I.—6a.

38

3. .1. OOBICH.

114. When you saw the home signal and you were so close to it, did you apph the emergency brake? —Yes. 115. How far did you run after that? —Into the other engine. I do not know how fai it was. 116. You ran until the other train stopped you?— Yes. 117. Although you had the emergency brake on?— Yes. 118. What speed do you think you were travelling at when you applied the emergency brake before you hit the train? When you saw the signal, what speed were you travelling at then? I guess, about twenty miles an hour. 119. With an ordinary application of your brake, at what distance would you expect to stop your train when running at twenty miles an hour : the weight of that train would be 180 tons? —In about a couple of train-lengths, or a train length and a half. 120. That train was 402 ft. long: that moans, then, that with an ordinary application of the brake you could have stopped in about 800 ft. With an emergency application, running at twenty miles an hour, what distance do you think you should have run before you stopped? —I have no idea. 121. When a driver or a man with your experience of a locomotive comes down a grade of I in 45 he can tell by the feel of the engine, can he not, when she runs on to a change of grade I For instance, if you are running down a steep incline and you get on to the fiat, you can toll at once, can you not, when you get to the bottom of the incline? —Not if you hine the brake onI think. 122. Do you not think that if you had the brake on and you got to the bottom, if you did not release the brake the speed would immediately be checked automatically?— Yes. 123. Then if you did not take the brake oil you could tell, without knowing the road at all. when you got to the bottom by the way the train cheeked itself? —Yes. 124. When you got to the bottom of this grade, did you not feel that you had got there.' No. 125. Why did you release the brake? —I thought we had still a good way to go. 126. If you got off the l-in-45 grade on to the l-in-204 and you kept your brake on. would not your train practically stop itself? —Yes; it would have stopped thai morning if 1 had not released the brake. 127. You released the brake at the bottom of the grade, and you ran 14 chains on what was practically level, and you ran into this train on tho bridge: does not that point to the fact that you were running at an excessive speed?—No, I tlo not think so. It all depends where 1 released the brake. 128. Where did you release it? —I do not know where it was that morning. 1 know it was down there somewhere. 129. You saw this semaphore when you were 30 yards away, you say? —That was sideways.' 130. How far xvas the engine when you saw it?— About the same distance. 131. The distance from the semaphore to where the engine was is about a chain am! a hall. If you had applied your brake immediately you saw the "Danger signal, do you not think you could have checked your train very considerably? If you had applied your brake in emei gency 20 yards from the semaphore immediately you saw it, do you not think you would have checked your speed or almost stopped your train before you hit that engine?—No; 1 reckon that the brake was not charged up again properly after I had released it, 132. At what speed do you think you xx'ere going when you struck that locomotive?— Between ten and fifteen miles an hour. 133. Supposing that train had not been there, at the speed at which you were going you had the brake on—how far do you think you would have run before bringing up? I could not say that. Ihe brake was not as it should have been, having just been used beforehand. 1 sup pose, about two or three car-lengths more. lam only supposing. 134. What pressure did you keep up in your gauge? —75 lb. or 90 lb., 1 think. 135. What reduction did you make when you applied the brake coming down the hill?—I could not say : I did not look. 136. If you have 901b. pressure, what is about the average reduction that you make when you make a light application?—slb. or 61b. 137. 6 Ib. deducted from 00 Ib. would have left you about 84 lb. of pressure in the pipes: was that not sufficient pressure to enable you to make another application?—-Yes, but I was only supposing that. As you say, the train should have stopped beforehand. 138. What I want to know is why you did not make your emergency application when you saw this train? —4 did make it. 139. You say you had no pressure?—l said I did put on an emergency application as soon as I saw the train. I did not put it on straight away. I made a couple of applications. 140. You made a couple of light applications, and then you put on the emergency : is that it?— Yes. 141. After the collision, when you spoke to Driver Bonnie, did you discuss the question of the signal? —No; 1 just said to him, " I did not see the signal." 142. When you released the brake did your speed increase? —Slightly. You see there wa, not much time in between —from then till I saw the post. 143. Did you notice when you crossed over this bridge?—l did not know there was a bridge there. 144. Did you not notice the difference in the sound of the engine when you ran over the bridge? —No. 145. There is a difference in the sound, is there not?— You do notice it over a good long bridge.