The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-08-07
DEVICE PREVENTS
CROSSING DEATHS
MONTANA RANCHER INvENTS
"TOOL-PROOF"' DEVICE TO PRE-
VENT CROSSING CRASHES
Apparatus Can Be Installed At a Cost
II Approximately $1,000; Fred X. Gil
lam of Wisdom, Old-Time Railroad
Man, Is Inventor.

A "fool- proof" safety device for
railway crossings has been invent
ed by a Montana rancher-and n
that can be installed at a trifling
cost as compared with the under
passes and Overpasses that are
now required to prevent crashes
between autos n locomotives. Inc
Invention is a recent one. The pat
ent-NO. S4370-waSr received a lew
days ago. The device can be IN
stalled at a cost of approximately
$4,000; it costs from $4,000 to
S2o0.0o0 to built under and over
passes at highway-railway cross
ings.
The inventor of the crossing safety
device is Fred K. Gillian Of Wisdom.
He is an old-time railway man-sWltch-
man, brakeman and conductor on the
Northern Pacific out OF Livingston Tor
years, who finally turned his atten-
ton to farming. His WI railway
perienceS with autos were not so deadly
as to arouse his horror at the grade
crossing slaughter that annually crops
up in the press repOrtS-tor the rea-
son that autos were not so common n
his ~railroading days; but he has seen,
heard about and read of death after
death since he became a farmer--un-
til he felt moved to apply. himself to
the working out of a solution that
would be within the means of counties
with small incomes. And he hit upon
the following plans:
At each crossing build a traffic lane
with a gate that closes automatically
on the principle of the semaphore
when a train is approaching the
the speeding driver crash the gate?
That is provided for in the following
name The gate swings shut at an
angle of about so degrees and to the
right of it there is an opening in one
of the walls-which eases the driver
into a blind lane with a circular wall
at the end, and far enough from the
gate to give the driver-unleSs ne is
blind or drunk-a chance to get con-
troll of his machine before he crashes
into the circular barrier wall.
Having brought his car under con-
troll the driver may turn in the circular
space-and drive out into the traffic
the train has Numbered by and the
traffic gate has re-opened.
Suppose an "I-can-beat-that-train-
to the-crossing" driver dashes into the
traffic lane just as the gate is closing
and ruSheS across the track? Well. the
gate starts to close while the train is
far enough away from the crossing for
the reckless .~gate-crashing driver to
beat the engine to the crossing. The
reckless driver may batter the gate
slightly and damage his car but his
life will not be forfeited on the rail-
way tracks.
The Gillian safety crossing device
may be described as follows: Build a
wall 600 feet long, five feet high at the
far end and tapering to about II
inches high at the end nearest the
highway, about 200 feet distant from
the railway track. Attach an automatic
gate to this wall-about half way the
length of the wall.
To the right of this wall build a
second wall which describes a circle
or loop at the end. There should be
two openings in this wall, n directly
feet or more. behind the gate opening.
The space between the two walls is 80
feet.
The autoiSt, driving down this traf-
fic lane, sees his straight ahead pass
age blocked by the closing of the gate.
With no more effort than would be
required to avoid a hole in the pave
ment he swings into the second pass
age, drives down to the loop or circular
wall, turns his machine, drives back
and re-enters the traffic lane through
the second opening in the dividing
wall.
II have spent about is years spec
Uiatlng on now TO overcome traffic
stated, land I have finally worked out
q plan which has not only met with
the approval of the patent office but
which has gained the endorsement Of
such safety experts as John L. Board
man, head of the Anaconda company
bureau of safety, and several others.
II have submitted my plan to a
number of railway men and to stu
dents of the safety problem as we'll as
to several engineers. I have had moth
ing but expressions Of approval-as to
its efficiency and p%ractibility as well
as its ~desirability from the standpoint
of low cost"
In working out his safety device,
MI. Gillian stated, he was actuated
more by a desire to protect human
life than he was in reaping a profit
for himself.