Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 12 (April 1, 1929)

To Simplify Railway Operating — Revision and Consolidation of Rules and Instructions — General Manager'S Decision

page 49

To Simplify Railway Operating
Revision and Consolidation of Rules and Instructions
General Manager'S Decision

A Necessary work which the General Manager of Railways (Mr. H. H. Sterling) has given instruction to have put in hand immediately is the revision and rearrangement of all the rule books, code books, instructions and supplementary advices to staff now in existence.

Mr. G. T. Wilson (late Chief Clerk of the Commercial Branch), has been entrusted with this work, which is a very heavy one and is expected to take many months before it can be completed.

The present books of instructions comprise a working timetable (containing, in addition to the operating schedule for the running of all trains in the various districts, numerous instructions bearing upon detailed work in connection with train running); an appendix to working timetables containing a miscellaneous assortment of instructions bearing upon train working and also special sections on the operation of electric lock and block, tablet working, ambulance instructions, etc.; a special booklet containing Westinghouse Brake instructions; a rule book for the general guidance of all members of the Service; a local circular book containing matters which have come under the notice of various District Officers from time to time, as being those upon which special instructions to the staff are advisable in order to make clear points arising out of the general instructions, and also bearing upon Tariff matters; the Tariff itself, a necessarily complex compilation containing regulations relating to all the general and local rates applying throughout the Dominion to every kind of commodity carried upon the Railway; and other separate booklets bearing upon such subjects as the regulations governing staff matters and employment, the through-booking of goods between the Islands, etc.

No general revision of the kind has been put through during the last twenty years, and the result is, that with the many innovations introduced in recent times, the need for such revision has become pressing. Already certain general proposals in regard to the manner in which the work will be carried out are assuming shape. For instance, a book to be entitled, “The Operating Book of the New Zealand Railways,” will probably be issued. This will contain all the rules bearing on general operating, including tablet instructions, Westinghouse Brake instructions, automatic signalling, electric lock and block methods, etc. The “Appendix to Working Timetable” and local instruction circular book may be done away with, the “regulations” being enlarged to include all necessary general matter transferred from the rule book. A “Traffic Code of Instructions Book” will be specially prepared for the use of those employed in the Traffic Department of the Railways. This will contain extraneous matter from the Working Timetable and the Appendix to Working Timetable. The Working Timetable will thus be relieved of much matter not directly relating to train arrangements.

It is also intended to issue a circular from Head Office at frequent intervals to include amendments to all instruction books such as Tariff Rulings and other new instructions of a permanent nature. This will relieve the district local circulars of much of their present loading and be available for preservation in a more permanent form than is possible under present methods.

The through-booking pamphlet will be enlarged to combine all particulars relating to the through services arranged by the Department whether by road, rail or sea. This book will be particularly valuable in view of the constantly extending operation of the Department in the direction of co-ordinated services.

page 50
“Dipp'd in the hues of sunset, wreath'd in zones, The clouds are resting on their mountain thrones…” —Montgomery. (Govt. Publicity Photo.) Sunset on the Waiau River, Lake Manapouri, South Island, New Zealand.

Dipp'd in the hues of sunset, wreath'd in zones, The clouds are resting on their mountain thrones…
Montgomery.
(Govt. Publicity Photo.)
Sunset on the Waiau River, Lake Manapouri, South Island, New Zealand.