Page:Hine (1912) Letters from an old railway official.djvu/235

 just the same. No delay occurs, but probably a collision, for the error is on the side of danger and toward a collision. The practice should be reversed. The last or only section should display classification signals. A positive indication should replace a negative. Can the train rules committee of the ladylike American Railway Association beat the Interstate Commerce Commission to this unprotected draw? Cases of such avoidable collisions can be cited, even though “we never had one on our road.”

Some roads prefer special schedules and extra trains to movement in sections. On the good old Big Four we handled everything possible in sections. I think this latter method the better. Theoretically yardmen, section men, tower men and all others should be always prepared for extra trains. Practically, the more information that can be disseminated among intelligent men the more effectively can they coöperate in preventing disaster or delay. There are fewer unlocked switches and fewer unspiked rails when information is not locked in the dispatcher’s office and not spiked down by too many train orders. Affectionately, your own, D. A. D.