The "Buckeridge" Signalling System.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 10, 1 August 1906, Page 284

The " Buckeridge " Signalling System.

For many years the problem of how to convey intelligence to the driver of a locomotive of the existence of danger on railway lines has engaged the attention of engineers, including such eminent men as Edison, Preece, Adams, Cahland, Smith, and others. Numerous experiments with various forms of electrostatic induction, and other electrical means, pneumatic, gas, and other automatic devices have been tried • but hitherto the success which has attended these trials has been in some cases only partial, and in others the cost of installation^ has been prohibitive while their sphere of action has been limited. In some countries, such as Great Britain, the occurrence of dense fogs renders railway travelling highly dangerous. To minimise this danger various means have been tried to warn drivers of engines in time to allow them to avert accident. The most common method of signalling is to place detonators upon the rails, the explosion under the wheels of the engine giving the driver the necessary warning. This method, besides entailing a great deal of expense in placing the detonators on the line, and m replacing those that have been exploded, also makes it necessary for drivers to travel at reduced speed within congested areas of traffic, although everything may otherwise be in order, and the line quite safe for higher speeds. It is generally considered by the public that travelling by sea is the most dangerous cf all journeyings ; but, according to recent statistics the number of persons killed in railway accidents is over sixty times greater than the number of those lost at sea. During the year 1904 there were no less than 10,046 killed, and 84,155 injured upon the railways of the United States of America alone. Ship-owners are compelled by Government to provide their ships with adequate means of saving life in case of accident ; while light-houses, costing in many cases tens of thousands of pounds, are erected and maintained by every civilised Government for the same purpose. It should be equally as incumbent upon railway companies or governments to provide life-saving apparatus on their railways, should such means be available at a reasonable cost. We have been shown an invention devised by two New Zealanders, Messrs. E. W. and G. H. Buckeridge, which they claim will convey warning to drivers upon engines and thus prevent accidents which would otherwise occur. By their method warning can be given to the driver on the cab of his engine to prevent accident in case of — 1. Trains either approaching or overtaking one another ; or mistakes by pointsmen, which would put an approaching tram upon a line already occupied by another tram. 2. Displacement of points. 3. Collapse of tunnels , bridges, and other structures. 4. Washouts of foundations. 5. Slips or floods covering the line. 6. High winds on elevated structures. 7. Excessive c peeds round sharp curves. 8. Any discovered breakdown of the permanent way. 9. Trains running into or overtaking trolleys or running into runaway trucks on the line. 10. At crossings on the level. Besides the warnings given above it is possible by means of this invention to shut off steam on the engine, and to apply the brakes and automatically bring the tram to a standstill. There are many other uses that the invention can be put to ; but those above are sufficient to show its great possibilities as a means of saving human Me, as well as loss of property. When the old-fashioned semaphore signalling is employed the driver is supposed to be always on the lookout, and always ready to take in the meaning of any signal, no matter what other duties he may have, hence the signal is displayed, and the driver sees and obeys it or not, as the case may be. It is also obvious that the intelligence must be first conveyed to the mmd of the driver in the cab before he can act thereon. In

many cases the driver has but a short distance within which the governing signal is m his view. Should he pass the signal unobserved, the intelligence it conveyed is useless and has not been properly conveyed to the cab. With the signal placed in the cab, the driver always has it with him ; if it warns him to stop, it is not a momentary warning; it is continuous; he carries it with him ; it is continually in his mind ; and it is his own salvation or death warrant as well as of those behind him. The smoke from a passing train on another track cannot interfere with his vision. The sudden ram or snowstorm does not compel him to slow up his tram ; fog has lost its terrors, not only to the driver and those who travel, but also to the owners of the line, who are not compelled to face a loss m revenue by a large increase m labour and consequent loss by reason of congested traffic on account of the slow movement of the trains. The ideal system of tram signalling is one that would allow all trains to keep moving, provided it could be done with safety. This will be the practice at some future day when time has demonstrated that the engine-driver who receives a signal on his locomotive warning him that there is a block on the line ahead may be safely trusted to keep his tram in motion at such a moderated speed as will permit him to come to a stand before striking the object which blocks the way. Messrs. Buckendge Bros, have been engaged for sometime in making a model of their invention and in giving practical demonstration with the model to a number of prominent and influential men, both m Auckland and Wellington, who are unanimous m their opinions that the invention does what is claimed for it, and supplies a long-

The invention will be understood by reference to our illustrations. Fig. i is a plan of a railway track, the rails, 9, being carried on the sleepers, n, in the ordinary way. The segments of the conductor are made of the usual material, such as copper wire, the inde-

felt want." ' .The invention can be placed on railway lines at a cost of less than £4.0 per mile, whilethe cost of fitting up the locomotives would be less than per engine. The essential feature of the Buckeridge system is the electrical conductor, which consists of a series of independent parts arranged side by side parallel and insulated from each other. Each of the parts is in segments, and break between the segment of one part of the conductor is arranged to fall midway in the length of a segment of the other part conductor ; thus each segment of each part conductor is independent of any other segment, and to establish a current of electricity through the segments it is necessary that a return be provided by some means.

pendent r parts, i and 2, of one part conductor being carried by insulators, 3, while the similar parts, 4 and 5, of the other part conductor are carried by similar insulators, 6. F Fig. 2 shows how electrical connection is established between the engine and the parts of the conductor. Insulators, 29 and 30, similar to those previously referred to, respectively carry the parts of the conductor, 27 and 28. The trolley wheels, 33 and 41, are carried by a frame, 35, upon the engine, and each runs upon one of the parts of the conductor. The frame is insulated from the engine but the trolley wheels are connected by wires, 43, with a motor, 44. upon the spindle of which is a worm, 48, gearing with a worm wheel, 49, upon the spindle, 50, of the starting lever, 51' The starting lever, by an ingenious arrangement, is capable of being worked independently of the worm wheel. The wires also lead to a solenoid actuating a whistle and an electric lamp, 46. A constantly running dynamo of small power is actuated in the wire circuit, 43. It is now necessary to refer to Fig. 3 which diagrammatically illustrates what happens when two locomotives, 61 and 62, are running towards -each other upon the same line of rails, one of the locomotives having a constantly running dynamo, 64, and the other a similar dynamo, 65. The locomotives are each provided with a trolley wheel 66 and 68, respectively, running upon the conductor, 67, and both have the signalling and stopping apparatus shown m Fig. 2. While the trolley wheels are running upon insulated segments of the conductor the dynamos are not generating effective current ; but when a circuit is completed through the segment by means of the trolley wheel of one locomotive arriving upon the same segment as the trolley wheel of the other locomotive, then electricity is immediately generated, which actuates the apparatuses indicated, so that the steam is turned ofif the whistle blown and the electric lamp illuminated displaying a. danger signal. Those who have some electrical knowledge will see how readily the conductor may be availed of for signalling under various conditions. For instance, any one or a number of segments may be earthed so that when a vehicle carrying means of generating a current of electricity comes in contact with an earth segment through the medium of the trolley wheel described, a current of electricity passes from the generator through the segment to earth through the earthing medium, and back to the generator through a rail of the permanent way or otherwise. During its passage the current may be used for illuminating an electric lamp, sounding a whistle, actuating brake apparatus, etc.