Merrill Talks Of The Accident

Merrill Talks of the Accident

Supt. F.E. Merrill of the Hawks-Angus road returned to Ypsilanti Monday evening. In an interview in Jackson before leaving he said, concerning the accident on that line Monday: "I all my my nearly 20 years' experience in railroading I have never known or heard of an accident like this one, either on steam or electric railways. The trucks did not leave the track, nor did the king bolt break, but the kingbolt held and the bolsters pulled off the trucks. Those trucks are like any trucks under coaches on steam or other electric roads, except that our trucks are some heavier than most four-wheeled trucks. Just how it happened is not certain. I have my theory, but inasmuch as I have not had time to investigate it by questioning the men, it would be premature to try to say who is at fault. An investigation might disprove my theory.

"So far as electric cars racing is concerned, that is absolutely out of the question. Those cars are geared to a maximum speed, and that is the speed out cars are always run on, unless slowing down for a curve or a danger point. The motorman cannot have them go faster if he desired. The cars would have to be regeared at the shops before they could go faster. They are not like steam engines, where the engineer controls in his cab the maximum speed up to the limit of the locomotive.

"We have had considerable trouble in the way of irregular service," continued Mr. Merrill, "since opening the line to Jackson, the one cause being a lack of even distribution of the power current. I am almost sorry that we began running cars till our substations were complete. The trouble is that with enough current on the line to keep up the voltage between Ann Arbor and Francisco, the current is too strong where reinforced by the substations, and the burning of insulation and crippling of motors is the result.

"We recently started the substation at Francisco and that helps out between Jackson and Francisco but there are 20 miles from Francisco to Ann Arbor without a reinforcement and the voltage is too low there for two cars pulling off the juice. The Lima Center substation will correct this condition which compels us now to force a large volume of current on the trolley in order to keep up the voltage. We expect to have the Lima Center substation going in a week, and then there will be no trouble about keeping up the schedule.

"The crossing at Ann Arbor is delayed by the non-arrival of the necessary D-rail, but this crossing completing the line from Jackson to Detroit will not be delayed long."

An explanation of a possible cause of the accident was that the wheels slipped on the wet rails while going down the hill, causing the motorman to apply the brakes hard. When the car struck a section of the rail which would hold the wheels the body of the car was first shunted forward with the sudden stoppage and then toppled over when the centrifugal motion on the curve was attained."