At the Aisgill inquiry on Saturday the driver of the
second express and his fireman gave their evidence with a candour and straightforwardness which the Inspector cordially acknow- ledged. The driver frankly acknowledged his mistake in not making sure of the position of the three Mallerstang signals, which he did not see, and gave the following explana- tion. South of Kirkby Stephen he had left the cab to go round and oil the engine. On his return to the cab the engine was steaming so badly that in his anxiety to remedy this defect he failed to observe the home and starting signals. He added that it was the general practice on this section for a driver to go once round his engine, and be had never thought that it involved any danger to himself or the train. The fireman stated that while the driver was oiling outside he was attending to the fire and looking after the boiler, and did not see any of the three Mallerstang signals. Mr. Paget, the superintendent of the line, declared that, owing to the improve- ments in lubrication, there was no absolute necessity now for a driver to go outside his cab to oil. It comes to this, then, that a
driver may, without any infringement of rules, and out of sheer conscientiousness, do a thing which immensely adds to the vulnerability of the human element. It is not too much to say that the evidence with regard to the practice on the part of drivers of leaving the footplate has been the most startling surprise of the inquiry.
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