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a porter on the tender.
tageous to employ a guard at the back of a
train, because he has the best remedy always
at his command in the power to apply his
break, or breaks; which enables him, by
stretching the couplings, to keep a disabled
carriage on its legs, to prevent it from turning
over, and the other carriages from over-
whelming it, or the train from rushing for
ward upon the engine and tender; to pre-
vent, in fine, the train from being doubled
up and the carriages from being smashed.

It is further advan- | the crossing in question at full speed without the driver being aware of what had occurred. If the hind-guard had been furnished with continuous breaks, as well as with a convenient van at the back of the train and a communication with the driver, and if he had thus been able, as soon as he saw the convictcarriage leave the line, to apply breaks to four vehicles instead of to one, the train might then have been stopped in a much shorter distance; and it would have been pulled up in a complete condition, without the convict-carriage being detached from it, without the composite carriage being overturned, and with much less risk in every way than was experienced.

As an instance of the good effects of such an arrangement, we may quote an accident that occurred to a night express train from Scotland to London. This train was composed of ten vehicles besides the engine and The remarks that we have bere made upon tender, and was travelling down a gradient accidents arising from the failure of wheelof 1 in 200 within ten miles of London, when tyres, apply equally to those which are caused the tyre of the right leading-wheel of a con- by the failure of axles, axle-guards, axlevict-carriage suddenly gave way. The guard boxes, wheels, and couplings, as far as comwas riding in a van behind the convict- munication between the two ends of a train carriage, with a raised roof glazed to the is concerned. Our space will not enable us front; and he saw it 'throw itself off the to comment at length upon accidents of these line.' He was provided with a cord com- descriptions; nor is it necessary that we municating with a bell on the tender, and should do so. They form, when taken altosecured round a wheel in his van in the ordi-gether, only a small proportion of the total nary manner. He ran to this wheel and rang the tender-bell several times, and after having attracted the driver's attention, he at once screwed on his break. The driver, looking round, saw at a glance what had occurred. He shut off his steam, reversed his engine, told the fireman to apply his break, and whistled for the break of the other guard; and all the available means were thus put in force for stopping the train almost immediately after the failure of the tyre.

The train was pulled up in about half-amile without injury to any one, though the convicts, who were men of the worst class, were much jolted and shaken in running over the sleepers. They were the more frightened because their carriage was caught, shortly before the train was brought to a stand, in a main-line crossing which came in its way; was thus detached, with the van behind it, from the remainder of the train; and was thrown across the other line of rails. A composite carriage in front of the convict-carriage was at the same time overturned, but without any great violence, and without being separated from the carriage

before it.

number; and they would all be deprived of a great part of their danger by the same precaution,-of having a guard on the lookout in a van behind the train, with the breaks of several vehicles at his command. Those accidents also will become still fewer in number as experience is gained in regard to the causes of failure, the best means and modes of manufacture, and the proportions that ought to be observed in construction. Even in the case of the fracture of any portion of an engine, the most serious risks may be avoided, or the consequences of the worst accidents may be alleviated, if only a guard be on the watch, and if he be provided with a powerful break easily and quickly applied. We may add, that any method of communication which is adopted between guards and engine-drivers ought, whatever may be its other qualifications, to be so arranged that it must of itself give warning to the driver, in the event of the fracture of a coupling. A system of breaks also which is wound off rather than turned on, and in which the break-blocks fly at once to the wheels when a coupling gives way, has certainly great advantages over contrivances in which these objects are not attained.

It happened that this train did not meet with a crossing or any other impediment Crank-axles are constantly failing, and until it had slackened speed sufficiently to require incessant watchfulness, although their render a check harmless, and that there was failures do not contribute much to the proa guard in a break-van at the back of the duction of serious accidents. One very seritrain looking out at the right moment. If ous accident in the south-east of England, there had been no guard looking out from and another in a midland county, were, behind, it would most likely have run on to ever, occasioned partly by the fracture of a

how

crank-axle and partly by the defective state | ing in a particular case with unprecedented of the permanent way.

No failure is more to be dreaded in a train than that of the leading axle, or one of the leading wheel-tyres of the engine; and it is essential, therefore, that these parts should always be maintained in thoroughly efficient condition, and should as far as possible be placed beyond doubt. The axles of passenger carriages ought to occasion very little risk, because, after being used for a reasonable period, they can be transferred to and worn out under goods' waggons.

The boilers of locomotive engines on passenger lines explode at the rate of about three a year, and often with fatal results to those who are in charge of them or near them, but not so frequently with injury or loss of life to passengers. These explosions were formerly attributed almost invariably to the carelessness or recklessness of the men who were in charge of the engines. They were accused either of letting the water get too low in the boiler or of tampering with the safety-valves, according to circumstances. These causes enter largely, no doubt, into accidents which are caused by the explosions of stationary boilers, as these are often entrusted to persons incompetent to take charge of them; but they have very little to do with the explosions of locomotive boilers. The latter are necessarily under the charge of responsible men, fully aware of their own danger, and most attentive in the general way to their duties; and if it were considered necessary, there would be no difficulty in providing them with safety-valves with which they could not tamper. But all the experience of late years goes to show that locomotive boilers do not explode until they are almost eaten through by corrosion, provided there is no radical defect in their construction.

The precautions which are required to prevent such explosions are-ample strength in the first instance; decreasing pressure as the boilers get older; and early renewal, especially of those parts which cannot be examined except at long intervals, and particularly when water of a destructive quality is employed, as is sometimes unavoidably the case; together with good stays in all directions, which prevent explosions and convert them into mere leaks; and personal responsibility on the part of the locomotive-superintendent. This officer ought to know the condition of his boilers, what parts of them are likely to fail first, what water is used with them on different parts of his line, what defects of construction exist in any of them, and, within certain limits, how long each will last. may, it is true, be taken by surprise occasionally, in consequence of corrosion proceed

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activity; but he will run very little, if any risk even in this respect, if he takes advantage of all the warnings which he receives from time to time, and allows an ample margin on the side of safety in all cases.

There have been two instances of engines exploding while travelling with fast trains. In one of these cases there was found to be a defect in the stays of the roof of the firebox; and in the other a plate in the barrel of the boiler had been reduced by corrosion from three-eighths to one-sixteenth of an inch, above one of the longitudinal seams of rivets. In the latter case the engine was blown all to pieces, the fireman was killed, and the driver nearly so; but though the train was brought to a stand within eighty yards, the passengers escaped with comparatively little injury, a guard and a post-office guard having been the principal sufferers besides those on the engine.

Passing over the miscellaneous accidents which occur at level-crossings, or from horses or cows being found upon the line, or from obstructions wilfully placed on the rails, or from excess of speed in entering a station,all of which involve, in a greater or less degree, the question of break-power which has been already discussed, and show the extreme importance of it, the only large item left to us is that of accidents at facing-points, at the points, that is to say, through which a train is directly turned from one main line to another, or from a main line to a siding.

On a double line of railway facing-points are necessary at junctions, but they need be otherwise used only in exceptional cases, because the points may be fixed on each line in the direction in which the trains travel, and not so as to meet them; but on a single line they are indispensable, because the trains must pass through them in both directions.

The

These points are weighted for the most part to stand in the position in which they are principally used, and they are expected to fall back into that position after a train has passed through them, and are left in many cases to do so of themselves. system of self-acting points is convenient in goods' yards, in positions where goods' trains pass through them, or goods' waggons are shunted through them, at very slow speeds; but it ought never to be employed in the case of facing-points through which passenger trains are in the habit of running. points ought always to be held, or secured, or locked in position; and to be provided with convenient handles, judiciously placed.

Such

There is another precaution also which ought to be observed with regard to them, but which has not received the same atten

tion in this as in other countries. An engine- | nals referred to are attached to them. The driver cannot see, as he approaches a pair of pointsmen are thus, besides being made more facing-points, whether they are set right for careful in working the points, reminded in all him to proceed until he is very near them; cases of the side to which they ought to be and he is obliged, if it be his duty to pass turned. them at speed, to take it for granted that they are so. In some cases he finds that they are unattended, and are set in the wrong direction, when it is not only too late for him to pull up, but even to effect any perceptible diminution in his speed; and in other cases he is equally helpless when the pointsman makes a mistake and turns them in the wrong direction.

·

In order to provide against these sources of accident, the points and signals have been so connected at most of the junctions constructed within the last two or three years, that the signals cannot be lowered for a train to proceed until the points have been first set in the right direction, and that the points cannot then be altered until after the signal which applies to them has been again raised to 'danger.' Disc or other signals are now attached also to those facing-points which occur on single lines in the neighbourhood of stations or sidings, to indicate danger' or 'all right' to an engine-driver while he is still at some distance from them. These are precautions which ought by degrees to be brought into universal use. The smaller signals which are used to indicate the condition of isolated facing-points ought, however, to show clearly the side towards which the points are turned as well as the exact position in which they stand, because it is desirable that a driver shall be able to see for himself at a glance, as he approaches them, not only whether they are set in the right direction, but also whether they are fully turned over in that direction. Such points are almost certain to throw a train off the line when they are partly open and partly shut.

In one year there were ten, and in another eleven accidents at facing-points; but the average number per annum of those which are brought under the notice of the Board of Trade does not exceed five. They ought not to occur unless there be a gross mistake or great neglect on the part of a responsible man, in performing a duty for which proper appliances are afforded. They often occur in consequence of the points not being attended to at all, or of the employment of unfit or inexperienced servants, or of servants with other distant duties to perform, or for want of the best appliances. There have been cases in which a pointsman has turned the points in the wrong direction as a train was approaching; but accidents of this sort are either prevented altogether or are rendered less liable to occur when the indicating-sig

In an accident in the south of Ireland by which five lives were lost, a mail-train ran into a siding through a pair of points which had stuck in the wrong direction, were in bad order, and were unattended. The points in this case were so constructed as to be selfacting in the ordinary way. They were intended to have been kept spiked, so as to be right for the main line; but that precaution was not observed.

In the south-east of Scotland a train was turned into a siding by an invalid shoemaker who had taken charge of the points on low wages for the sake of the change of air and scene which the duty would afford him!

A breaksman unacquainted with the working of certain points near Liverpool, turned some goods' waggons on to a main line instead of into a siding during the absence of the regular pointsman (who was not kept on duty on Sunday), and left them standing there in a fog without the least suspicion of his mistake, until they were run into by a passenger-train.

One accident of this sort was wilfully produced, and in a manner characteristic of the country in which it occurred. A young woman who was about to be married to an engine-driver on a railway in the north of Ireland, arranged, somewhat suddenly, to start off with him one evening in a train which he was driving. The affair got wind, and there was a considerable crowd and much confusion on the station-platform. The bride-elect had sent her box to the station, and had informed the station-master that she intended to walk on to another station to meet the train. Her father and brother, who were not propitious, were unable to find her either on the plat form or in the carriages, though she entered one of them from the wrong side, and they endeavoured in vain to prevent her box from being placed in the van; but they suspected that she was in the train, and they determined to detain her and it together. The night was dark, and there were a pair of facing-points leading to a siding, and into a bog, near the end of the platform. In collusion, as was suspected, with the station-porter, they fastened the points over in the wrong direc tion; and after the train had started the driver found, to his surprise, that he was proceeding along the siding instead of the main line. Before he could pull up, his engine ran into the bog. The young woman, in ber alarm, jumped out of her carriage into a pool of water, but happily without any serious

We have now, in sufficient detail for our present purpose, gone through the different causes by which railway accidents are produced, and the precautions by which the greater number of them may be altogether avoided, and the remainder may have their evil effects materially alleviated. We do not wish to indulge in, or to lay before our readers, any exaggerated expectations of immunity from these disasters. We are too well acquainted with the imperfection of human instrumentality to suppose, that even if all the systems of working were rendered perfect, if all the requisite means and appliances were supplied, and if all failure of materials were provided against, there would not still be mistakes on the part of some, and neglect on the part of others, of the officers and servants employed. If the railway officers and servants were as careless as the general public-who post 10,000 letters in one year without any address on them, who send 460l. worth of property in letters that can neither be delivered nor returned, and only 286 of whose letters out of every 287 can be made to reach their owners-we should find railway travelling a very different and very dangerous business.

consequences; and the pair were afterwards, | hardly any risk of failure in the permanent we understand, conveyed as fellow-passengers way, the bridges, the engine boilers, or any in another train, and united after a less of the machinery of a railway upon which romantic journey. safety depends, when proper trouble is taken to make them safe, when they are not retained in use for too long a period, when due attention is paid to deterioration, decay, corrosion, and all the effects of wear and tear, and when a sufficient margin for safety is allowed. A piece of boiler-plate of fair quality, which will sustain a breaking strain of 20 tons to the square inch and upwards, may be employed with perfect confidence up to a strain of 4 or 5 tons to the square inch; and there is no necessity for subjecting it in any case to a greater strain; and so on with other materials. Structures of timber, and masonry, and brickwork, bend, or crack, or open, or show alterations of shape, before they finally give way; and they should be attended to in time, instead of being employed up to the last moment, as is sometimes done. The only contingencies against which we cannot altogether provide are:-1. Human mistakes and misconduct; 2. Occasional flaws in castiron; and 3. Defective welds in wroughtiron; and even these may be counteracted to some extent. Proper treatment and good appliances, and the employment of experienced and responsible officers and servants, will reduce human mistakes and misconduct to a minimum. Cast-iron need not be used at all in positions in which an undiscoverable flaw would affect the public safety. Wheeltyres can be so fastened to wheels as to prevent them from flying off, or flying open, even if they do give way at a defective weld.

Most fortunately it is found by the test of experience that it is not so, and that increased responsibilities lead to greater care and foresight.

The same experience shows also, that three-fourths of the serious accidents that occur might very well be avoided altogether; that instead of having to record an average of seventy-six accidents every year, we need only, after allowing amply for all neglects, failures, defects, and contingencies, have to put up with nineteen, or say twenty, if proper precautions were observed; and that as those accidents which are most destructive to the passengers are also those which might best be prevented, and as the precautions that ought to be adopted would further tend to diminish the evil effects of those that would still occur, the proportion of passengers killed and injured would be reduced in a much greater ratio than the number of accidents; and, in fact, that the loss of life and injuries necessarily incident to railway travelling would, under such circumstances, become very small indeed.

The strength of materials is now so far ascertained, the processes of manufacture have arrived at such a degree of perfection, aud the proper principles of construction are so well understood, that there is practically

There are already in existence very efficient means for procuring safety on railways, if only undue economy, false interest, or unseemly prejudice did not interfere to prevent these means from being made the most of. The real difficulty is not to devise new methods of security, but to induce those who have the charge of railways to employ to the best advantage the means which are already at their disposal.

It will be our last duty to consider how this end can be best attained, and how a greater degree of attention than is at present given to the safety of our travelling public can be enforced. In doing so, we cannot agree with our Northern contemporary who has during the past year so eloquently demanded extended Government interference, amidst glowing descriptions of crashes between opposing trains, rushing like infuriated bulls into the embrace of death,--of the never-to-be-forgotten carnage of peace, more appalling than that of war,-of gravitation, trees, platelayers, boulders, mechanists, and felons,-of atoms of iron unshackled by frost,

-and of imaginations riveted (like boiler- | that interference should be exercised. We plates) with horrors. We write with some- have already stated that we think certain what the same views, and in the self-same interest; but we conceive that an opposite and more commonplace remedy would be more effectual, more easily applied, and more in accordance with the customs and constitution of the country.

Government interference judiciously exercised at an early stage would, no doubt, have been of great benefit, and might have been the means of saving the railway companies themselves from many of the evils under which they are now labouring. They would have avoided excessive and expensive competition, as well as much extravagance in construction; and they would have attained greater uniformity in many respects, the want of which entails the most serious disadvantages. But Government interference at the present time, besides requiring a large staff, would be attended with great difficulties if it were carried to the extent of attempting a remedy for all the preventible causes from which railway accidents arise, and of assuming the control of each particular railway. Setting aside the anomaly of arbitrarily compelling a number of different companies which are working for profit to spend money upon objects which their own officers may consider useless and unprofitable, it must be remembered that grave differences would be able to arise continually between the Government officers and the railway officers, as they do now between the officers of the different companies themselves, on the question of safety. It is desirable that improvements on any railway should as far as possible be introduced under the auspices of those who have the management of it, to give them a fair chance of success, rather than that they should be carried out by those who disapprove of them and would not be sorry to prove them to be defective. It will readily be seen that the officers of a railway company would be inclined on the one hand to lay the blame of any accident that might happen upon a Government improvement, whilst the Government officers might discover on the other hand that it was owing to the want of its having been properly carried out; and that neither of them would be practically responsible in such a case for the public safety.

We conceive that, in place of dividing the responsibility in this manner, we ought, on the contrary, to do everything in our power to fix it upon individuals; and fully agreeing with our contemporary as to the necessity that exists for increased interference with the proceedings of the railway companies, we only differ with him as to the mode in which

precautions should be rendered obligatory by force of law. For the rest, we should advocate no other than a better-informed public interference; and we think that if any legis lation be in future undertaken on the subject, it should be directed to the furtherance of this object. It is of course a great object with railway companies not to have a bad name with the Press; and any exposure, through this medium, of mismanagement or want of precaution does them much harm. When a railway accident occurs, the reporters for the press are obliged to trust principally to the officers of the railway companies for their information as to the causes of it; and there is not much time afforded to them for deliberate inquiry, even if they had the means of making it. Under these circumstances the reports upon such accidents are hasty and superficial, and naturally have a tendency to be favourable to the companies and their officers.

If an accident be fatal, the representatives of the press have an opportunity of hearing the evidence adduced before the coroner and his jury, and of recording the verdict to which it leads; but the special business of this tribunal is, not to investigate the causes of the accident, but to discover the cause of death only; and though in some cases a patient coroner and an intelligent jury may do much good, by eliciting information and inducing public discussion upon defects which are brought to light, yet in many more the inquiry is hurried over in a slovenly manner, and the truth does not appear. In others, again, the investigation degenerates into a mere instrument in the hands of the company for misleading people as to the real causes of the accident.

press

and

In cases where death does not ensue, no public inquiry takes place; and the the public have no means at the time, nor until all interest in the subject has passed away, of ascertaining accurately the causes by which it has been produced. We must here add, that the press does not always de rive as much advantage as it might from the opportunities that are afforded to it. In one case, in which a driver was killed by the explosion of his engine, while travelling at speed with a mail train a few months since, the result of the inquest was kept, by some influence which we cannot pretend to fathom, out of the newspapers altogether. And yet reporters were present, a number of eminent scientific witnesses were brought forward, and the evidence was of a character more interesting and more important than usual. The inquiries which are instituted by the

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