Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1916 — NEW AUTOMATIC STOP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NEW AUTOMATIC STOP

OEVICE, IT IS CLAIMED, CHECKS TRAIN’S SPEED AT ONCE. Men of the Rail Will Recognize the Simplicity of Its Construction and • Method of Working—Electricity Is Employed. It is claimed that a train going 60 miles an hour can be stopped within 2,000 feet by means of an apparatus

BSWIi now being tested I on an American l miPP railroad. This ap- • ":i paratus is intended to be used in fffiflaf * jjjrjfflr connection with a double-track block system, and autoM o -ag matically sets the brakes and stops fflSHpliillfl the train at the enPKfif Z . j|||| trance to a block yiii* if the bi ° ck is not a steel ramp 180 feet long supported on the ends of the tires at a distance of 22 inches from the rail. This ramp slopes each way from the center, the three inches higher than the ends. Each locomotive operating on this section of thd road is equipped with a contact shoe that engages the ramp and is mounted on the lower end of a vertical rod, the whole being supported on the croSßhead guides. As the locomotive passes the ramp this shoe is raised three inches. The shoe

operates a piston} and through this a pneumatic mechanism that closes the throttle and sets the brakes if the rear end of the ramp is not electrically charged, while if it is electrically charged, magnets are energized that hold the mechanism and prevent it from operating. The control consists of electrical connections so arranged that the rear end of the ramp is charged only when the block Is clear. The forward end is always charged, bo that trains as-e not interferedwith when backing—Popular Mechanics.