RAILWAY SHUNTING

Southland Times, Issue 23953, 20 October 1939, Page 5

RAILWAY SHUNTING

To The Editor Sir,—At a time like this, when the Government is faced with heavy expenditure, I think that every effort should be made to cut down costs. A very great saving could be made by railway guards and shunters, if a certain practice was discontinued. I refer to the practice of what is known as “splitting.” To put in a “split,” a shunter will let one truck go over a pair of points, and then quickly turn them over, before the next truck can get on to them, thus turning the second truck on to a different line. In lots of cases, the trucks are actually touching when the “split” is made. I have witnessed the operation on numerous occasions, and can say that the shunter is a wizard, in his own job, seeming to do almost impossible things with a pair of points. I know that the shunters here are recognized as being the best in New Zealand, but even so, accidents must happen, especially when it is known that only about two inches of space are available in which to “split,” and the trucks are often travelling at eight to 10 miles an hour. If an accident does happen, then the trucks, if damaged, must go to the repair shops, and heavy costs are often the result. Not only this, but damage is often done to the lines. Then, in a case of damage to the truck, the contents must be delayed, and this might be a serious loss to someone.

Take the case of a farmer waiting for lime or manure. Very often he can sow today, and the weather will not allow him to do so again for a week or 10 days. Then there is the case of a truck of sheep being turned over on its side, and the end of the truck being knocked out, to release the sheep. In this case, the Railway Department must have been called on to pay for the sheep killed. I think that if the costs over a period of 12 months were taken, it would be found that this is an expensive business. I am given to understand that the practice of “splitting” is absolutely forbidden in the North Island, so it could be very easily forbidden here. This is not intended to cast reflection on the shunter, who is a specialist, and who is doing wonderful work. In fact, one has actually to see this work being done before one can realize just how intricate and how terribly dangerous it really is.—Yours, etc.,

JUST AN ONLOOKER. October 15, 1939. [This letter was referred to the district traffic manager at Invercargill, who had no comment to make other than that “splitting” of wagons during shunting operations was practised throughout the Dominion.] ,