Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-08-03
Train Control in Sight at Last.

After a long consideration of the
matter the Interstate Commerce Com.
mission, in January, 1922, issued an
order to about fifty railroad companies
that on or before the LIST Of July,
1924. IAN automatic train stop or train
control device" should be installed on
their lines, applicable to or operated
in connection with all road engines
running on or over at least one full
passenger locomotive division. Ger
tain sections of the main lines Of these
roads were designated within which
this installation should be made. Since
that order was issued the railroad
companies designated have been pro-
ceeding with experiments and tests.
Some Of them have Professionally
adopted already existing devices and
others have been working out their
announced that the Pennsylvania
railroad has had an automatic stop
system in operation for the past three
weeks on one of the branches near
Philadelphia and that the results JUS
tify the hope that the problem of auto.
matically preventing train collisions
has been solved.
In its order TO the fifty railroads
the Interstate Commerce Commission
gave nearly two years and a half for
experiment and installation. If the
railroad corporations were heartily in
sympathy with the requirement this
would be ample time. But IL is known
that some Of them are not in sym
PATTY; Z "' the railroad companies
have he past stoutly resisted
the on OF this system. just as
the ted the adoption Of the air
brI automatic coupler and even
tn dallation OF proper hand holds
or light cars for the protection Of
American railroading has been para
doxical in respect to the mechanical
advances making for security.
More than twenty years ago this
subject of automatic train control was
brought to the front, in consequence
Of the frequency OF disastrous COL
lisions, and the railroads were urged
to seek to perfect a device which
would bring trains under control or
to halt upon entering a danger zone.
But prac oily without exception they
refused to"heed, at first claiming that
such a device was impossible. Then
when advances were made in the in.
vention and perfection of an auto
matte stop system they raised the OBJ
lection Of undependability, and then
protested that it was undesirable to
substitute the mechanical device for
the judgment Of the operative. Finally,
when the collision records proved the
absurdity of the human judgment
argument the plea OF economy was ad-
vanced. This, in turn, was met
with showing OF the tremendous
waste through collisions and wrecks
due to faulty signals and faulty judg-
ment, and the last barrier to this
progress was broken down.
Had the railroad companies, or any
one Of the big systems. twenty years
ago definitely decided to seek, perfect
and install an automatic train.stop sys-
TEN this great reform would have
been assured at least a decade and
half earlier. There is no reckoning
Of the saving in life and money that
would have resulted. Even now the
installation ordered by the Ir3rstat
Commerce Commission is for only
single division within a section OF
each of the fifty named railroads, and
it probably will be several years, even
if this present order is fully carried
into effect within the next year, be-
fore this system Is carried throughout
the great trunk lines of the country.
But the start has been made and, slow
as the record has been, it is crafty.
ing at last tc see results.