Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 February 1911 — SIGNALS WELL KNOWN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SIGNALS WELL KNOWN

WHISTLES PLjAIN A 8 A, B, C TO THE TRAINMEN. .4 * ■ - f ' One Especially That Will string Them From Their Bede Mjlee Away— Moat Important and Dreaded of Them>H^“ When a train Is approaching a grade crossing the locomotive warns

pedestrians and teams of its coming by two long and two short explosions from its steam dome. Tbia warning is not always heard by those in the vicinity of the crossing. The wind may

Ity of the crossing. The wind may be blowing in an opposite direction to that from whence the alarm proceeds or the prospective fictim may be so deeply absorbed with his own thoughts that the warning goes unheeded, and his life pays the forfeit. At unguarded crossings the driver of a team will hear the alarm, but, believing he has time to cross, whip up' his horse, only to find that he has made a fatal calculation. The blame for accidents of this kind is always levelled at the railroad, and there usually follows a demand for the elimination of the death trap. When a train is approaching a station or a iunction with another road both may be operated by the same company, one long whistle is blown, the duration being about four seconds. This 1b supposed to give sufficient warning to employees to look after their safety and also to the thoughtless passenger or trespasser to give the oncoming locomotive a wide berth. Eight short blasts from the locdjnotive, with only half a second between, is a warning to the crew that there is danger ahead. It may be that a red fuze© is seen burning up the track or that some one has signaled to the engineer to come to a stop. He may have seen the tail lights of a stalled freight or a bowlder lying across the rails, the result of a landslide. The signal that makes every railroad man within hearing distance sit up and take jiotice is (me long blast followed by three short ones. This is the fire alarm, and every loyal railroader who hears It will make haste to reach the scene of trouble and lend his aid In the work of saving life and property. It Is frequently the case that the engineer of trains will discover an incipient blaze along the tracks or in a freight yard and he immediately gives the whistle alarm. There is a number of other steam signals, but as they are of interest only to the men employed by the railroads reference to them is omitted. There is a whistle signal, however, that is given from the tower located in the center of a station yard, which brings everything to a dead standstill within this area of a complicated trackage. Something has gone wrong with the pneumatic mechanism that works the signals and the switches, or the wheels of a coach or a locomotive have slipped from the iron, which necessitates the calling of a halt until an investigation can be made. This whistle is sounded about once a month, 'and when it is heard there is a general feeling of apprehension among all the employees that somedireful has happened.