Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-28
.BANJO. SIGNAL.

the United States are being run today.
That is the system which now. for ten
years, the interstate commerce commas
sion has been annually imploring the
railroads to abandon as antiauated, I'M
satisfactory and dangerous to every one
and everything.
In contrast to this time-interval sys-
TEN is the block signal.
The block signal system is based upon
the space tnterval-that is, where there
is an absolute interval of track between
trains 1t is impossible for them to col
Tide. That also sounds almost silly, IL
is so patent-and yet, evidently 1t has
not been patent to the management OF
more than two-thirds of the railroads In
the United States.
Under the block system a railroad is
divided up into a number or docks or
sections, and the fundamental principle
is this-that no train shall enter upon a
block which IS occupied by another
train The following is an excellent
sketch of Its essential features as given
in report OF the interstate commerce
commission:
1.-The term block system is used to
designate the method or process where
by, through the use of the telegraph,
telephone or electric bells, or by automa-
tic apparatus, each train upon a railroad
is forbidden to pass a certain point Cthe
entrance of a block section) until the
last preceding train on the same track
has passed beyond a certain point far
Their on the end Of that block secton),
No train enters a block except and
until its engineman sees on the signal
post an all right signal
without the block system, protection
from rear collisions depends on the
maintenance of a time interval at sta
tons and on elaborate instructions Tor
the use and maintenance OF red flags tor
lanterns). torpedoes, fuses, ETC., when
instructions are often hard to enforce.
Protection from butting collisions de-
ponds on the exercise, on the part OF en-
ginemen and conductors, of most inteiii-
gent and unceasing vigilance in the OBJ
seryarlce and execution of intricate rules
and written orders. and on the utmost
care by the train dispatcher.
1.-The block system was the first used In
this country, and as now used on thou
sands of miles of road-that is. the 'tele-
graph block system-is very simple. The
agent or operator at given station sees
that a signal indicating 'Stop'-one for
trains in each direction-is displayed SO
as to be seen by the englneman Of any
train approaching. And this signal is
displayed continuously until the operator
has been informed from the next station
beyond that the last preceding train on
that track has arrived at that station and
has either passed or Deen set on ON
siding clear OF the main track. This
stop signal may be very simple de-
vice, so that. with properly instructed sta
ton operators. the necessary first cost Of
the system Is very small"
That is all there essentially is to the
block systematic constant maintenance
of an interval of track between trains and
the strict prohibition of any train run
ming In upon that interval It may oc-
cur to the reader that, under the old sys-
tenn, the railroads of the country got
along fairly well for a good many years
and hence there Is no crying need for
universal adoption Of the block system