TENDER FIRST

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 10, 11 July 1930, Page 10

TENDER FIRST

RAILWAY DRIVING

CRITICISED BY CORONER

THE SOCKBURN TRAGEDY

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCII, This Day. .Further evidence was given yesterday before Mr. E. D. Mosley, Coroner, in the inquest ou the victims of tho Sockburn crossing tragedy.

Cuthbert Poulseu said he was approaching the crossing on a bicycle just before the accident. He saw the cross-ing-keeper in tho middle of the road showing a green light. The car ran on to the rails and was struck full on by the tender. The impression he got was that the tender wheels mounted tho car. Other eye-witnesses —Robert Cook, driver of a'grocery can, and Alan John Gilberthorpe, who was riding a motorcycle behind Smith's car—gave similar evidence.

Thomas Stewart Patterson, a retired engine-driver, said it was unsafe to drive a UB engine tender first at above ten rri'ilcs an hour -without' life-guards such as a cow-catcher. He had known i instances whore an engine travelling tender first had come off the rails. Dr .A. C. M'Killip said that Smith, the driver of the car, was a good and careful driver. He had been medically examined and-passed fit for service. The car was new and in perfect order. DRIVING REGULATIONS. Mr. C. S. Thomas, addressing the Court, said the old regulations provided a maximum speed of ten miles an hour for engines driven tender first. Since ! Mr. Sterling'had been General Manager the speed had been increased for UB engines to 20 miles an hour and for certain other types to 35 miles an hour. This had led to a storm of protest from loco, men, who interviewed Mr. Sterling on tho question. Mr. Thomas read a shorthand record of this interview. At the interview the loco, men's representatives argued strenuously against the danger of driving tender first at high Bpeed. Mr. Sterling argued that the speeds fixed had been certified as safe by senior : officers of his Department who were I competent to advise him. The protest of tho loco, men was ignored then and had been ignored'since in running tender first engines. This train had to do the journey at over 24 miles an | hour, which was over the maximum speed fixed by Mr. Sterling. Mr. Aickin, replying to Mr. Thomas,said < there was no evidence that the speed of the engine was excessive. Lifeguards had been fitted to somo engines, but tho shunters represented that they were dangerous to them. The Department could not reasonably be ask ed, ho said, to provide sufficient turn tables to run all engines head first. The speed of the engine on this trip was not 24 but 20.4 miles per hour. CORONER'S VERDICT. -"It becomes necessary," said the Coroner, in giving- his verdict, "to find the cause of the death of six people who were in the car which was struck by the railway engine at a erossirig at Sockburn, and deal -with the death of the driver of the engine a little later. It is perfectly evident that the six people in the car met* Vhcir deaths on 16th Tune at the Sockburn railway crossing on the Main South lino. I find that their death was duo to injuries and shock caused as the reault of the collision between a railway train being driven from Islington to Christchurch and the motor-car in which they were driving, and which was being driven in a southern direction by Ralph Augustus Smith." "It seemed hard to understand from the evidence," added the Coroner, why the young man, Ralph Smith, did not stop and let the train pass. "I went out the lborning after tho accident early to have a look at the scene for myself and take measurements and' observe the whole locality," he /said. "It seems to me hard to understand why a fatal accident of this kind should occur on such a crossing. It has been described as a very dangerous crossing, but to my mind it is one of the most open crossings, at any rate, in the vicinity of Christchureh. There are more than twenty crossings within eight miles of the centre of Christchurch, and this is one of the best of them. Going out from Christchurch, especially in a south or south-westerly direction, one can see, especially trains coming from the south, for a distance of several hundred .yards. When ono is eighty yards back from the ciossing ono can see for several hundred yards on the right. On a dark night such as this it should have been perfectly easy for this young man to have seen the light on the top of the tender. It was seen by several of the witnesses, and should have been seen by the young man who was driving this motor-car. It may« be that his attention was . attrated elsewhere or may have been attracted by the light on a motor-car on the other side of the crossing, but he being so familiar with the crossing and being a cafeful driver one cannot understand how he came to drive over that crossing in such circumstances. CROSSING WELL GUARDED. "I can find no fault -with the Railway Department in their guarding of. this crossing so1 far as the deaths of these six people are concerned. Everything that is provided for ir the regulations seems to have been carried out by the Railway Department. I do not say the regulations are perfect, but still there they are, and they are carried out in a vefy thorough manner. The Railway Department and their officers are in no way to blame so far as this crossing is concerned for the deaths of these six people. I do not wish to say any more so far as they are concerned, and bring in the verdict I have stated. "As regards the death of Charles Waterloo Smith, I am sure you all join with me in-sympathising with the relatives of the people who were killed. You must, I am sure, sympathise with the relatives. of Driver Smith. Here was a man who was just about, to retire from tho service, after spending nearly forty years in the service of his country. That he should meet a death like this is terrible. We hopo and sincerely trust that his death was instantaneous. I do not think it can be denied that his death was in a rneasurr; contributed to by the fact that 'he was driving the engino at a speed, according to the evidence, of twentyfive miles an hour, tender first. . . .

We, have got the experience of the General Manager of Bail ways. He says in this letter to the general secretary, Engine-drivers' and Firemen's Society: 'As far as engines themselves are concerned, there is no danger in running tender first at the speed, specified,' and then he continues: 'In order to obviate any likelihood of derailment due to the absence of a cow-catcher when the tender is leading, arrangements have been made to fix suitable life-guards to the tenders concerned.' "It is recognised by this letter that there is a likelihood of danger—at any rate he suggests suitable life-guards. That, in itself, of course, is a recogni- ' tion of the fact that there is some danger. "T am not an engineer, but it is per-I'-.-t-My (.-vklrut from the evidence given 1;■ .'!: iVii.vsnn there is danger. 1 ;..,, (~■;,! that the Railway i ''v-1 •■'■*' "' Mpi'iTciatos the danger. Of

course wo cannot expect the Railway Department to run trains at five miles per hour with a man in front with a red flag. Wo cannot expect them to run at ten miles per hour, but running trains at that speed, tender first, with- | out any safeguard, does not seem to mo to be in accordance with the demand made for safeguarding lives of railway officials." DANGER WAS INCREASED. "The public must take care, and many of them do take care, and many of them do not. For the sake of the railway officials themselves care ought to bo taken to minimise the risk of a fatal accident. I do not want to say— I think it would be wrong for me to say—that if this engine had been going cow-catcher first this man's life would have been saved. I cannot say that; but I think the danger which resulted in his death was increased by the fact that tho engine was running tender* first with a very big load ■of coal, .which prevented a look-out beinf kept over the tender and without ado quate safeguards on the tender itself. "It is for the officers of the Railway Department to try to solve the diffi i eulty. ■ I know ttiat they cannot do im- j possibilities. They must devise other means of safeguarding the lives of their employees. It can be left to them. "I find that Charles Waterloo Smith died on 16th June, 1930, at the Sockburn railway crossing on. the Main South road. His death was due to injuries and shock" received by him when the train which he was driving camo into collision with a motor-car, and the engine fell over on its side."