. The American railway; its construction, development, management, and appliances . a de-railment of this sort. Since that time the railroad on which the ac-cident happened has taken out all stub-switches on thousands ofmiles of main-line track. The split-switch provides against suchderailments, for if the switch is set for the turnout, and a trainapproaches it from the main line in the trailing direction, theflanees of the wheels move the switch-rails to make the trackcontinuous. The terms facing and trailing, as applied toswitches, are almost self-explanatory. If a train approaches to-ward t
. The American railway; its construction, development, management, and appliances . a de-railment of this sort. Since that time the railroad on which the ac-cident happened has taken out all stub-switches on thousands ofmiles of main-line track. The split-switch provides against suchderailments, for if the switch is set for the turnout, and a trainapproaches it from the main line in the trailing direction, theflanees of the wheels move the switch-rails to make the trackcontinuous. The terms facing and trailing, as applied toswitches, are almost self-explanatory. If a train approaches to-ward the points of the moving rails, the switch is said to be fac-ing. If it runs through the switch from the rear of the movingrails, the switch is said to be trailing. This will be made clearby reference to the illustration on page 206. If a train were com-ing from the bridge, the first switch reached by it would be atrailing and the second a facing switch. In the newspaper reportsan accident will very often be assigned to one of two causes, failure 2 20 SAFETY IN RAILROAD TRA Soutn Hoivi, id by safety bolts. of the air-brakes or spreading of the rails. The chances are thatit will be found on investigation to be due to neither of thesecauses. Those interested to maintain the credit of the air-brakeor of the track department are not often on the ground when thereporter gets his information, and the temptation is always greatto shift the responsibility to the shoulders of the absent. Probablythe displacement of the rail will have taken place after the derail-ment ; but rails do sometimes spread. Loose spikes and rottenties allow the outer edge of the rail-flange to sink into the wood,and the rail to roll outward enough to let the wheels drop. Soundties are the first safeguard against such accidents. Metal platesunder the rails are useful also ; but one of the most efficient meansof preventing displacement of the rails is the interlocking boltshown above. These bolts cross in th
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