The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-04-28
From the Department Of Public
Works.


From the Department Of Public
Works.
To the Honorable the Common Council:
Pursuant 70 resolution or
your Honorable Body adopted April ~.
n sas sss'f Forte, e. Murphy pSSor ses. D.
W. and myself visited the scene OF
this accident Saturday afternoon April
"a We were met by Supt J, II. fras.
V phos stun. Grop ssns Shis sapi and Eaw
Dowley, supt OF Terminals OF the ~,
T. q / X. r. Co. supt of Track Con-
strrction John Kerwin, G. Conway, Sig
n Ers. ss 2. sss n Scar. Of Spd the
street Railway Commission. and went
over the ground ana looked into and
examined conditions as well as We
could We also gained access to s, data
Railway copmlssion, and some paru-
cuier information was taken from pa
peri they have on hle.
The D. T 4 l. r. X Cos PAM
ell the derails In tho ID u. RS track.
The ID. T. 4 l. then allowed the plant
10 20 TO the bad. Then In 1910 the
Street Railway Company put IN aeraiis
side OF the street and In 1911 the ID.
+. n I. again allowed the service 10 20
out OF commission. AT that time Tue
D. y. II. were operating cars On r hlSer
avenue A block system OF derailers
was installed at the time OF soon after
the X. X. was built and was Operated
until 1911. am unable TO IND that
there was any formal agreement be-
tween the parties concerned as TO how
the cost OF operation and maintenance
should be taken care Of nor 90 4
know who was re;Ronsn,6 abe r Siac rs o +,
might have been Iut In for their own
protection or on orders received from
somewhere. According TO records OF
the Street Railway Commission s-ls OF
the equipment II owned by the D., 4.
& !. X r.. 2-is BY the AZ. c. X. r., and
2-i3 by the ID. u. Ry. The ID. u. Ry..
beng interested not only on account OF
crossing Jefferson avenue. but also be-
cause OF the deraiiers on their Dear
born avenue tracks which were con.
trolied from the same signal tower. and
the NJ. c. because OF their crossing AZ
Dearborn avenue. All statements bear
CO ased in 1911 and since that time the
Waterman was the only safety arrange
mtnt maintained At that point In lslz
the u. Y. r., at Its own expense; IN
but as the switches on the d., n l.
tracks had been previously removed "
was Impossible TO make any use OF
them. At the present time the derail-
ers or the ID. U. n. are In working order
from the switches TO the side OF the
street both on Jefferson avenue and
Dearborn avenue. but no conncctiohs
have Teen made from this point TO the
which crosses Mt Dearborn avenue has
derailer systems Installed which are
spiked shut: and on the ID. i. \
tracks there are no switches at all,
least ave t5l in all 20 make the sys-
ter operative. There are no street
gates at either Jefferson avenue or
Dearborn. We found several men al
staiintion OF the deraillng system APP
par entity as Il had existed previously 10
i9Ii. A considerable amount OF ma
terisi has been delivered and MT Fras-
sor ;d,n ; order 's be Iay 3. Mr, Fraser
also stated that the gates would be In
opt ration at Jefferson avenue by May
4th II appears 10 me that the var
s,ntem have dist greeded over the divi-
sion OF the expense. The ID. Y. X.
sppa rently have realized that the con-
dit.onr were dangerous and. although
still they Installed the deraiiers on all
their tracks apparently In case OF an
accident 10 show that they were dong
what they could. A short time ago.
said by some Ia be September. and 9th.
ers January, an agreement was entered
Int between the two r.. II. compa mics
and the ID. L. r. which covered all OF
tho points at issue. WORK on the cOn-
struction OF new system, however.
as outlined In this agreement was put
or until spring for the reason that ~
Is somewhat difficult TO install work OF
this kind In Pressing weather. From
the Information I have II appears that
both the r.. r.. Company and the ID.
T. r. are morally responsible to some
extent Tho r. r. not only allowed the
ystem to cease TO operate but removed
tho derailers from their tracks. The
ID. T. r. evidently realizing the serious
ness OF the situation Installed derailers
In their tracks Notwithstanding IL was
impossible TO operate these derallers In
any way at the time they we're In
stalled. The train crews OF the ID. u.
r., motorman and conductor. are com
PEELED TO stand the brunt OF the trouble
az the time OF such accident. Accl-
dents are bound TO happen occasionally
where tracks cross at grade. These
care they take and one 81 the most
wonderful things that we know OF In
this city today II the fact that so very
few accidents occur with the enormous
traffc over these grade crossings.
Pursuant TO the resolution. I have
notifed both parties that the system
must be In operation In Ave tb) days,
bur as result OF my own observation
I am convinced that Il II physically Inn
possible 20 accomplish. Until this sys-
tenn Is installed other accidents are
liable 10 happen there and after the
system 10 installed we are still likely
n have accidents. because system OF
this kind does not entirely remove all
OF the human element
Respectfully submitted;
nf~npnE TT