Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-10
Road Needs Steel Equipment.

Modern steel equipment for high speed
passenger trains should be installed at
the earliest possible time as recommend
ed in previous reports of this commission
and legislation fixing such a time should
be enacted without delay
Commissioner McChord's report re-
vie xhaustively the evidence developed
at hearings and at coronr's inquest and
says in part:
AS to the effort to place blame for this
accident upon the enginemen's working
agreement with this railroad. attention
Is called to the rules laid down in that
agreement:
".Rule 1 of article 8: Spare engineers
shall be run first In and first out SO far
as it is possible with the requirements
Of the service. and when engineers are
assigned to temporary vacancies they
shall remain on same, provided they are
competent, until the regular engineer re-
turns. They shall receive rates of regu-
lar engineers while on the road.
Rule /, as amended, exception c.: No
engineer who has less than one years
roster rating as an engineer shall be al
lowed to run through passenger trains
This rule has two plain and definite
EXCEPTIONS:
80 So far as it Is possible with the
requirements of the service" and
"'(O Provided they are competent
Primarily the determination of a.,
1.-The requirements of the service" and
(2), competency of engineers is for
the management of the railroad. The
most important requirement of the serv-
ice is the safety requirement.
In this case it is shown that no
reliable or effective system was in opera
ton for the determination of the safety
requirements of the service in the selec-
ton of an engineman for Il particular
service or for the determination of the
competency of an engineman when he
was first given a high-speed passenger
train
'The neglect of precautions for safety
was here neglect upon points which the
enginemen's agreement left open to the
management.
Freight Service Men.
"The mere absence Of dement, marks
while in freight service was considered a
good record, sufficiently determined to
justify employment on fast passenger
trains, class of service requiring the
highest degree of qualification.
No determination of special qualifica-
ton for higher grade of service was made
The agreement with the enginemen in no
manner restricts examination or compe-
tency tests on the part of the manage
ment. The absence of all competency
tests of this engineman Is a matter for
which the management Is solely RESPONSE
BILE. His good judgment In bringing an
express passenger train to a stop ought
not have been tried out at the risk Of pas
SengerS nVeS.
when, in handling first-class passen-
ger train, this engineman on his first trip
went by station and reported that it
was due to the brakes being no good, it
is strange that no one in authority then
saw any necessity for test, either of
the man or the brakes, before he was
again sent out in the same line of serv-
ice The general manager. however,
reached the conclusion that there was
no suspicion that he was not in all re-
spects capable when this engineman
was assigned to this high-class train.
This conclusion was in no respect justi-
fed by the facts.
mo organisation but that Of the New
York. New Haven and Hartford Rail-
road Company is responsible for placing
a man in charge Of this locomotive with
out tests or supervision by travelling en-
gineers of his qualifications and judg-
ment for this special work.
THE determination OF the ability, fit
ness or qualifications of an engineman 10
the duty Of the railroad itself. 1t was
not delegated to any other organization
nor could 1t be so delegated. 1t was
neither delegated nor performed. It was
neglected.
TT was unwarrantably assumed that a
man at the head of the list Of spare en-
ginemen was qualified, without any spe-
cial consideration of the character OF
the service in which he had experience"