SAFETY ON THE RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 March 1921, Page 4

SAFETY ON THE RAILWAYS.

AN INCIDENT IN TARANAKI. LAST NIGHT’S TRAINS DELAYED. A dislocation in the tablet system, caused a delay of about three-quarters of an hour in the arrival of the mail train.at New Plymouth last night, and the slow train, usually due at 7.40 p.m., did not arrive till some time after the express, which was given preference after the line was clear. The trouble arose from the fact that the engine of a special goods train which left Inglewood about 6.30 p.m. accidentally ran over a tablet at Lepperton while it was being exchanged, with the result that the tablet was badly bent and could not be inserted in the instrument. The machine is so constructed that it cannot be manipulated until the tablet of the incoming train is inserted, and, of course, Until it is manipulated the tablet cannot be released at the preceding station. As a result the train due at New Plymouth at 7.40 was unable to proceed until a pilot or messenger had made the journey from Lepperton with a permit that is provided by regulation to meet such cases. The up-hill pull from Lepperton on a “jigger” took a considerable time, and the slow train accordingly had to be sidetracked for the mail, which reached Inglewood on time, but had to wait over three-quarters of an hour for the arrival of the pilot. Then the mail came on> arriving at New Plymouth nearly threequarters of an hour behind time. The slow train arrived in New Plymouth some time later, being allowed to leave Inglewood after the mail train’s arrival at Lepperton had been signalled back. The incident provided a practical illustration of the manner in which the travelling public is safeguarded by the tablet system that has been in vogue on the New Zealand railways for some years.