LONDON’S SUPERMEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 698, 25 June 1929, Page 2

LONDON’S SUPERMEN

SIGNALMEN MAKE I 2on moves an hour COMPLICATED TRAFFIC Who are London’s r<*d sunerm iWthout desiring to sible claims, a represeustative of London Daily Chronicle/’ who *3 search of them, came t*> lhe cn l2 a sion that they were to he found®*' at a time, in a signal-box at Momre ton Crescent. ulx*s--in what mnst b« the wonderful signal-box in London „ man calmly operates the electric w traffic through Camden Tows ground Station and its intrioue t nel system at the rate of, roughly a minute. w ’ lT ° . ‘'i 6 - , coursc of a normal day traffic l,aoo trains arrive at and 1« this sation under the control m .2 signal-box. R “e They come and go through six nels to and from twelve place * tunnels pass over and” under 2°, other and separate into two pairs » niiig to Edgware and IlighgateT spectively, and the other pair soutt.7 the heart of London. w 10

In the signal-box are 43 levers which control points and signals for running the trains between Kenitsh town ash Chalk Farm to the north and Kmc,. in the south ” m: Though the signalman is aided hr every possible automatic device h nevertheless has to carry out nearly 1.2000 movements an hour. ! The following procedure has to be followed in respect of each train am? is considerably addedto in the even' of delay or emergency ßeceive from signal cabin at last station the destio ations of the next three trains; check eignal with schedule; note and repor delay, if any; set the road for the train; signal the train; operate plunger to inform signalman and passengers at next station the destin a . tions of the next three trains which will pass through that station; cancel message from last sation. An illuminated diagram shows the signalman the positions and move, ments of all the trains in his area films also the comforting knowledge that the last words in safety devices are installed throughout the area r, protect trains against any lapse on his part. The slightest hitch in his scheme will cause all the 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 unedsirable, if only because, as Underground feelers of tflie public pulse have discovered, passengers are pecularily apprehensive over stopping in tunnels. Quite apart from stops the signalmen need to be specially apprehensive of delays. There are tell-tale clocks which record on charts the tfcies the trains reach and leave the station, which reigster the headway between trains and provide the higher traffic controllers with other useful information. The signal-box is in telephonic touch with the railway’s central con-trol-room, which has to be informed of ar.y delay of a minute or over. Any delay in the schedule is re ported by the controller for official investigation next day; any delay ot three mintes’ length is reported in red ink. The train-running records of the signalmen will probably challenge favourably any others in the world. On most days the trains run from earl? morning until after midnight to within a minute of scheduled time. It is rarely that the scheduled time-tables are thrown as far as fire minutes behind. Allthis intricate system is worked, too, with an ease and simplicity which makes the uninitiated marvel. Official tests have shown that It Is possible to pass 43 trains on any one road without stretching the time schedule or the signalman’s presence of mind A similar test on New York’s underground railways passed only 34 trains