Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and PreventionRichards, R. C. (Ralph Coffin)
History
Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and Prevention
Richards, R. C. (Ralph Coffin)
Railroad accidents
And it is just as important to properly unload packages of newspapers
and mail from moving trains, and to exercise a little care in throwing
coal from engines, as it is to see that freight is securely loaded.
The number of accidents caused in this way since the running of the
fast mail and newspaper trains commenced would fill a book and could
all have been avoided by the exercise of that care which employees or
postal clerks would have exercised if they, instead of the company,
had to foot the bills caused by their carelessness. To me, it seems
not a difficult or unreasonable precaution to look, before you throw
out a heavy bag of mail or half a dozen packages of newspapers, to see
that no one will be hit by them, and that they could and should be
dropped just beyond the far end of the station platform, but never in
a street or public highway; and don't throw your clinker bars or ash
bars off engines, or anything else for that matter, without looking to
see if anyone is passing and when through with them put them in a safe
place so they won't project and strike anyone on the next track or
fall off and injure someone. If this had been done cases like the
following would not have happened:
Henry Forbes, roadmaster, injured November 3, at Marionette, was
walking west on station platform, when mail sack was thrown from
train struck him on the legs and knocked him down.
Paul Rhelips, injured at Dragitt, May 15, at 5:30 p.m.; caused by
his being struck with a block of hard wood which was tied to a
letter thrown from train by the baggageman, while passing through
the station at 45 miles per hour.
ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE ENGINES
During the last two years there has been an epidemic of accidents
caused by defective grate-shaking rigging and defective shoveling
sheets on engines, especially of the former. A few years ago they were
practically unknown. Now they come so often as to create no remark.
The following cases will demonstrate the necessity either of some
different apparatus for shaking grates of engines, of greater care in
using the apparatus, or of some better method of inspection and repair:
A. G. Kenly, fireman, injured near Windermere; caused by the
shovel which he was using catching on the shoveling sheet of
engine No. 418.
James Cooney, fireman, injured June 19, in Caster yard, was
shaking grates on engine No. 917, and connecting rod broke,
catching his hand between shaker rod and quadrant.
H. D. Porter, fireman, injured near Mansfield, May 10; caused by
grate rod breaking as he was shaking the grates on engine No. 1280.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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