TRAINING A DRIVER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 8 March 1909, Page 2

TRAINING A DRIVER.

The drivers have to watch the line carefully. The straying horse or cow is always in the way, but they say they are most afraid of the "drunk," who generally picks a. railway line to "sleep it off." He is not always on the. track, of course, but he is always dangerous. Crossings are always watched and the whistle blown. Years of caution iv this respect so impress the whistle upon the mirid, the diivers say, that it is never forgotten. The horse is the worst animal to pause on the line. Cows even are not so bad. It is not advisable to run into them, even if another man's property were not ri consideration, witb the drivers, for it is never quite certain which of the parties will leave the line. The engine is always kept well oiled, and everything is spick. and spaa. To be an engine-driver considerable training has to be gone through. The first stage is that of tlie cleaner, and tho enthusiast is here given a taste of what some classes of work really are. He has an examination here, and if he :s successful he await§, his turn to become a -.fireman. He is glad when he reaches th'S stage. After he has been here sbnffitime he sits for another examination, and success in it entitles him to .h'^Como a driver when a vacancy occurs. When he becomes a driver he has to go a certain course, and by examination he can become a first-class man. His work is not simple, and it io also trying, but he likes it though.