Evening journal., 1914-03-05
ADVANCING
SAVING IN
RAIL WORK
?. B. 6 ". Employees Show
Higher Efficiency All
Along the Line
CLOSER WATCH ON
HABITS OF MEN

OFFICIALS and employees OF tho y. B.
and w. r. r. IN this city have
done much in the advancement Of
safety during the yoar 1913. A
pamphlet just issued by the Pennsyl-
yania railroad gives q lot Of interest
ing Information and data on the high
standards Of efficiency attained
In the first place, safety ia railroa,l
operations IS the result Of properly
constructed and maintained irack.
signals and rolling stock and build
ings, rules and regulations caiefuny
applied and employees carefully
selected and trained 10 perform their
duties. Il is stated Men ON the local
division are now being trained TO 81
high standard of efficiency. and their
cooperation in the observance OF all
rules Is said TO have improved the
safety Of the travelling public.
The track and the road bed IS one
OF the things that are contirually
looked after The forces of track
hands give them their attention very
day I'm the year at one place or an
other During the past year on many
sections new rails and ties were laid
Only 10O-pound railss were used for
renewal and repairs. All main lines
are laid entirely with ballast
Much progress was made in in
Creasing the number of cross-ties per
33-foot rail, TO give the track more
strength and make IL safer From
having i6 ties per rail three years
ago. tho standard has been changed
10 rs. while on main lines 20 ties per
rail are being used
To insure against bridge failures.
the railroad has revised its method "
bridge inspection so as to provide ior
inspection IN greater detail than has
been done before The practice adopt
ed requires division bridge inspectors
to inspect bridges monthly, and the
division engineer together with the
master carpenter, must inspect thcm
somi-annually. in addition, the latter
two accompany the engineer of main
tenance Of way on his Inspections
The division engineer and the master
carpenter devote about three weeks
annually TO this work as compared
with a few days under the previous
method.
The steel passenger car equipment
has shown big Increase and many
all-steel coaches are now under con-
struction. In addition to the passen-
ger equipment. all of the Pullman cars
being operated over tho road arc Of
steel construction. During the year
1918 over 10000 steel and steel under
frame freight cars were placed IN
service by the Pennsylvaia. and there
are now over 1000 such cars under
construction and being delivered
The safety committees, appointed for
the welfare Of the employees in the
yards and shops, have made thousands
OF tests and are constantly installing
new safety devices at an immense cost
to the railroad. The SAFETY first"
pamphlet issued last May was in line
with this work. and gave the combined
recommendations of the safety conf
mittees. being supplemented by sug-
gestions from the best experts In the
country on mechanical and civil ongi-
neering and train operation.
Records of efficiency tests give an eN-
cellcnt indication OF the hearty support
the employees arc giving the manage
ment OF all the 4,4Is 35 tests and OBJ
scrvstion reports 99.s per cent showed
perfect compliance with the rules This
is particularly gratifying it is said,
when il is remembered that almost ali
the recent serious train accidents in the
United States have been due 10 viola
tion OF rules.
Tho rules on the subject Of temper
ancc are simple but positive. Moro
men have hcen discharged or denoted
on the Peun-y ylvania Railroad on nc.
count oi their personal habits during
tho year than in amy other similar per-
od of the company's history.