SHUNTING DANGERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 June 1925, Page 2

SHUNTING DANGERS

APPEAR TO M.’s P.

(Per Press Association;)

WELLINGTON, Juno

The Tliomdon branch of railwajmen held a conference wiQi. jwcul members of Parliament tj discuss tae grievances .'pf shunters. IL was -ala.g=u Ylhafe .'there yyas insufficient lighting, and the long hours,. impbsrib.e rules, and'*.other , reasons were the cause of continual a c:dents. Sometimes the men had to work 'm pools yof water over their boots,,- It Was contended the men were anxiauu to help the Government in making the railways pay, <and more consideration should be shown if they were to give of. their best,'- f ;■ Members replied t sympathetically and ?promised -to- do- all possible to have the grievances redressed.

CONDITIONS AT GR.EYMOUTH?

Far from ideal are the conditions under which the. shunters at Greymouth carry put their work, and the element of danger, is too (much in evidence, judging by statements made to a reporter ,by some of the nien. tuck has been- with them so’far, and furious accidents have not occurred; there';have, however, been several mis-haps-of a minor nature. *!The shunter at .Greymouth must have good nerves,” stated one man, “or the constant strain to which he is subject will soon get him down. Night, work on an ill-lighted wharf, with very restricted, space, is very, trying, and an improvement is badly needed ' ’ He went on to say that Since the Oiira tunnel was opened, there had been much more rolling stock handled , at Greymouth, and there were no tional facilities for handling it. Consequently, the available standing nom for wagons was very congested, and work could not-be’ carried out expeditiously, with the result that work was not done to schedule time," resulting in night work. “Very often,” said* the pailwayman, “I have worked until 2, a»m. and later, on the wharf,and sometimes it has been found necessary to work all night to get- through. Under such circumstances, with the inevitable speeding up, it is-only a matter of time until ran accident occurs, with perhaps fatal results, ” Another shunter estimated the present volume of rolling stock dealt with as three times that handled in pretunnel days. -When two or. three vessels were in port,’ confusion in the railway yards became worse confounded. The shortage of space .was very acute, cuid ciussd much additional manoeuvring and extra work. Arrears were bound to pile up, and he agreed with his comrade’s remarks concerning the'danger attending their duties, par. ticularly at night, warn the inadequate lighting added further to their difficuL ties.' ‘

•t'Asked whether they could suggest anyremedy,/it-..was stated " that act ; • tidiiai yard. accommpdation was the chief requirement. • This could perhaps be'.. arranged' between Grey mouth >Staaud Elmer Lane, It was also pointed . oui ,that,, under the present systeffi,. a goods 'train from Hokitika', instance, might" be composed of sereTal trucks for. the. 'Greymouth' wharf, others for the Reefton line; and lne.re‘for - 'Christchurch. Thus it was nckessary to ‘split un the train at Greymotith. involving a great deal of shunting. If a goods train were made up of one class of trucks only, say, for Christchurch, it could be run straight through, and theextra shunting avoidedi ‘

Railwaymen generally, whose duties. t-’ke.Them to the Grevmouth wharf at night, express the.:hope that it will be C’td b'.f the first places equipped with ol'ctric light, and this hope is endo'rs. ed by the watersiders.