Evening star., 1953-01-16
Pictures on Pooe AT

Pictures on Pooe AT
quiry before the Interstate Com
| merce Commission, set for jan
uary 26
The focal point of both in
quiries probably will be what
happened in the cab of Engineer
Harry w. Brewer just before the
Federal Express plowed into the
station.
Metropolitan police headouar-
ters detectives said Mr.. Brewer
told them Immediately after the
crash of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road train that he made last
minute efforts to reverse the
motors before his locomotive
jumped the barrier at the end Of
the track and crushed through
the floor of the concourse.
Reversals Called Perilous.
Pennsylvania officials refused
to comment on this point. Rail-
road men said, however, that the
reversal of the motors while an
electric locomotive is travelling
at high speed is last resort, and
potentially dangerous.
Homicide Detectives George I.
Eppard and Grayson Chapman
said Mr.. Brewer told them he
had tried to reverse the motors
after his two brake systems
failed, but was unable to accom-
plish this before the crash oc-
CURED.
Technical experts said a
reversal of motors at high speed
might blow the fuses, strip the
gears or set the engine on fire
I unless it was accomplished with
great skill.
The ICC is investigating the
possibility that an obstruction
in the air. brake pipe system
might have caused the brakes
to malfunction.
| Shirley N. Mills, director Of
the Bureau of Safety for the
ICC, said there was evidence
that air brakes had been ap-
piled only on the first three cars,
and not on the remaining 13
cars.
Smoke POurs From Wheels.
Witnesses said sparks and
smoke poured from the wheels
of the leading cars as the train
roared into Union Station out Of
control. Later the wheels and
brake shoes on the first three
cars were found to be hot, al
though those on the rear Sec
ton of the train were cold.
There were unconfirmed re-
ports that an angle cock on the
brake pipe at one end of the
third car had been tampered
with. The ICC is investigating
the possibility of sabotage as
we'll as accidental failure.
Mr.. Mills said that if an angle
cock is closed. or partly closed.
it could cause failure of the
brakes in that part of the system
behind the obstruction in the
airline.
Meanwhile. the total property
damage in the wreck may exceed
million dollars. salvage and
repair work was launched on
24-hour schedule Immediately
after the last of the injured had
been removed from the tangled
Wreckage.
Initial reports that the 16-car
passenger train from Boston
ploWed into the station at SO
miles an hour were at least part
ly confirmed by evidence of the
impact, investigators said.
Investigators were told that
the velocity of the 200-ton elec-
trio locomotive and its string Of
steel cars might have carried the
forward section through the
waiting room and into the street
outside except for the fact that
the engine broke through into
/ the basement.
| Appeared to Jump.
One witness said the locomo-
tive appeared to jump when it
struck the reinforced steel
bumper at the end of the track.
Diverted upward, the locomotive
landed with full force near the
center of the concourse. caving
in the concrete and steel floor.
The crumbling concrete and
steel apparently cushioned the
Continued on Page AT, Col. 1)