Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 156, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1916 — DUE TO EQUIPMENT DEFECTS [ARTICLE]

DUE TO EQUIPMENT DEFECTS

Interstate Commerce Commission Makes Report on the Causes of Various Railroad Accidents. The failure of wheels on two trains of the St. Paul system within ten days of each otfler, and at the same town, by a coincidence, led to an investigation of the cause of wheel failures, which has become one of the most serious problems in American railroading. In the thirteen years ending June 30, 1915, there were 37,456 derailments ,due to equipment defects, of which 12,882 were caused by defective wheels, with a property loss of $12,506,000. Many of these wheels were of the built-up type, consisting of a cast-iron hub, two rolled St§el check plates and a rolled steel tire. The various parts are forced on under pressure and then secured by bolts. Out of twenty wheels of this type examined - after the accident ten were found to have incipient cracks in the interior webs of the tires. The Interstate commerce commission concluded that cold-rolled wheel tires, as well as cold-rolled rails, are not the strongest kinds. The commission stated, in connection with the accident, that on many railroads the track is not properly constructed or sufficiently maintained to permit of the safe operation of trains at the rates of speed allowed.