Steel Coaches and Safety On two occasions recently, railway accidents
have been caused by trucks or carriages becoming detached from a train and causing obstruction to oncoming ex- presses. The failure of a coupling may sometimes occur in spite of every precaution, but the resultant catastrophe, particularly in the recent ease of the night express from Penzance to Landon, brings urgently to the fore the question of the materials of coach con- struction. During the evidence given at the Ministry of Transport enquiry into the Shrivenham disaster, on Tuesday, it was stated categorically that " the massive steel frame of the brake van " took the brunt of the strain of the impact, and its body was left practically intact. The chief mechanical engineer of the G.W.R. gave it as his opinion that the small casualty-list (only one passenger was killed) was entirely attributable to the fact that the coaches were encased in steel. This is evidence which cannot be ignored, and the railway companies owe it to travellers to replace their old rolling- stock with passenger coaches of this type as soon as possible. Safety has been considerably increased by the substitution of electricity for gas. But here is a further measure the need for which is abundantly demonstrated.
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