94 



Popular Science Monthly 



reached the fourth car it would be 

 rendered quite harmless. 



The principle is being put to practical 

 use on the Great Central Railroad, in 

 England. Buffing rods attached to pow- 

 erful springs are being used with success. 



The spring-operat- 

 ed buffers perform 

 the same function 

 as shock absorbers 



The rods are strong 

 enough to with- 

 stand a colliding 

 blow of 112 tons 



Preventing Cars from Telescoping by 

 Means of Collision Buffers 



IN many railroad accidents the amount 

 of destruction of life and property is 

 considerably increased by the telescoping 

 of the cars, one into the other. Due to 

 the very rigidity of the cars, the force of 

 the impact which meets the first car is 

 transmitted to those following. 



This is due to the lack of suitable 

 cushioning apparatus between the cars. 

 If some sort of workable absorber were 

 placed near the coupling, the shock 

 of the collision would 

 be diminished as it 

 traveled along the 

 line. The first device 

 would take 

 up a por- 

 tion of the 

 blow and 

 the second 

 would take 

 up still 

 more. By 

 the time the 

 concussion 



C4 . I "V/- i. 1 Li i-icv-inj-iMouiici. Caterpillar 



oteering wheel ^Control cable ^ 



An electric switch controls the movement of the land torpedo and 

 accurately guides it. The operator remains at a safe distance away 



It's a Land Torpedo and It Eats 

 Barbed Wire 



THE land torpedo 

 illustrated below 

 is the interesting 

 wartime invention 

 of Henry E. Elrod, 

 of Dallas", Texas. 

 It has been designed 

 to travel on land, 

 under the control of 

 an operator who may 

 remain at a compara- 

 tively safe distance 

 from the enemy. The 

 torpedo is caused to 

 advance, and turn to 

 left or rijiht, as cif- 

 cr.mGtances may re- 

 quire, by the manipu- 

 lation of an electric 

 switch. The explosive charge is in the head. 

 Electric current is supplied to the 

 motor in the torpedo through the operat- 

 ing and control cable. This cable is 

 wound on a drum and paid out as the 

 torpedo advances. The caterpillar method 

 of locomotion is employed. 



When the nose of the torpedo encoun- 

 ters barbed wire entanglements, the oper- 

 ator immediately causes its steel wire- 

 clipping jaws to gnash, cutting an opening 

 large enough for the head of the torpedo to 

 force its way through. The shape of the 

 torpedo is similar to that of the bow of a 



vessel, so 



Wiring 



Electric current 

 distributor 



Explosive 

 charge container 



Wire 

 cutterN 



that the op- 

 ening in the 

 barrier will 

 be enlarged 

 as the tor- 

 pedo goes 

 forward. Its 

 sides are 

 perfectly' 

 smooth, and 

 entirely free 

 from pro- 

 jections. 



