LEVEL CROSSINGS
\ TO MINIMISE THE DANGER. j | Many very serious accidents have ; ■ been caused' in various parts of New ■ i Zealand through dangerous level rail- > \ way crossings. A patent designed to ■ ! minimise, if not to entirely do away • with this danger, has been devised by an Invercargill railwayman (says the ■ Times). The idea is quite a simple ' , one. A train approaching a railway i crossing comes into contact with a ; | self-acting switch, which is connected | by means of wire ropes to the crossing i gate. The gate itself is operated by_ j counter-balanced weights attached to • ) these wire ropes, so that immediately ; ! the switch is operated on by the ap- \ I preaching train the gate automatically '. ' closes, effectually blocking the cross- : ing from all traffic. The gates are ; also automatically opened by a pro- > jection on either side of the rails, and : at some little distance beyond the ; crossing. These levers so act that ' the switch is placed in the same posi- j tion as it was before the approach of \ the train, and, of course, also brings \ ! the gate back to its original position. j The expense in erecting the con- ' trivance would be very moderate in- j '■ deed in comparison to the cost neces- ; ; sary to keep a crossing-keeper, and • should the patent pan out successful- | ly, as many well-known engineers -^ ■ think it will, not only lives, but i money should behaved. s
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MEX19130415.2.13
Bibliographic details
Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 88, 15 April 1913, Page 3
Word Count
235LEVEL CROSSINGS Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 88, 15 April 1913, Page 3
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