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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 7 (February 1, 1932.)

Practical Railway Operating

Practical Railway Operating.

Mr. T. Bernard Hare's new book “Practical Railway Operating,” within the obvious limitations of a 163 page octavo publication, is a very thorough and closely reasoned work upon the subject, and is worth studying by every railwayman directly associated with train-running and transport control.

Dealing with operating figures, Mr. Hare concludes that ton-mile statistics represent a considerable advance upon any railway statistical information which had previously been compiled. Their limitations, however, “appear to be such that further improvements must be evolved and applied before they can be regarded as adequate.”

In practical operating, he favours the diagram system (as used, by the way, in New Zealand train control offices) to either the time or geographical type of control board still employed upon some of the British railways. The latter types “possess the common disadvantage that they do not leave behind a permanent record of what has happened,” whereas “the value of the bird's eye view which the completed diagram gives of the actual working from day to day, is almost incalculable to those charged with the responsibility for planning the lay-out, staffing and organisation.”

Chapters on the use of light shunting engines, line occupation, passenger and freight train services and terminals, mineral traffic shipment, and wagon pooling, with sixteen supporting diagrams, contain much that will help towards improvement in railway operating amongst those engaged in it who care to study these pages.