The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-28

traeied cfrom the business OF looking
ahead for the purpose of hastily scan
ming the array Of. mechanism mounted
in such complex arrangement on the
boiler 'front.' for the purpose of adjust
ing a lever or part that is wailing its
ills and which requires immediate atten-
ton?
Dynamic Forces at Work.
As the modern equipped flyer bearing
the passenger on his journey travels
along the route apparently SO smoothly
and as he occasionally gazes. complacent-
ly through the window at the gradually
dissolving views of fleeting landscape, he
little appreciates the speed Of the NOV
ing train and the dynamic forces at work.
which are focused up front on the whir-
ring driving wheels of the locomotive a.
they pound the rails in their rush through
space ITO feet per second.
The most dynamic thing that the hu-
man race has ever put into motion on
land is a heavy fast locomotive hauling
from nine to eleven steel cars. in a train
which is being hurled through the air
at the rate Of 10 feet per second. as 1t
attains a momentum and a collision en-
ergy of upward of $1,000 foot tons, or an
energy greater than that developed by
the large fifteen-inch guns of a super
dreadnaught when one of them is dis
charging a ton protectile to distance
of twelve miles.
Such an onrushing Limited" Is a bolt
Of vengeful lightning when 1t leaves the
track or runs into another train.
If one wants to get a due appreciation
Of what 1t means to rush through space
in such death inviting way and to gain
an idea Of what is wrong in placing sole
dependence upon wayside signals, he
should ride the locomotive of a fast flyer
as it thunders along at lightning speed.
Then only does he begin to realize what
trifles stand between him and destruc-
ton and what uncertainties attend the
correct observation of the wayside sig
nal under the varying conditions.
The writer has taken such rides and in
looking ahead has seen the bright lines
OF rails and the slender switch points and
as the engine swept around curves or
plunged into dark tunnels he has been
brought to a realization that at such
points how short is the look ahead.
When a signal Is close at hand 1t looms
up so that 1t can be readily seen, but in
long level stretches when as ordinarily
placed the signal when first sighted ap-
pears as a mere speck or blur. which II
it has any utility at all, simply serves
to concentrate attention and foster ex-
pectancy.
urtner dlOnS ne mas nedTQ tne lnuH-
der OF bridges and has seen the track
skirted on either side by a dense growth
of woods or has seen long line of black
hills, all of which on account of present.
ing bad backgrounds may easily prevent
clear and accurate observation Of the
wayside signals.
No matter how competent and alert the
engineer may be, hundred things may
prevent his seeing a roadway signal or
his seeing it distinctly and clearly, such
cases of obscurity residing in the condi-
tions rather than in the engineer
One of the worst enemies to the proper
observation of wayside signals is smoke.
The writer has seen such large volume
of black smoke belched forth from a
freight locomotive as to becloud the
whole track neighborhood and make 1t
impossible to see anything, much less
the signals, and on the very occasion al
luded to a passing fast train had to be
stopped by an emergency application of
the brakes to avoid the overrunning of a
stop signal
Theoretically the hardest imaginable
conditions in railroading are to run trains
rapidly and close together in a dense fog
or in violent and extraordinary storms
or at night.
To make ones experience complete one
should take ride in a dark and stormy
night.
AS the headlight fights the enshrouding
darkness and reveals but a few rods of