Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 197, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1911 — TO PREVENT TRAIN FIRES [ARTICLE]

TO PREVENT TRAIN FIRES

Illuminating Gas Light la Rapidly Being Replaced by Elsetricity. / ■ In the last few years there has been a marked effort on the part of the railroads to light more trains by electricity. Explosions of Illuminating gas and fifes caused by dripping oil lamps were the direct cause of this movement toward electric lighting. The chief dangers of gas and dtt for train lighting exist In time of serious wrecks. Time and time again the old oil lamps have overturned, scattering inflammable oil about and setting the train on fire. In cases where “the cars are overturned and twisted about the gas.,tubes and pipes have broken, causing serious explosions, and the fires started by the gas lamps quickly follow the trail of leaking gas throughout the train. ju' leading western railroad has equipped all its through trains with electric lighting, sixty-seven of the best locomotives being equipped with Curtis turbo-generators. These little steam turbines, which whirl small but powerful electric generators, are mounted on top of the locomotive boiler and take up so little room that they are hardly noticeable. Each turbine gets its steam from the main boiler. As all the coaches are wired' and fitted for electric lights, all that is necessary in making up the train is to lock the cable conections between the engine ancT the first coach, an operation that takes only a sdcond or two. ' ;