Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-19
Engineer Ward Set the
Brakes in Berwyn Wreck
To the EDITOR Of The star:

To the Editor of The star:
The Star has evidently made an error
in reporting the B. & o. grade crossing
tragedy at Berywn. Nd, in which two
locomotive engineers lost their lives, on
July 81, last. Another error was evil
IDENTIFY made in reporting the findings
of the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion Bureau of Safety relative to this
accident and published in The Star OF
August Il.
The Stars account of the crash, pub
lshed on July %, stated that the two
engineers jumped from the flaming cab
of the locomotive after the brakes had
been applied. The report, however,
gave Fireman Lundy the credit for
bringing the train to a stop after the
engineers had jumped off.
On August IA The Star published the
Interstate Commerce Commission inves-
tigation and findings Of this accident.
This time The Star stated that the
fireman did not bring the train TO
stop. Instead. he had attempted TO
leap at the same time as the engineers
did but was accidentally knocked down
in the engine cab, where he remained
-,lntil the train stopped. Quoting The
Star of August IA. THE report also
thought out for the first time that the
train was brought to a stop by G. b.
Owens, an engineer riding in the bag
gage car. and who boarded the engine
and fought his way through flames in
the cab after Ward and Walters had
jumped to escape fire which had been
started by blazing gasoline from the
tanks of the automobile -
Describing the air brake in the brief
est form, there is pipe running from
the locomotive throughout the length
Er.rr hnfv hyF
rubber hose from locomotive to car and
from car to car. This pipe is called
the air brake train pipe. When the
locomotive is first coupled to train of
cars the train pipe is charged to
pressure of 90 pounds from the ar
compressor on the locomotive. As long
as this pressure of 80 pounds Is main
tanned in the train pipe, the brakes
STAY off the train, but any reduction
of pressure in this pipe causes the
brakes to apply on both locomotive
and train. A light reduction CT pres
sure causes a light application OF the
brakes, while quick and heavy reduc-
ton causes the brakes to go on fun
force commonly called emergency APP
plication.
The locomotive engineer can reduce
the train pipe pressure by his brake
valve in the locomotive cab, thereby
applying the brakes either lightly or
in emergency. as he may see fit. There
is also a valve in each passenger car
which enables the conductor or train
man to reduce the train pipe pressure,
and thereby apply brakes to locomotive
and cars if occasion demands l..
burst air hose a burst train pipe
or accidental uncoupling of the loco
motive or cars allows the train pipe
pressure to escape and causes the brakes
10 apply automatically and stop the
train, or the several sections OF 1t III
case the train parts accidentally.
Now, when locomotive engineer of
a fast passenger train sees impending
danger ahead. such as another train On
the same track. a burning bridge, a
washout, or an automobile stalled on
grade crossing, etc, and he wishes to
stop the train in the quickest possible
time, he simply moves the handle OF
the engineers brake valve to emergen-
cy position and leaves il there. THE
valve will stay in emergency position
without being held there.) He does not
even have to shut of his engine, as the
brakes are so powerful that no engine
can pull train with the brakes fully
applied. If the rails are wet from rain,
snow. frost or dew, the engineers sand
valve may be opened to sand the rail
and prevent locomotive and car wheels
from sliding.
You have read of the brave engineer
who rode his engine to his death in
a wreck. In the stories he is made a
hero. But the experienced locomotive
engineer and the practical railroad man
know that it requires half second 10
slip the engineers brake valve into
emergency position and half second
to open the engineers sand valve, both
located conveniently in front of the en-
gineer in the locomotive cab. After
this is done, no more can be done by
any one on the locomotive or the train
to hasten the stop. 1t is immaterial
whether the engineer rides his engine
to a full stop or whether he looks for
a nice soft place to land and jumps oil.
modern passenger train Such as
the Columbian, running on straight
and level track at so miles per hour
will come to a fun stop ordinarily in
about ], 500 feet ia quarter of mile)
after the engineers brake valve is put
in emergency position.
In the tragedy of the Columbian at
Berwyn 1t appears plain that Engineer
Ward applied the brakes in emergency
before his engine struck Miss Thomas
stalled automobile. The train was fast
coming to q stop when the automoolle
was struck. The punctured gasoline
tank Of the automobile threw spray
of gasoline over the front of the loco
motive which ignited and the flames
swept back through the engine cab to
such an extent that the engine crew
could not stand it. All three endeav-
ored to jump off, but fortunately for
the fireman, he was knocked down in
the engine cab and the train came
to a stop before he made a second
attempt to jump.
Engineer Ward stopped the train, al
though it did not come to fun stop
until after he had jumped to his death
1t would not have been necessary Tor
any one to fight their way to the fam
ing cab to stop the train even If En9f-
neer Ward had not set the brakes.
There are dozen brake valves through
out the train that could have been used
to stop the train if the engineer had
failed in his duty.
Let this brave engineer have full
credit for doing his full duty.
JOHN r. EDMONDS,
Locomotive Engineer.