FOOLPROOF RAILWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1957, 14 January 1914, Page 4

FOOLPROOF RAILWAYS.

REPORT ON AISGILL SMASH. MAJOR PRINGL'E'eTpkOPOSALS.i Mnjor' J. WiiP-riiiglo.'s^ .report to. the, Board of Trade" on" the Aisgill 'disaster is a remarkable endorsement of the do- ' mands of the public_ for railways that aro more nearly.'"fool-proof".'tlian at present. ~. ~."■'•''.. , ...

It will be recalled that two expresses from Scotland we're involved in tlie accident on the Midland, Railway near Aisgill, Westmorland, about 3 a.m. on September,?. .The first express had come to a standstill on an incline. The second express "crashed into;, it. Fire broke out in the wrecked carriages. '-Fourteen pasEongors.'.eprishcd j.'-fcivjb -.received fatal injuries. .•■'.'.''■■ Major Pringlc's principal findings and 'rec'omiponciafions are:— The Blame—The collision was duo td the neglect of Driver Caudle of the second express to observe signals and to his.carelessness, and incaution when he liad run past them. : The refusal of a pilot to the first train and the smallness of tho ccal in the tenders account for its stoppage. Signals.—"Some- form of automatic train stop is ncjessary." Pending the acceptance of somo satisfactory automatic control, sipiial-box«s on main lines should he provided with an arrangement for placing detonators on the rail by the operation ntn lever. Guards' vans should, bo provided with coloured flare liahts for tho protection of the train when stationary. Carriages.—Carriages with wooden un-der-fram'es should he speedily withdrawn and renlaced by stroneer-tyne carriages with shock-absorbing buffers with larcse faces to reduce tho liability of "telesenno'." Door-s should be so constructed that they may he easily prised open when they "iam." . '< Window bars sliould bo easily removulilc

• Carriages with only two doors on eittior side are condemned. Salvage and. Ambulance.—Surgical dressings should bo provided with the salvage'tools carried. _ Lighting.—Trains should bo lighted by electricity and not gas. The use of fireproof material urns not received the consideration it deserves by railway comnai'ies generallv. Major Princle. sunnnarisiii2 his conclusions, says:— "Sigimlnwii Sutherland (sipnalniMi ot Kirlvby Stpohen) was wron<r. havinc regard to rules, in lowerina tho \ip homo signal at Mallorstanc wlipn tho second cxnrcss w-is so far froip it. His action had no influence upon Caudle's behaviour. ~ "Guard Whitley ought, in compliance with rules, to have rone back to protret tho first train, n's I believe he knew the real cause, of file stopnixv. If »e had placwl detonators only ISO yards in rear of his train the collision would probably have been p.verted."