NO RELAXATION FOR RAILWAYS OVER HOLIDAYS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 89, 23 January 1950, Page 5

NO RELAXATION FOR RAILWAYS OVER HOLIDAYS

Even in the Bay of Plenty there is little relaxation for railway workers during holiday periods. Those who'control the running of trains are always on the mark and even at the busiest of times they know what traffic is being carried by the different routes. Many Problems

Threading those trains through a heavy existing schedule raises many problems. Delays must be reduced to a minimum, but safety is the paramount factor. When a train leaves one station and arrives safely at another it is not just good fortune. It is because every possible safety measure has been taken and because every train within the control area is pin-point-ed by a sort of “vocal radar” throughout its run- from the moment it is ready to leave the terminal station.

That is why, perhaps, a score of trains can use the same line without danger of collision, why passenger expresses can speed through the night at 50 m.p.h. knowing the track ahead is clear. How is it done? The answer is train control. Train control is the nerve centre of the railways. No train may leave an attended station within the control without permission.

Immediately a train arrives, departs, or passes a station the train controller is advised and given the time.’ With a red pencil he plots on a graph ther actual run of each train and from this he immediately knows its position, whether it is on time, ahead of time, or behind time, and whether he will have to hold another train at an intermediate loop to allow it through. Other factors-govern his decision. These include the configuration of the route, tonnages, shunting, and the remarshalling of a train. Schedules Prepared

Schedules are prepared long before the train controller receives the graph, but it is his responsibility to ensure that the “special” has a clear run and that the normal trains are held, at selected points ahd again dispatched with the least delay.

Safety measures also extend to the track itself. The inspector of permanent ways (known as the 1.P.W.), gangers, and surfacemen regularly patrol the track on jiggers, carry out tests, and make repairs. By using track phones at certain points, they keep in close touch with the control room. By 3uch a far-reaching network of checks and counter-checks, safety on the rails reaches the highest efficiency. In the Railways they just don’t believe in luck.