LONDON'S SUPERMEN

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 138, 7 December 1929, Page 20

LONDON'S SUPERMEN

1200 MOVES EVERY HOUR

Ayhb-'aVe^io.ud.ari's- re'lil"'Supe'iilmeu

,;'Witlic)iiF.;'<le«n]ig -to . -prejudice pos-' "sibld claims,;' a./'"rep'rese'ntativ.c :of the Xbn'dou "Daily Chronicle" who ■ went in search of them eaine to the conclusion that they were to be found, one at a time, in a signal boxat Mornington Crescent:■ •"'-■'- >. ■■': :■:•■ ■."■•■''.■■.'. l -;..” ■. ■ u;There,4ii'what-Biust4)c ihe-niost wonderful^ signal, box in London, one man calmly o^qrj'it'cs-thij clect.rie'tfain-traffic ..throughCjamdeh Town•'underground station, .anl. its. intricate;' tuu'nel1 system at the rate of,.roughly, two1 a minute. • : In.',,'the...course of a normal day of traffic., 1500 .trains ar/riv.c. and'.lea-vg this station : under -the "control"of ."the ■ signal box. • ''"" "": '"..''...'.;';.;.;.".. v They, come ..and.,.go..through six tun-nels'to'Tind'from-twclvo "places. ' The ;'tunnels:pass'over aridynder'-each other aiid. separate...intb. tiyp ''pairs '.running to Edgeware.irnd' Hjgligato respectively, and the "oilier pair' ..south ;trj' .the. heart of London. ;• ■ .}.■ -..- :,;■'•"'"...'_ ..;... .In- the.-.signal: box -there, are fortythree levers, --winch control; points and signals for rurining-tho trains Between 'Kentish; Town and -Ghalli Farm; to the. north aiid: Euston in the. south. .... Though the.; signalman is. aided by every. possible automatic device, . me. .nevertheless-, has to' carry out nearly 1200 movements.an-hour-. The following procedure has to be followed-in-respect of.'each train, and is considerably- added to in -the event of delay of. emergency:. Receive from signal cabin at last station the destinations- of the1 next three trains; cheek signal with schedule; note and report delay; if any; set/the road for the train; signal the. train; -dperafe/plunger to inform, signalman-and-passengers at next .stationi-the destinations of the next three trains which will pass through that station : ;' cancel "messages from last "station. '.-'.-:■ ;.-.:. An illuminated diagram shows the signalman the position- and movements of all the,'trains".in his area. Ho has also "the, comforting.-knowledge that the :last-word/in safety devices are install-! -ei'thrqughput'tho area to protect trains .against any. lapse oft hjs part. ■■•.-. . ..The-: .slightest- ■•hitcJi in : his scheme will causo?all:-tho trains to come to a standstill ■automatically. The^ stopping/ of a train at any point but .a-station platform, is considered by the' railway authorities. as particularly undesirable, if only because, as .underground- --feelers bt tlio public pulse have discovered, passengers are peculiarly apprehensive of stopping in tunnels; ■ .'■'.. <^uite'apart front stop's;'the signalmen need to be specially apprehensive of delays. There are tell-tale clocks which-record out'chaits the times the .trains reach: "-and -leave-the- station which register the headway between trains, and. {provide 'the higher ' traffic controllers- • with, other . useful information. The,sigaal:box is-in telephonic touch with'the -railway.'s central control room,. *MMii*aa to: ba informed of any: delay; Of.aLminute;. orvovenl:':•■; Any delay in the schedule- is re- ■ postted byjliecontroller .f^rvofflcial- in--,-vestigatiQfc nextitfay.;' ...any, delay of three ,minutes?,.tength.,is;-..,repor.ted in red. ink.,.., ..." ...•,■., v -.---r-.v'."'-..• v-■,."-.-•'■" ' "~Tfie ■train-miming/ recoijls"'of'" trie" signalmen wUPp'robdWycKaiWiige favourably any /others in-t-h'e-'livdrid-.-'XJii-most .days.' thel''tcaina'iriin -frSmt iarlyi jhorning until afterrajnldnight. to'-'within a minntp; fit, seheftul.ea time. ;-:i -ilfc %- rarely that the scheduled time-tables . are thrown as far as five* minutes "behind. • -All this intricate system-is worked, too, with- an- ease and simplicity which makes the uninitiated marvel.." Ollical tests have shown :that it is possiblo to pass .forty-three trains on any, one mad without stretching the time-table or the signalman's presence of taind; A similar test on A'civ York's uinie--gniuiirl railways passed only thirty-foil;----trains.