Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 126, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1913 — WATCH THE WHEELS CLOSELY [ARTICLE]

WATCH THE WHEELS CLOSELY

Experts Declare Defective * Flanges to Be Frequent Cause of y: Railroad Accidents. The railroad commission has issued a circular to motive power foremen on the Canadian railroads urging the importance of a renewal of locomotive wheels before the flanges are badly worn. Inspectors in the service of the commission report that many locomotives on passenger trains have sharp flanges, in some cases the flanges being worn down below the master car builders’ standard allowance gauge. Some of these locomotives are running on fast passenger trains, thus inviting much unnecessary risk to the safety of hundreds of passengers. s The wearing down of flanges on locomotives is only one minor contributor to the long chapter’ of railway accidents. Derailments arise either from defective equipment, “bad track, or faulty switching. As a rule, when a locomotive jumps the track, the accident i 6 ascribed to some peculiar defect in the track, rather than to insufficient flanging on the locomotive. It is undeniable that many supposed rail defects are in reality the outcome of defective driving wheel tires. The Railway Age Gazette tells of 100 rails on an Illinois railroad being broken on one trip by a flattened driving wheel. The recently issued annual report of the interstate commerce commission shows that out of 8,216 derailments on American railroads during the year, 3,847 were due to defective equipment, an increase of 1,023. Bad ties, loose spikes, poor ballasting, insufficiently flanged wheels, rail breakages due to flattened wheels, all played a prominent part in causing these derailments. Fortunately derailments of locomotives caused by defects in their own mechanism or driving surfaces are comparatively rare. The warning of the railway commission is not uncalled for, however, for a worn locomotive flange might suddenly precipitate a great disaster.