Steel Trains

One hundred fifty two train passengers were killed in 1926 (latest available figures). In 1906, when the travelling public was much smaller, 359 were killed. Steel coaches, which in large part have replaced wooden coaches on the major railroads, largely explain the difference.* In 1906 a train wreck meant a holocaust-- passengers mangled in cars telescoped and burning. In 1926 a wreck meant simply a bad accident. Steel may twist in a crash. It does not splinter nor burn. Pioneer in equipping passenger trains with all-steel cars was the Pennsylvania Railroad. Since 1907 it has bought no wooden ones. What wooden cars it owned then, it has gradually been retiring. Last year 559 went into the discard. Last week went the rest, when Pennsylvania directors authorized President William Wallace Atterbury to spend $20,000,000 to $21,000,-000 for 595 steel passenger, passenger-bag- gage, scenery, refrigerator and horse-ex-press cars. In reserve, for only the greatest of traffic emergencies, the road will keep 200 wooden passenger cars.

*Other important factors of safety: more precise train operations, better signals, elimination of grade crossings, safety-first education.