SOME SUGGESTIONS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13393, 29 May 1914, Page 3

SOME SUGGESTIONS.

NO OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

CONTRACTION BY OOLD

(Special to Herald.)

AUOKLAND, this day. Now that the first shock of the collision on the Main Trunk express is over there is a natural desire to know what the official explanation of the cause of the collision will be. All that could be gleaned from the somewhat confused first impressions of the occurrence was that the signals were wrong. Whaugamarino, the scene of the accident, is only a flag station m charge of a tablet porter, William Donaldson. His story, as published m the Star, was that after attending to his, signals he went to side-track the mixed goods and cattle train, which had just arrived from Auckland. He was sitting on the switch m order to keep the points down, so that the mixed train might run from the main line on to the loop line. Then, with a roar, the express rushed into the very middle of the mixed train, and ploughed its way through it. When Donaldson, after a period of unconscious, ness, awoke to his. surroundings, lie was nursing a broken arm, and was halfburied m a pile of wreckage. Both the tablet porter and the driver of the express, J. H. Stone, refused to make any statement concerning the signals when a Star representative arriveo. on the soene, aud it at first appeared as though one or other . would have to shoulder the blame. However, it happened that there were : others on the scene of the accident whose very first thought turned to the question of how the accident had happened, and it was from one of these that the pressman obtained a highly interesting story. SIGNAL PROPERLY SET.

"After the first shock' of the accident," he said, *•' my thought ran to the immediate cause of the collision. I could see

that there was, an army of willing help: ers at work on the wrecked cars, and realised that there was a danger of hampering efforts by overcrowding. Instead I hurried along to the station to " see how the signals stood. Evidently the same thought nad struck other people, for six or seven of us, including the driver and fireman off* r the wrecked mixed train, arrived, on the platform almost simultaneously. We went to the station building, and found the lever m correct position to indicate the red light (danger). The lever was locked with what is known as the Wood patent lock, and could only be released by using ;the key ' m the tablet porter's possession. The tablet porter was at this time injured and unconscious. It appeared obvious then, with tlie signal lever set correctly, that it was not Donaldson's fault that the express had blundered through a wrong light showing. Then," continued the subject of tjhe interview, "we went out on the platform to see what lights were showing. It was dark and foggy, so that we could not make the back light of the signal out.. Keeh to know the exact position we walked down the line for a considerable distance. The signal was well over 100 yards away, and you can imagine our intense surprise when we found that instead of a red light, a green light was showing, which meant that the enginedriver had ' received the signal 'line clear. ' Apparently , therefore, neither the tablet porter nor the engine-driver -was to blame, and the only explanation is that the weather affected the wires."

HOW IT HAPPENED

A railway official with a knowledge of signalling, when seen on the subject, said that the story. of neither the signalman nor the engine-driver being to blame was conceivably correct. The wires are at times affected by the w'eathelr, and- have frequently to be adjusted to meet the change m climate. In order that the green light should he shown tension is needed. What is known as the spectacle works on . the semaphore arm. It consists of glass of two colors, green and red, and is raised or lowered according to which ever color the signalman wants to cover the signal lamp. It is operative from the station, and m this case the wires run a distance of over 200 yards between the station and the jignal. On morniflg it was blowing bitterly jpold' on the Waikato bank, and it is suggested that the frosty weather cause(T' a fcntraction which was equal to the teriMbn usually necessary to show the green light; hence the green light showing when the tablet porter had set the signal for red, not an .uncommon experience. In cases where it is difficult to see a signal from the station or signalbox electric installations are sometimes provided. At Mount Eden railway station, for instance, there is such a device, whereby the officials on the station platform are able. to ascertain how the semaphore has answered the setting of the levers m the signal box, also m connection with some of the bigger inter, locking signal services. The mechanism provides for contraction by including what are known as " compensators. " At a flag station like Whangamarino, however* there are no electrical devices and no "compensators." It was suggested by a railway official that if the wires were encafsed m rubber or something of the sort there would not bo the same risk of weather affecting the mechanism. It was stated, m fact, that it was not at all an uncommon thing m winter weather to have to work the levers two or three times before the . cmaphore arm would respond properly. NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT. i~hen the chief clerk of .the Auckland rail -v. * station was seen by a Star representative... the above statement of what v;is supposed to have been the cause of the accident was placed before him. His reply was that the Department was stiirin the midst of its own inquiries, and he could at present make no statement upon the subject at all. To do bo at the present time, he added, would be impossible, as a full official inquiry into the accident. had yet to be mad6 pOUOE VISIT. THE SCENE. On Thursday Superintendent Kiely and Detective-Sergeant Hollis visited the scene of the accident. There was, it was understood, no spfecial significance, attaching to their visit. They will both give evidence at the adjourned inquest.