FLOOD LIGHTING

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12614, 26 November 1926, Page 9

FLOOD LIGHTING

IN RAILWAY YARDS If ROM TOWERS 30ft HIGH. The {signals and electrical department of tho New Zealand Railways has lor some time had under consideration .the installation of flood lighting for railway goods yards, and it has now been decided to put up several installations of this form of lighting in some of the most important goods yards in tho North Island and South Island. They will greatly improve the working facilities in the goods yards, and should lead to,a diminution in the number of accidents, especially during smutting operations, which were the subject of so much concern a little t: ve hack. ‘'leod lighting is a fairly recent der",opment. Generally the idea is to provide only one or Lwo points of il-

lumination in a yard and from these points to flood the whole yard with beams of light. The lights are placed on high towers 80 to 90ft high, well above the ordinary line of vision, and the lights themselves consist of high power lamps and reflectors behind specially designed lenses. The beams of light at each end flood the whole yard with the result that there is little or no contrast* and the desired intensity can be arranged by using the required number of lamps.

Shadows cannot be altogether avoided, but owing to the general diffusion of light the resulting contrasts are not so great as with a number of isolated lights. Should it be necessary to have a greater intensity of light in any particular part of the yard n special lamp can be provided on the tower and focused to the point required. Flood lighting generally mitigates to a very large extent the inluMTnt disadvantages which exist with the

present form of lighting, but flood lighting is of course suitable only for the larger yards. A few installations have been completed in Australia where results have proved satisfactory, and some are now to make their appearance in New Zealand, including the capital city.