A CHECK ON SPEED.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2410, 27 January 1909, Page 2

A CHECK ON SPEED.

RAILWAY DEPARTS ENT’S INNOVATION. SFLF-RECOR DIN G IN DICAT OHS ON ENGINES. An important innovation is being made on New Zealand railways, the Department having commenced to equip its engines witli self-recording speed indicators. Theso cleverly designed instruments show' all the movements of the locomotive to which they are attached throughout the day, indicating its speed at any moment, and also the lengths ol stops. It will boot immense value in preventing excessive sneed, and will also serve as a general check on train running. Even station staffs will be affected bv the tell-tale instrument,, for it records to a minute how long they take in dealing with a passenger train. If there is an abnormal wait, the executive officer who takes the strip out of the instrument at the end of the day knows exactly how much time has been wasted, and sees traced on the paper the subsequent efforts of the engine-driver to make up lost time. A speed-limit of forty-five miles an hour is fixed for most mam line sections in New Zealand, and the installation of the Trochometer —as the speed recorder is called—will be the most effective method of its observance. The indicator is wormed from one of the mam .axles, and is fixed in the engine cab, in sight of the driver, though he cannot tamper witn it. A pointer indicates at a glance the rate of speed, and if forty-five miles an hour is affixed as the maximum, tlie moment this is exceeded, a bell rings to call the driver’s attention to the fact. Three makes of speed recorders' are being tried at present, and several engines in tlie .South Island, as wll as the new X locomotives for the Slain Trunk are fitted with them. Eventually all New Zealand locomotives will carry similar instruments. On the Continent the use of speed recorders is made compulsory by law, the maximum pace being allowed being seventy-four miles -an hour.