THE SEARCH FOR SAFETY: A History of Railroad Signals and the People Who Made Them

The Search for Safety is a story about people working aggressively to achieve two conflicting objectives - to move people and goods by rail with speed and do it safely. This book is both a biography and history - a history of one of mankind's most admirable traits - the desire to find solutions. - The steam locomotive brought significant changes to life in the 19th century. But as trains increased in number and grew faster, better ways of traffic control were needed to stem the increase in accidents. The books tells the story of the advances in safety - as a series of true-to-life series of personal adventures. It was published on the 100th anniversary of the Union Switch & Signal Company which was founded by George Westinghouse in 1881. -- Contents: On The Move - The Iron Horse is Born - Steam Locomotion Comes to American Railroads - Signaling Through The Ages - Managing The Mustang - Tamed Lightning - A Change in Thinking: From Time to Space - The Adolescence of American railroads: Luxury and Danger - The Proudest, Most Outspoken, Most Important and Supremely Confident Inventor: Who Said So Himself - George Westinghouse: A Man of Imagination, Courage and Genius - Power From the Heavens - John D. Taylor and All-Electric Interlocking - Trolleys, interurbans, els and subways: the Electric Horse - Light Signals: Nature's Swiftest Messenger - Highway Grade Crossings: Stop, Look & Listen - Automatic Train Control: The Wayside Signal into the Engine Cab - Coding the Track Circuit - Human Drama in Work and Play: Railroad Terminals - Centralized Traffic Control - Safe and Sensible --- Easy reading for the non-engineer, filled with drawings, diagrams and photographs.