TRAIN CONTROL

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1930, Page 2

TRAIN CONTROL

INGENIOUS SYSTEM

REGULATING THE TRAFFIC

CHRISTCHURCH, May 10

It need not disturb tlie hundreds of people who travel daily on the main railway lines of the province to know that an officer closeted in a. small room at Christchurch, with a loud speaker beside him. keeps a close check on their movements. He can tell at what time a train reaches a certain station, when it leaves, whether it- is' running late, what load it is carrying, and Who the guard and engine-driver are. Indeed he knows a great deal more, for, with mm on duty and the automatic systems working, the passenger, sitting in his cushioned chair, may rest secure in the knowledge that no two trains can be between the same two stations at the same time, that his train will not take the same line as another on entering a station: in short, that the whole system, however, confused a network it may appear to him, will work day and night in a safe and orderly manner. ( The man who controls the scores of trains, both passenger and goods, which run every day. on, the main lines between Christchurch and Oapiaru is the train control officer, hut what enables him to do his work so efficiently is the system. . ~

COURSES PLOTTED (ON GRAPH.

For each day’s ' time-table there’ !s 'a big "sheet of graph'p'apei'/divided into, iwo-muiute spaces' kroin, 'ununiglit j to midnight. The network'of lilies’ litho-. grapned on these indicate the scheduled iime-iable ot every train which wili run on the main lines between Christchurch and Uamaru. that day.

Thus it is possible to tell at a glance when a certain train is due at a ceruun station. But even trains are not always where they ought to be wiien liney ought to be, and the control officer, with the chart in front ot him and thp loud, speaker giving him .intelligence op the. p.r,ogr,ess, of tfie trains, at various Rations, .plots.,alongside the lithographed line the grapn .showing the actual progress, of, the, ,train. , , i>or. the six pours which each., map is, on .duty fie. plots the progress of ,all trains .moving along the, mam, routes. . Ine resuß is; instructive. From the graph it, cij.li be seen..when, amp .where , and ,why; a train was late, where it lost time wiiere it .nqtf.de. time, .and; whether , or not; it anived punctually.,

WHAT CONTROL OFFICER DECIDES.

But the control officer gives orders as well as receives information. He has the whole system tuider his care; ms information enables him to . tell what is going on all along the line, and. he legislates . accordingly. ,

For example,, lie. it is, who. decides, whether a train .shall be held,-at a,eery, tarn .statjon..while another,train riiak.es it, .or .which of, two. or ipore trains shall leave,.a,station first.,, Ini the,case. of pqssenger trains;,bi s aim• is. tq get all of them to run strictly, to time-, table.,, W,ith„ goods, trains.,his,. duty ;,i?/ td get.»them to their . destination pas quickly as possible. •>;!■? ,m

GOODS AND PASSENGER TRAINS.

If a passenger train is running late he knows why. If engine trouble is the cause he has power to order another engine. Having been advised beforehand what loads there are at the different stations for goods trains, he arranges which trains are to pick them up. Often there is too much for one engine, and then he has power to order another.. Indeed',: the,, control officer, should he wish to, can call up any particular, station, hut usually? his part is that of the listener, and.on the informations he receives he . bases his instructions.. , ;• ■. <u

He may lie seen at work in his room in the Railway, district offices in Moorhouse avenue.: There he: sits at ■ the desk with the’- chart before him, the mouthpiece’- of. the special telephone close by? and the loud speaker also near at hand. Almost -continuously throughout the twenty-four hours of each day there is a subdued conversation going on as the stationmasters communicate the news of the progress of the many different trains, while he in return issues instructions to them.

Thus without ostentation, hut smoothly and efficiently, is the ordered running of trains maintained day in and day out over the routes between Christchurch and Oamarn.

This system was one of the first in New Zealand to operate, but train control areas are now fairly general on all the main lines in. New Zealand. The main line north from Ohristchui <-h is soon to be brought into the system, and the necessary equipment is now being installed.