is for speedy trains. He was asked if | it was possible and plausible for the l railroad to establish train schedules that would reduce the speed from present speed schedules. vice-Presi- a he be allowed to answer that ques- | tion. 'The coroner said he had no ob- lection to having him answer it but he also desired an answer from the witness before him.
 l MT. Buckland said that he had some very pronounced views on that mat this answer: T have been with the president of the road a great deal and am intimately associated with him and I know as a positive fact that he is | constantly faster trains. I have heard business men argue with him that the road ought to York in four hours and 30 minutes. These men considered 1t just as possi- b1e to run four and one half hour train as a five hour train between these sta ations.
 T tell you, MT Coroner, that the one thing to do is to get public sen railroads in reducing the speed limits The railroads would like to run slower trains and if they could there would be fewer accidents and wrecks.
 MT. Woodward said that JMr. Buck land had expressed his own impress sfons.
 was a different signal system on the Hartford division than on the New York division. He replied that the i Hartford division was equipped with a signal system which was installed earlier than the system on the New York division. He said that the sig
  Boston was the highest type of sig nal service to be found anywhere.
 Mir Woodward said that so far as the fire extingudshers are concerned there were five men on the four parlor cars on the wrecked train, in addi- ton to the train crew men. These other men were porterS and parlor 1 car conductors. These men, he said, l are proficient in the use of the fire extein guishers and the use of the res cue implements, and were supposed to l use them. He said that there was no l question to his mind but that the fire l in the fated parlor car started almost immediately when the wreck occur l red, as the car was teIescoped or smashed into the engine which dump 1 He said that one witness had testified | that the fire actually started before 1 the train was pitched to it's complete 1 ruth. ..A11 the fire extinguisI1ers in l the State couldn't have checked that fire and save those people who were 1
 Witness voIIr1t eered the information | that the road had discharged many l engineers because they ran by sig | nals and disregarded rules. He said vice any length of time consideration l was given him before his discharge.
 we are as positive in this matter | we can be- The division isn't re- i stricted to many disciplinary rules but 1 is left to his own discretion as ito dis 1 cip1inary rules. To run by signals 1 and disregard rules is an unforgive- i able offense on railroad,'' he said
 Witness was asked if penalties were l imposed, for failure to make up lost | time. He replied that newer in his knowledge were penalties imposed ex- cept in cases where engineer de1ib- 1 rateIy violated orders.