Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1916-06-16
SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC
GREAT NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT
OF "sToP" SIGNALS.
Cannot Be Considered Perfect Until
the "Human Element" in Engine
Cab Has Been Entirely Done
Away With.

When one stops to consider, aside
amount of momentary loss from dam
aged and destroyed property, lawsuits,
ETC., caused by railroad wrecks, it i5
apparent that the railroad manage
ments would gladly expend an equal
or greater amount to prevent them.
The question here arises, why do
the engineers disregard signals? In
the case of the Milford wreck, and
this applies equally well to others of
the same character, the engineer evil
IDENTIFY did not see the second or stop
signal, if he did the first, which was
set at caution. The oversight or ne
elect of the caution signal might have
been through absent-m indedness, but
surely not that of the second, writes a
correspondent Of the New York Sun.
From former wide experience as an
observer in the locomotive cab l am
aware that through temporary absent
mindedness or mental fatigue the
retina or eye picture of a semaphore
in o certain position may not be re-
corded in the brain at the time of pass
ing.
The habits of the locomotive engi-
neer are controlled now to large eX-
tent by the railroad management. He
must be a man of temperate-habit
physically and mentally sound. His
work hours are SO apportioned as to
insure freedom from physical and men
tai fatigue. He is well paid. Every
possible precaution has been taken to
insure the reliability Of this one man,
yet many Investigations report that
the wreck was not caused by 6efec-
tive signal, but through failure of the
dead engineer to obey the signal set
against him." He might have been
suffering from faintness caused by tenn
porary indigestion or irregular heart
action, from one of hundred human
equation contingencies. ANY engineer
in his right senses would no more pass
a stop" signal than he would delib-
erately run onto a bridge which he
knew had been rendered unsafe by a
washout.
The safety Of every passenger on a
railroad journey is dependent on an
essential which is beyond the control
of any railroad management and which
is known as the human element. 1t
is this element which constitutes the
final and essential feature of the sue
cessful operation of the present day
railroad signal system.
Considering the above facts, it
seems that, Of the different railroad
signals constituting system, the I'M
perative stop" should be so designed
as to eliminate the human element. In
other words, that it should be so ar
ranged as to stop the train irrespec.
tive Of the action Of the man at the
throttle. That this rot only can be
but has been accomplished by modern
day railroad engineering is witnessed
by the fact that successful automat.
&c train stopping device has been in
successful operation for three years
past On a railroad operating west out
OF Chicago and through the Rocky
mountains, where in extreme winter
billiards. the engine cab windows are
SO covered with ice and the air so
filled with flying snow that the en-.
gineer would be obliged to bring his
train to a stop in order to observe
whether signal were set against him
or not.