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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 5 (September 1, 1928)

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The question of derailments and the determination of their causes, is one of the most important that comes within the preview of railwaymen. In the following article Mr. W. C. Bishop, of the South African Railways, throws much interesting light on the subject, and urges railwaymen to ascertain all that can be known about it.

Railway literature is curiously deficient in regard to railway accidents and their causes. Beyond short notes and articles scattered through the technical Press there is little to help the student. How would a young man equip himself with knowledge so that he could take his place if called to serve upon a Board of Inquiry dealing with a derailment? What study and reading would such a young man have done? Would he just blindly depend upon his practical knowledge? Not only is study and reading upon all branches of Railway operation necessary in the circumstances indicated, but an earnest attempt should be made to develop the analytical and judicial qualities of the mind, qualities present in most men, but dormant in nearly all, if the individual would wish to be fair and impartial and reasonably correct in his judgments.

What shall we describe as the “Working Tools” of an Inquiry Board officer?

It goes without saying that he has a good all round practical experience in his own branch, but this is not sufficient. As, under Transportation all officers receive a unique opportunity of gaining knowledge of all branches, he should spare no effort to gain a fair grasp of all branches so as to be in a position when necessary to put in a minority report, and not be too dependent upon other members.

He must, as I have said before, earnestly endeavour to cultivate the analytical and judicial qualities of the mind and above all must be fair and honourable. Then he should have a good grasp of the books of the “Railway Law,” i.e., General Appendix, the General Regulations and the General Train Regulations. Having arrived at this point he will, by constantly reading technical journals and studying out problems, gradually equip himself so that he brings a well balanced mind to the service of the Board.

Judge Graham (a South Africa Judge) once said that the Railway experts are too fond of setting up fantastic theories and ignoring plain facts. The more fantastic the theories endeavouring to explain the seemingly unexplainable, the better they were pleased. I think (after being engaged on inquiry work for over 22 years), we are all at times a little prone to this fault. The difficulty is that text books do not exist from which one can see the road of investigation pointed out clearly.

Students in South Africa are fortunate, however, in that an earnest attempt to publish matter on Derailments and their Causes was made by J. D. Shannon and A. J. Beaton in 1913 and 1915 respectively.

I invariably ask junior officers if they have read Shannon on “Derailments and their Causes” and Beaton on “Speed of Trains on Narrow Gauge Railways,” and invariably get a blank stare with an admission that they have never seen these works. These two publications are unique, and no railway officer can afford to be without them.

It may not be outside the range of speculation that in the future inspectors and officers may be required to have a good knowledge of the principles that cause derailments, and I cannot do better than advise all young men to study Shannon and Beaton very thoroughly.

Enquiries into derailments and their causes have, as their primary object, the elimination of the causes and the correcting, if possible, of errors and mistakes, so that danger to life and limb and property may be avoided in the future. The verdict of “Cause Unknown” is the most unsatisfactory that can be given; it does not assist the administration to guard against a recurrence.

Accidents may be classified as generally falling under one or more of the following heads:—

1. Human Element.

2. Operation.

3. Track.

4. Rolling Stock and Engines.

The task before an enquiry board dealing with a derailment is not an easy one because:

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(1) An immediate inspection by a Board is not always possible.

(2) In serious accidents the evidence is almost always obscure (if not altogether destroyed) as the result of the accident and the track being torn up.

In determining the cause of accidents remember the Law of Average and the Theory of Probabilities.

Constants in railway operation are:—

(1) Millions of train miles run annually and the rarity of serious accidents.

(2) Varying speeds, from slow to high, with frequent change of conditions, i.e., grade and curvature.

(3) Varying types of vehicles.

(4) Loaded and unloaded vehicles, producting variation in heights of buffers.