The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 13, November, 1858 by Various
page 23 of 309 (07%)
page 23 of 309 (07%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
must be somewhat elaborate. And so it is. Indeed, so complete is the
organization and management of _employées_ upon the New York and Erie Railroad, that the General Superintendent at his office can at any moment tell within a mile where each car or engine is, what it is doing, the contents of the car, the consignor and consignee, the time at which it arrives and leaves each station, (the _actual_ time, not the time when it _should_ arrive,) and is thus able to correct all errors almost at the moment of commission, and in reality to completely control the road. The great regulator upon long lines of railroad is the electric telegraph, which connects all parts of the road, and enables one person to keep, as it were, his eye on the whole road at once. A single-track railroad, says Mr. McCallum, may be rendered more safe and efficient by a proper use of the telegraph than a double-track railroad without,--as the double-tracks commonly obviate collisions which occur between trains moving in _opposite_ directions, whilst the telegraph may be used effectually in preventing them between trains moving either in _opposite_ directions or in the _same_ direction; and it is a well-established fact, deduced from the history of railroads both in Europe and in this country, that collisions from trains moving in the _same_ direction have proved by far the most fatal and disastrous, and should be the most carefully guarded against. From the admirable report of Mr. McCallum, above referred to, we take the following:--Collisions between fast and slow trains moving in the same direction are prevented by the following rule: 'The conductor of a slow train will report himself to the Superintendent |
|