The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-09-26 00:00:00

SIGNAL BETWEEN PASSENGERS
AND GUARDS.

A recent Act of Parliament makes it imperative
that by April next railway companies shall establish
some means of communication between passengers and
guards of railway trains, and the consequence is that rail-
way directors and officials are now directing their at-
tention seriously to the accomplishment of this
object. A few days ago a railway trip was taken at
Manchester for the purpose of testing the efficiency
of an invention recently patented by Messrs. Kwarsley
and Holt, which they denominated the "Passengers'
own signaL" The experiment was made upon the
Manchester, iouth Junction, Altrinchani line, between
Oxford-road Station, Manchester, and Knutsford,
Cheshire. Several railway officials and other gentle-
men interested in witnessing the experiment, with a
view of recommending the adoption of the apparatus,
upon approval of its working, were present. The trip
and the trial were highly satisfactory, and it was the
unanimous opinion of all who inspected the invention
that the signal is as effective in character as it is
simple in its contrivance. One prominent advantage
of the signal is that it appeals at once to the eye
and the ear of the officer in charge of the train, while
it consequently will enable the passengers to become
acquainted with the nature of any alarm that may
have arisen. The apparatus, from the simplicity of
its construction, can be easily described. It consists
of a small windmill or vane, fixed upon the roof of one
of the carriages, the vane being turned at an amazing
speed when the train is rustling at, say, thirty or forty
miles an hour, as was the case on Friday with the
Bowden express. This vane, thus in motion, rings a
large bell, which is as loud as one of our factory belle
in Manchester, and which, once set in motion, never
ceases until the train is stopped. l'he alarm can be
raised by any of the passengers by pulling a chain
drawn across the roof of the carriage in which they are
seated. The chain hangs conveniently overhead, rid
can be easily reached from any portion of the seats,
and, in fact, without the passenger rising from his
place. The first effect of pulling this chain is that two
semaphores rise up into the usual position which in the
railway dictionary means "Stop!" and the second
effect is that the wind vane is released and exposed to
the current of the air, which sets it rotating as above-
mentioned, while of course the bell is set ringing at
the same instant. Attached to the windmill is a white
light, meaning "All right," but upon the alarm
being given the white light instantaneously gives
place to a red one-- the " danger " signaL Those
who, on Friday, during the return home, rode
Upon the engine, expressed themselves much
pleased with the precision with which these changes
were brought about. It is obvious that they can be
most effectively seen by the driver and the guard in
night journeys, or while the train is passing through
a tunnel. The semaphores also show strikingly by
daylight; and, taking the semaphore light and alarm
bell together, the officers in charge can hardly fail to
see the one or hear the other. During the whole of
the trip the bell, as we were informed, was distinctly
heard to the extreme end of the train, which on this
occasion consisted of thirteen carriages, In the Old
Trafford tunnel the sound was remarkably distinct.
This is the more worthy of being mentioned because
one of the objects of the patentees was to prevent the
probability of a renewal of the outrages we have too
frequently heard of being committed in the noisy
transit through dark tunnels. Another evidence of
the advantage of the alarm bell was observed in the
attention it excited among the residents in the dif-
ferent localities through which the train passed. The
thought occurred that if a carriage were "on fire." or
"off the rails," or if any other cause of peril should
arise, plenty of stout hearts and willing hands would
flock to the spot from their rural labours to render
timely and perhaps priceless aid. Every carriage can
be fitted with its apparatus in such a manner that it
will act without the train being connected from end to
end, so that no time will be lost at stations in drop-
ping off or taking on carriages, nor will any staff of
men be required at the railway stations to attend to
the coupling or uncoupling of the carriages that com-
pose the train.