Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1913-10-23
NATION WIDE FIGHT
FOR STEEL CARS IS
STARTED IN. EARNEST.
interstate cemmsrce Commission ans
Congress Expected to Take Def
mite Action in Near
Future.
~ JOHN sNuRE.

Washington-Two striking facts
loom up in connection with the disas-
trous wreck recently on the New
Haven at Wallingford. One is that
the terrible loss of life was in great
measure due to the use Of antiquated,
wooden cars and that in all the ion8
series OF New Haven wrecks 1t Is tho
wooden car and the passengers caugm
therein. like rats in a trap. who have
suffered; the other is that the exper-
fence of other roads with the modern.
ali-steel car on high speed trains is
that such cars do prevent less loss OF
life and do contribute greatly to the
safety of passengers.
So far Is it true that the all-steel car
Is great factor In the safety Of rail-
road travel that a high Pennsylvania
terstate Commerce commission the alr-
steel equipment of that road had more
than paid for itself.
Interstate Commerce commission Of
ficials have gone over the long list OF
New Haven wrecks in the last two
years. They said that In all The pas
senger train wrecks on the New Haven
from 1911 to now, the cars which were
smashed up and in which the passen-
gers were injured were wooden cars.
The Fairfield wreck of June 8. 1911.
was freight wreck. Then came the
WIeCh Oh tHe federal express, ~
Bridgeport, July -, 1911. In that, 10
were killed and 100 injured. Here, the
cars which suffered chiefly were
wooden cars and the loss of life was
largely due to their use. The crushed
to pieces like so many eggshells. So
1t WAS in the case of the Midd1etown.
Berlin Junction, Clinton, Steningham
Junction. Westport, Stamford and 9TH
er wrecks on the New Haven in the
calamitous years 1911, 1912 and 1918.
Striking data as to the prevalence of
the use of the wooden car on the New
Haven was given to the officials Of the
Interstate Commerce commission at
Wildin, mechanical superintendent Of
the New Haven. He said that out OF
D total of 2,288 cars of various types
comprising the passenger equipment OF
the New Haven at the time of the
Stamford wreck. June ~, 1913, only 81
balance being constructed Of wood. OF
the Pullman cars used on the road.
there We're 236, of which "a were OF
lllrsteel constructions; 81 had steel
anderframes and 1855 were wooden.
The Tyrene wreck was almost du-
was rear end. A high-speed train
ynlashed into another train which was
Just leaving the station. The rear train
was going 40 miles an hour. Not a pas
kenger was killed. The only person
killed was the engineer of the rear
train. The cars used were, all. OF them.
steel.
In the case Of the Tyrene wreck. the
ears. instead of being crushed to pieces
had their vestibules crushed and the
ends more or less damaged. But the
damage was not such as to break the
cars to pieces or to cause telescoping.
Thus, passengers escaped with their
lives.
Similar lessons can be cleaned by go-
ing through reports Of other wrecks
In which the steel car was used. In
the wreck at Corning, New York. on
the ID L. & w, July. 4. 1912, a wooden
car in the rear of the train struck was
equipment stood up. None was killed
In the steel equipment and the loss OF
life was confined to those in the wood
en car. In the rear-end collision at
Odessa, Mimi, December 10. 1911. while
n passengers were killed in steel cars,
there Is little question the loss OF life
had there been wooden cars would
have been much more severe.
Under such circumstances. the COM
mission intends to keep hammerfng on
the need for steel equipment and such
aata as this here given will greatly
tend to Influence Congress to insist
On all-steel equipment. The report of
the commission on the Stamford wreck
on the New Haven showed that the
New Haven has been singularly back
ward about using alf-steel equipment
and Vice President Hern even said he
was doubtful of the desirability of
steel cars compared with wooden cars.