General view of the level railway crossings question [microform]

CIHM
Microfiche
Series
(l\1onographs)

ICI\/IH

Collection de
microfiches
(monographies)

111

C.n.di.n Imtitul. for Hittoriul Micrortproductions / Inititut Canadian da

microraproductiona historiquas

Technical and Bibliographic Notes / Notes technique et bibliographiques

The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original
copy available for filming. Features of this copy which
may be bibliographlcally unique, which may alter any of
the Images in the reproduction, or which may
significantly change the usual method of filming are
checked below.

n
n

D

n
n
n

n

D
D
D

n

Coloured covers /
Couverture de couleur

Covc,^ damaged /
Couverture endommagte

Covers restored and/or laminated /
Couverture restaurSe el/ou pellicula

Cover title missing / Le titte de couverture manque

Coloured maps / Canes geographrques en couleur

Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black) /
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)

Coloured plates and/or Illustrations /
Planches et/ou illustratrons en couleur

Bound with other material /
Relte avec d'autres documents

Only edition available/
Seule edition disponlble

Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin / La rellure serr^e peut
causer de I'ombre ou de la distoislon le long de
la marge int^rieure.

Blank leaves added during restoraltons may appear
within the text. Whenever possible, these have
been omitted from filming / II se peut que ceitaines
pages blanches ajouties tors d'une restauration
apparaissent dans le texte, mais, kxsque cela ^tait
possible, ces pages n'ont pas «I6 flimees.

E

L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur examplaire qu'ii lul a
«e possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exem-
plaire qui sont peut-4tre uniques du point de vue blbli-
ographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite,
ou qui peuvent exiger une modifications dans la m6th-
ode normale de filmage sont Indiqu6s ci-dessous.

I [ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur
I I Pages damaged/ Pages endommagSes

I I Pages restored and/or laminated /
Pages restaur^es et/ou pellkniiees

\\/] Pages discoloured, stained or foxed /
Pages dicolorSes, tathetees ou piquees

Q Pages detached/ Pages detachSes

JT] Showthrough/ Transparence

I I Quality of print varies /

— ' Quality In^gale de I'lmpresskxi

I I Includes supplementary material /

Comprend du materiel suppiementaire

I I Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refllmed to
ensure the best possible Image / Les pages
totalement ou partlellement obscurcies par un
feuillet d'enata, une pelure, etc., ont ete filmees
k nouveau de fajon k obtenir la mellleure
Image possible.

I I Opposing pages with varying colouration or
disoolouratlons are filmed twice to ensure the
best possible Image / Les pages s'opposant
ayant des colorations variables ou des decol-
orations sont fllnrrees deux fois afin d'obtenir la
meilleur Image possible.

D

AddWonal oommenis /
Commentarres suppKmentaires:

Thii imn ii fjlmad at th> nduciion mio ehidud lialoo/

Ce dacummt «t film* lu Uu« dc rMuetion mtiqai ei-d«sinn.

lOX

ux

18X

Z2X

2SX

XX

1

_

y

D

n

12X

1CX

20X

24X

2SX

Th« copy «ln»«d h«r« hM t—n f«produs»d thanki
to Iha ganarotitv of:

National Library of Canada

L'Mamplsir* film* lut rtproduit gric* 1 1*
gintrotiU d*:

Blbllothiqua n«tlonala du Canada

Tha imaga. appaaring hara ara iha >»••« 0"','«V
ponibia coniidaring Iha condition and lagibillty
of tha original copy and in liaoping with tha
filming conuaet apacif ieationa.

Original eopia. in printad papar eovora ara flimad
baainning with tha front covar and anding on
tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad imp'"'
.ion. or tha back covar whan •Pf'f'*"" *'' .
othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tha
first paga with a printad or '"''•"■»ri.'""»''f':«(
■ion. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad
or illuatratad impraMion.

Tha laat racordad frama on aach microficha
ihall conuin tha avmboi -*• ''"•""'"■-5r..;
TINUED"!. or tha tymbol V Imaaning EIMO i.
whiehavar appliaa.

Mapa. platoa, charu. ate., may ba filmad at
diffarant raduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba
antiraly includad in ona axposura ara f Hmao
baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar. Uft to
right and top to bottom, as '"•"*'"'"••••.
raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha
mathed:

Las imsgas luivantaa ant *tt raproduitas avac la
plus grand soin. compta tanu da la condition at
da la nanat* da I'axamplaira film*, at an
eonformit* avac laa conditions du contrat da
fllmaga.

Laa axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura tn
papiar act imprim*a sont film** *n commancani
par la pramlar plat at an tarminant soil par la
darnitra paga qui comporta una amprainta
d'imprassion ou d'illustration. soil par la tacond
plat, salon la eas. Toua laa autras axamplairas
originaux sont film*s an commandant par la
pramitra paga qui comporu una amprainta
d'impraasion ou d'illuawation at an tarminant par
la damitra paga qui compona una talla
amprainta.

Un daa symboiaa suivants apparaitra sur la
darnitra imaga da chaqua microficha. salon la
caa: la symbols -» signifis "A SUIVRE". la
symbols V signifia "FIN".

Laa eartaa. planchas. ubiaaux. ate. pauvant *ira
filmta i daa taux da r*duction aiff*rants.
Lorsqua la documant ast trap grsnd pour iira
raproduit an un saul clich*. il ast film* * partir
da I'angla sup*riaur gaucha. da gaueha * droiia.
at da haul an baa. tt pranani la nombra
d-imagaa nicaasaira. Laa diagrammas suivants
illuatrant la mtthoda.

1 2 3

456

««aiocorY nisouiTioN tbt chmt

(ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

1^

1^

III >? Ij£ ■■^•0

^ /1PPLIED IM/IGE In

^^ ;653 East Main Slraat

^8 RochesUr. Nm Yotii 14609 USA

('16) 482-0300-Phon«

(716) 288 - 5909 - Fox

GENERAL VIEW

OF THE

Level Railway Crossings Question

Av OvEHilRAii Kaii.wav CiinsKivfj wnn Gm.m.k 1 i\ o.

By ROBERT LARMOUR

STRATFORD, ONT.

r- ' ■■• r

■i^^- X

EXPLANATORY NOTE

[he matter rontaincj in this l.ri t

iSiffi:7-"-^SHs'S"- «"

•■•'ay. ami to f™.„ • "' "'"'■h """st be to rii,r.n,,^ ^^ ' persecution;

«' riilway, „,^uvi ""' t^; ".■,'""■ ""-^ J""' policy t«wan?r/'°V- 1"<'»t°n«
Maroh 25th ImS *"""" ""' •"'<= to be pursued '""* '"""'°"

Editorial Introduction

B. L.

, The following very fair a^n """^'*"»''

Larmour's excellont ..i- f "" '" oebetter noslerf j,fL. , '*® reader

bills intr^uc^' "^"'p " '"'^- /"■=»•. by the -^y wat writ.""*''"* **«J«'
Senator MoM^Ien m]- ""r"' ""^''^ ^7 O^e m^Ll^^^fl^y,'"' »« the
effect of our ^m,'. ^'''""" ,La™our make, a slroni ."/ '^"""ys and
parently ?he onrt.T",'""' *he subway *nfZ«„ri;' X """8 the
be the ^JfAn^'i', ffe *alll''» ""'"f^'^'y «°l«tio„ ^1^7^ ''''I?"- '^P"

• -ves at a -nrS'S^^LS^I^C^ii^ ^^^^

O"'"''" ^^D^^TT^nkin, M.P

"'^"^.^^r^ntario. ""^-^^U ...

Yonr« sincerely,

0 900633

J p. EANKIN.

GENERAL VIEW

OP THE

Level Railway Crossings Question

The statement made by General
Manager Chas. M. Hays, at the
Stratford banquet, that it would cost
fifty million dollars to abolish the
three thousand level crossings of the
Grand Trunk Railway System, seems
to have taken the general public as
well as the press by surprise, judg-
ing from the number and tone of the
many articles that have appeared in
the newspapers on the subject in a
sliort time, As^ is usual in such
cases, nearly every writer has, at
least, some suggestion to offer; gome
go so far as to point out more defin-
itely what should, or must, be done
ot once.

The suggestions cover a. wide field
in the way of mentioning partial
remedies, alternatives, or compro-
mises, while the more positive and
decided range from the fining of a
man for not stopping, looking, and
listening before attempting to cross
a railway track, „p to the elevation
of the tracks generally.

The old remedy of reducing the
speed of all trains at all crossings,
seems to have dropped out of the dis-
cussion.

Such a display of theory is all very
well as far as it goes, and will no
doubt serve some purpose in the
end, but it will not solve the pro-
blem, because when closely examin-
ed, the propositions would be found

to be mainly unpractical, mostly, un-
reasoning, and generally, without any
real merit.

We might reasonably suppose that
Mr. Lancaster's act which has been
so persistently urged on the atten-
tion of Parliament for years, would
at least come within the range of the
practical or beneficial, yet it fails to
meet with the support necessary to
carry it through. Why? Simply be-
cause it is found to be impractical,
when it comes to the point of exam-
ination under expert authority.

If a bill were to be founded on
any one, or on all the suggestions,
remedies, alternatives, etc., that have
been referred to. and introduced in-
to Parliament with a view of being
made law, it would no doubt meet
with similar objections to that of the
Lancaster Act. when brought under
the focus of expert discussion.

With a view of throwing more
light on the matter that is just now
occupying so much public attention,
tlie writer purposes to discuss it, in
the following pages, on broader lines
and from various standpoints.

What does the charter of a railway
such as the G. T. E. mean to those
who have invested money in its se-
curities, and what would be the re-
sult of an attempt to legislate away
even partially, rights guarantied to
the investor by such charters? Woul''

it not be tiintnn.outil to eonflscsllon
or rt^pudintion on tin- pari uf the
•late; w)„rl, woulil in turn nionn.
rum to the cr,.(lit of tlio rountry ami
«n iMKl to roilivny i>iit,.rpri<i(. For the
Govpriiriirat to nrhitrnrily order the
O. T. K. to proviil,. overhwiil hridgc.
or .uhwiiy, at the thr. r thousand
crossing,, and give them live, ten or
twenty years to do it in would be
connseation. lonc the le»i.

It has been stated on the author-
ity o( the Uttilw.iy Commission that
ninety-five per eent. ot the level ero»s.
mg aceidentu that have been inves-
tigated odieially have proved to be
tl) ■ result of negligence, or want of
ordinary care and caution on the
pan of those who met with the acci-
dent. This siatenient i.o doubt in-
cludes only the more serious acci-
dents that have been investigated, so
that if the minor accidents were add-
ed, the perceniige might easily reach
ninety-«even or ninety-eight. From a
long experience. 1 believe the latter
figure to be more nearly correct. Dur-
ing Tiy life-long close contact with
level crossing troubles, I cannot re-
call a single instance, whtre the en-
gineer has been proved to be directly
responsible for causing a fatal acci-
dent through contravention of the
aw respecting level crossings; but re
lying wholly on the figures of the
Commission, doea it not seem some-
what unreasonable that, through a
n.nre coincidence . by which two or
three serious and sadly fatal acci-
dents should have occurred close af-
ter each other, the whole country
should at once cry out for an imme-
diate remedy in the way of abolishing
the level crossing. -Jhe level cross-
ing must go" in order that the peo-
ple should be rendered safe from the
results of their own lack of ordinary
care and caution, and that the rail-
way alone should b«.r the enormous

expense involved, an expenditure
till was neither contemplated nor
provided (or when the charter was
greritiKl .\n expenditure that the
earnings of the road ore. admittedly
not yet able t« bear.

It is vehemently announced by
some nho are loudest in their de-
man,., for the abolishing of level
crossings in .-wneriea. that luch a
tiling would not be tolerated in Eng-
nnd. To this I uonid simply reply
thn; there are many things connected
with the oiierai'on of railways in Kng-
luiul th.1t would not be tolerated in
Am-rioa. The conditions are alto-
gether different, se much so, that such
a statement has little or no force as
an argun.,.nt. It may be many year,
-eforo a country such as Canada now
i» can afford such protect;on a. that
which prevails in England, ir. many
other ways besides that of railway,.
There are others who demand thiKl
gates should be provided to protect
people I presume ui«ier the impre.-
sion that gates would be less expen-
s'e than subways and overhead
oridgea.

For the sake of argument, let us
"ee how this will work out as re-
gards expense.

The initial cost of gate fixtures
complete will be, at least $500 each
crossing-tVK) by 3.000 equal, Jl,600 -
000. Annual cost of gate tenders,
night and day, two men. 12 hours
each. 11,000 by 3,000 equals J3.000 000
Tc this add yearly interest on initial
expense, at four per cent., 160 000
Also add oil, lamps, repairs, inspec-
tion, etc., $20 per gate, $60,000. We
have thus a yearly charge of $3 180 -
000, which would represent, at four
per cent, a capital of $78 000.000.

These figures show that the gate
proposition would be in the end still
more expense than the overhead
bridge and subway, unless they could

be efficiently operated by iome «ato<
TiiQtic conirivanco that would be
r •«« exjtpnsivc than manual la-

b U not, at pre'ii'nt, nvuij-

able.

Theu ii anothrr feature to this
question that it may be well to refer
to. that is iho proneness of the pub*
lie iind I may add the press (with
some v'orthy exception*!) when an ac-
cident occurti at a level crossing, to
load the railway with the whole re-
di>onMibllity. without waiting for the
(acts in the case, or the result of a
judicial enquiry. Just why this
should be particularly so, "here a
railway company 1« concerned, ii
one of the curious manifestations of
sentiment, or sympathy, on the pat.
of the public. Even after i* has
been proved and admitted by a jury,
in the casu of death, that ii resulted
solely from carelessneas, recklessness,
or want of ordinary caution on the
part of the deceased, the company is
still tacitly blamed because it had
not put up gates or done soiiiethmg
else to protect the party against his
own *. ''Ies9:ies8. In such cii«."«. no
notice it. taken of the narrow escapes
of perhaps hundreds of passengers
and thti trail, crew, that had been
exposed to deaih or inj'.ry by such
carelessness. Any experienced en-
ginee- will tell ym that there is no
casual obstruction on the track that
he dreads more thin striking a horse
or cow on a level crofisir.g, as the
animal is liable to get jammed under
the trucks at the cattle guards, which
might result in slewing a truck.
spreading the rails or pitchinir the
engine bodily off the track and a
train of passengers wif' it. Wrecks
of this kind are happ. of rare oc-
currence, but they have occurred .
with lo«s of life, just in this way, and
the risk is always there. This is one
raeaon why railway officials wculd

glaily Bee level croasingi a^oliihed,
a« stutivl by Mr. Hiiys, if a reaxon-
ublo Hchenie could be arrived at, one
that ^suuld not over-bui-!en the al-
ready tu uvy liuleii thiiin iiil iiieunit uf
tlic company.

There is Htill another pha«e of the
level cii .sii ,{ to be nott>d, which ia
this: If it i» replaced by an over-
hea<l brldtt<', ui.h an elevation of
twt'nty-two feet, it would produce a
grade that would practically limit
the load a farmer's team would be
able to haul; mure cnpeeially «o in
the winter aouitun. us the snuw would
not lie on the embankment or the
bridge itself, and I quet^tion very
much, whether the people w)io would
use Hucli a cruising would not pre-
fer the old one. A farmer who ha">
hi« own level crossing, over which
he has been drivin^f for a lifetiniA
without accidtMit or worry, is not
afraid 1. cause he knows there is no
danger if he couiinues to use ordin-
ary caution. He is nut clamor'^us for
an overliead structure that would cut
down the loud li'> could haul, one-
half. If L plebitjcite were taken in
a district where the public road is
used lor heavy teaming and where
the abolition of the level crossings
would mean an overhead bridge
witli a grade of one in five, or one
in bix. and in winter bare of snow
in addition, there might be more voles
in /avor of the *. J crossing and a
lieciih'd and well founded objection to
the new. Within my own experience
I c 1 recall instances, when there
happened to be nn overhead bridpe
croseing, where ^.eople were compell-
ed to drive miles out of the direct
route to get to a level crossing, and
avoid the overhead "ne that made
it an utter impossibP ty to pass
wit!) a 1oaile<> sleigh, because it was
R literal ber, cadft,

I can also recall instances where

rt

th» praplt eoneerned i "lltlon«d the
riilw.y oompnny to rrpUce th* over.
he»J croMiiif with a level one. tor
th« reaionf ilateil. Subwiyi would In
nwiiy caee., be equally objectionable.
U till' inoii jwrfect dralnafe were not
practicable, the depreaeion ol tin
roadway would be liable to All up
with aluih and drifting unow in the
wintir to the extent of rendering
Ihem utterly lir.paiiible. Kvidence
ol thii kind will go to thow that any
hasty action in aboliihing the level
•roatingi In lavor ol the overhead
bridge might prove a gricvoua nii»-
tak in many caaea.

Such evidence will also show that
the whole matter will require to be
carclully and extensively studied out,
bclore any general or final scheme
IS fixed upon as leasible. as one that
will cover all the objectionable leat-
urea.

The Hamilton Herald in an editor-
ial on the subject haa this to say:

"Mr, Hays made this statement
(that it would cost tH,O0O.O0O, etc)
as a sufficient reason why it would
be unjust to require hia company to
eliminate level crnssinga. And so it
would be unjust, i| the company were
to be required to bear all the cost
and do the work at once. But no-
body has suggested any such injus-
tice. II the level croaaing nuisance
is to be abolished, the coat will Have
to be divided among the ralways. the
National Government, the Provincial
Government, and the municipalities.
And the thing could not be done in
a year, nor in ♦en years, perhops not
in twenty years."

The editor then goes on to suggest,
as a good plan to begin with, that aii
anti-level crossing clause should be
inserted in every new charter or the
extensioi; ol old ones. Let us loUow
out this scheme to iu "logical con-
clusion," aa the phraae goes.

The writer haa been told that Mr
Hnya hat already expressed a will,
ingne.s. on Ihe part ol the company
to «et H,Uh. 1800,000 per annum lor
the pur|H)«e: ol course under certain
eonditiona. For the aake ol the ar-
guinent. let us suppose that both the
Federal and Provincial Governments
would vote a aimilar sum: ol cour.e
alao un-ler certain conditions. It will
not be straining poaaibillties in aup-
po.ing they would do this. «. they
nro generally liberal-wiih the peo-
ple . money. The condition would be
that the municipalities. the city
town, county and township voted a
proportionate sum, «. being the bene-
flciaries. But when we com. to the
municipalities, where the people who
do the voting alao have to do the
paying, the matter assumes an alto-
gether different complexion They
might consider the asaumed benefits
a very questionable matter; so that
It will be seen at a glance that the
whole scheme would thus be mode
dependent upon the action ol the
municipalities, or the very agency
that can be least depneded upon lor
carrying out such a pl-i. „«
scheme would practically becoi.e a
•local option" scheme, to be car-led
m an odd case here and there, to be
rejected in some cases, and never
brought to a vote at all in many
others. A very scientiflo way ol
getting rid of difficult questions

1 am Iree to say that there may
be some level croaainga today un-
protected. wKere the view is ob-
atructed by buildinga, embankments,
high close lencea, etc, to such an
extent that they may well be call-
ed dangerous crossings; in that case
they should not be allowed to remain
ao, one day longer th»n the time
actually r-cessary for the removal
ol sush obstructiona. or gates being
placed for their protection, but to

■■y that all level cromitnfii ihould b«
(*liminatf*d bornuHA a tfyr may hi>
c«»n»i<lorc«l aji dniintrou!!. would be
in my rimiion. n lumty nn.I unreaior.-
iitR oonchiMion to arrive at without
ult rondition* ami ctrcumstancei b«<
inn duly considered.

I am also free to aay, that many
yean ago. I myielf. aa an official of
the operating dopartmont, made thp
propoial that Ruch obntructiona to
th« view at a crossing, should be re*
moved, but the proposition was dis-
couragod by the legal drpartment,
on the ground thnt »uch proceedings
would be inki'n n» n preccdrnt, which
being unfairly used, might force the
compnny into nn i>xrK<Qditure entire-
ly unwarranted undrr the circum-
stances.

But a great den! has born done ni
that direction since that tmie, as
well as in the way o( protecting such
croasingi! by gatua; a fact which wai
noted by Sonatjr McMullen, in the
Upper House at Ottawa, as reported
ill today's (March *th) papers, in
these words :

"Hon. Mr. McMullen informed his
colleagues, that the railwny compan-
ies had the grrnteft regard for human
life, and had gone to gieat expense
to promote the safety of the public.'*

In the flame rei«irt. Sir Richard
Cartwright is quoted as saying:

"He thought the bill (the Lancafl<
ter measure) had been rather rush-
ed through the Commons owing to
the unfortunate accidents which had
occurred ' within a short space of
time. The bill as worded might be
the means of subjecting, not merely
the railways, but the whole public
to very great inconvenience and dif-
ficulty in carrying on the business
of the country."

It was not intended by the writer,
as previously intimated, to offer eith-
er BUggeitions or opinions of his owr

In these papers, but merely to dia-
cusR the question in a negative man-
ner with a view of bringing out mora
clear and extensive views in regard
ir' the level crossings as a whole. It
cat>not b< ixMislble that the cross-
ings have suddenly become more
dangerous, or that the -people have
suddenly become more reckleii or
negljfTont. flo that it is not a new ele-
ment of danger in any re«pect. I
venture to lay f the contrary, that
there is even les negligence, that is,
that people are gradually becoming
mure cautious in a general way. and
it has already been tihown that rnil
wuv ' ave been doing a great d"al
to pM.-note the safety of the public.
Rut on the other hand, the difHcul-
ttes in that way of alMllshing level
crossings, remain just the same as
they hnvt! been for many years, and
quite as serious; t nt is, the enor-
mous expenditure money involved
and the question \ .ether any method
or scheme yet p'opo«ed would meet
with general approval of those most
directly interratt'd or concerned. C i-
adian wintertt rnnnot be aboHsI
nor the use of the sleigh dispen
with, and so long ns these are with
us, it will be a debatable question,
which of the evils will be least the
obstructive overhead bridge* and
subways, or the level crossing.

Since the above wns witten out. I
have been told of a ease where a
farmer has recently brought en ac-
tion for drmages against a railway
company because they gave him an
overhead crossing instead of a level

one.

R. LARMOUR

Stratford. March 5th. 1900.