Complex sentence: This enabled all tickets to be checked while the train paused outside the station and the opportunity was often taken for the engine to be detached and sent to the engine shed at this time and the train was then propelled into the platforms by a pilot engine.
Split into simpler sentences: This enabled all tickets to be checked while the train paused outside the station. The opportunity was often taken for the engine to be detached and sent to the engine shed at this time and the train propelled into the platforms by a pilot engine.