Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 206, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1913 — FAULTY RAIL ALWAYS PERIL [ARTICLE]

FAULTY RAIL ALWAYS PERIL

Probably Worst Danger Known to Railroading, and Constant Watchfulness Only Minimizes It * _______ Only a few days ago a broken rail caused a railroad accident which might easily have resulted in serious loss to life. A passenger train was derailed and by a miracle the cars came to a standstill Just before piling over the edge of bank into a swollen river. This is an illtistration of the, peril of the unsound rail. —- During the three months ended January 1 of the cprrent year 2,967 persons were killed and 51,323 were injured on steam railroads In the United States. There were 1,859 collisions and 2,135 derailments. Passenger trains were concerned In 229 of the collisions and 194 of the derailments. The property losses reached the total of $3,408,953, and this sum covered only the damage to the rolling stock, etc., belonging to the railroads. Calculated at thffe rate the railroads would suffer annually in this manner a loss of substantially $14,000,000, and the public has to pay for this in the mid. The additional sums that would be involved in lawsuits and the payment of damage claims would run the aggregate yearly drain, due to negligence or mechanical failures, into many millions of dollars more. Broken rails and fractured wheels were mainly responsible for the casualties, and 71 per cent, of all of the derailments were occasioned by defective roadvfay or equipment, while nearly 24 per cent, of the derailments were caused by broken pdls. Shattered or fractured wheels were accountable for 26.5 per cent, of the derailments. Collisions can mostly be avoided through proper alertness on the part of responsible employes, but M tbere is something insidious about thlg peril of the faulty ralL To the casual eye of the track walker the rail may be seemingly sound, and yet within the substance of its head or the thinner material of the supporting web a catastrophe may be larking. Unseen, the steel may be yielding and at the next blow the rail may be shattered and a speeding train hurled from its course.