Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-28
By WALTER r. McCALLUM.

n IT OWING ponderouSly, but none
| M the less carefully. the rail-
| WI roads of the Nation are
4 i slowly coming up 10 the
| mark in their efforts to re-
duce toll of life taken in railroad acct
dents by installing mechanical engi-
neers to stop trains when they enter
| areas of danger.
This accident again calls attention
| to the necessity for the use of an
automatic train control device which
will intervene to stop a train when an
| engineman for any reason dlSregardS
| the stop indication of an automatic
| block signal. Had an adequate auto
matte train control device been in use
at this point this accident would nave
been averted."
With these declarations the Inter
state Commerce Commission concludes
nearly every accident report. basing
| it's findings on the facts ascertained
| by inspectors on the spot. Every re-
port of the commission on tram
wrecks involving the failure of the
engineman to observe signal lndlca-
tions for any cause whatsoever mas
ended with the above quotation. 1t Is
all in the interest of greater safety
| for travellers by rail. If there were
no possibility of train wrecks the rail
pend the insurance facilities they eX-
tend to their patrans.
Roads Slow to Act.
Even though it is now more than
three years since the Interstate Com
merce Commission entered its first
order directed to As ma jor rail car
riers ordering them to proceed imme-
diately with installation of automatic
train control devices, the roads have
been slow in meeting the situation
They are not altogether at fault'
however, for the same period during
| which they have been required TO IN
stall automatic train control or train
stop devices has also been for them
period of great financial strlngency.
Just beginning to recover financially
from the period of Federal ran con
troll. the roads have only within the
mast wear completely regained their
earning power when compared with
expenditures for maintenance.
| The railroads went slow for some
| time after publica ton of the original
order of the commission dealing with
train control. They knew 1t was new
and in their then financial situation
| feared many of the weaker roads
would be rendered financially helpless
| and perhaps forced into receivershlp
under this new and heavy burden Iaid
| upon them. For the American IAN
way Association points out that com
nlete installation of train control de-
vices on American railroads would cost
| the staggering total of $4,000. 900
a great deal smaller. to be sure.
than the cost of eliminating all grade
| crossings. but still not an amount TO
| he shifted at and contemptuously
/ tossed aside.
:, So the roads. fearing the effect OF
| this new and untried safety device.
told the commission that train control
| was not vet perfected and that they
Ghe railroads. didn't want to be made
the goat for expensive and lengthy
| experimental and development try
outs. These representations were
made in good faith and made ser1-
ouslv. for the roads hoped to secure
a delay that would enable them TO
get on their financial feet. In the
face of this the commission. backed
by the quite evident determination OF
Congress to provide safe rail trans
portation for Americans when Ii
wrote the transportation act or l92O
didn't back down an inch. Appeals
for delay were granted in only few
scattered instances. When they were
granted they had to be issued for q
very urgent cause.
Second Order Issued.
Then came for the railroads an
ther added blow, testifying still fur
Their to the intention of the commits
sion and Congress to safeguard pas
| senger travel on the rail systems OF
the nation. The first order affected
as roads. A few months later the
commission issued a second order ap
lplyinG to Al roads, from which no re
lief in the way of postponement has
since been granted and which is today
absolutely binding.
So train control is today an estab-
lished fact. The mechanical engineer
is to take the place of the failibie hu-
man factor over the protest OF the
railroads and notwithstanding their
perfectly valid objections.
To date the roads have been slow
in getting under way, judged purely
by the figures in the case. Yet rail
roads, like other great organizations
sometimes move slowly. Train con
troll devices had either been installed
or were under construction on Janu
ary / on 1859 miles of line out of a
total of 7,149 miles. Twenty rail
roads have actually completed the
work out of the total of 45 roads in
cluded in the first order of the com
mission The remaining roads have
the work under way and are going
ahead with il as rapidly as possible.
Many of them, according to the
American Railway Association. are
making intensive efforts to catch UP
on their delinquencies of the past