SAFETY OF TRAINS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 536, 17 June 1909, Page 8

SAFETY OF TRAINS.

A NEW BRAKE ATTACHMENT. TRIED ON THE HUTT RAILWAY. - A trial of the Christie Safety Railway Brake Attachment was mad© oh the •Welling-ton-Hutt Railway- yesterday. The promoters of this invention claim that its use would have averted several of tho disastrous railway accidents which have recently occurred. Its principal features are that, should the Westinghouse brake become inoperative through the closing of a tap, the fact is at •once electrically signalled to the enginedriver. As the brakes are at present fitted, it is necessary that the shunter, when the traction couplings between cars or wagons are made, should turn a oock in a certain direction in order to make the brake connection between the vehicles. Should he fail to do this, the efficiency of the brake is lost, and a serious accident may ensne. If anyone moved "by curiosity or any other impulse closes one of the / oocks, the same dangerous result ,occurs, but Mr. Christie's invention would immediately indicate the fact to the driver. There is electric communicaton between the car and the engine., and should tho necessity arise on account of any aocident, such as a passenger falling off the train, the engine-driver can be immediately signalled, and the train stopped. . At yesterday's trial there ■ were present, besides the inventor (Mr. M. C. Christie, who is a railway engineer at Invercargill), Messrs. Walter Henderson, /E. Russell, ana J. MacGregor (all of Invercargill). Tho Railway Department' was represented by Messrs. A. L. Boattie (Chief Mechanical Engineer), G. A. Pearson (District Locomotive Engineer), and Brake Inspector Moore. The Westinghouse Brake Company was represented oy its New Zealand inspector, Mr. R. E. Robertson.

The apparatus was tested thoroughly on the run from Lambton Station to Lower Hritt and back, and was considered satisfactory by those present. The Railway Department is "putting tbo appliance into use on several vehicles with a view to giving it a. thorough trial under various working conditions. . "

. The great point Connected with the invention is that for many years a great many inventors have striven to improve the Westinghouse brake, splendid appliance though it undoubtedly is, by tho uso of electrioity' in sotdo form or other. One of its weak points is that anything interfering with any of the taps between tho carriages may shut off tho major portion of the brake power. This is senous, as a driver always counts on a full brake power in calculating his distance in pulling up. H, unknown to him, some part of the brake power happened to be "off," the possibility of serious accident at once arises. As already indicated, it is to obviate that risk that the Christie attachment has been designed and patented.-