RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. 343 



single line is short, and can be worked by one engine in steam, 

 or two coupled together, no collision can take place, as the train- 

 service will be limited to the one train moving backwards and 

 forwards over the section ; but with a long length of single line, 

 including a large number of stations, necessitating several trains, 

 some clear and comprehensive regulations must be introduced. 

 For a long time the simple train-staff was found to give the 

 desired security ; there was only one staff for each pair of adjoin- 

 ing staff-stations, and no train was authorized to run without 

 the staff, and as the staff could only be on one train at a time, 

 the precaution against collisions was looked upon as complete. 

 These staffs, which were general^ made of brass, or other metal, 

 were sufficiently large to be conspicuous when placed in the 

 stand prepared for them on the engine. They were lettered to 

 correspond to the stations to which they belonged, and were 

 made in different patterns to distinguish them for their respec- 

 tive sections. No train was allowed to start from a station until 

 the engine-driver received from the station-master the proper 

 staff to authorize him to proceed to the next station, and on his 

 arrival there it was the duty of the engine-driver to hand over 

 the train- staff to the stationmaster of that place, and wait for 

 another train-staff to authorize him to proceed over the next 

 section. So long as the train service could be evenly arranged, 

 and that there was always an UP train to take back a train- 

 staff which has been carried out by a DOWN train, the simple 

 staff worked most efficiently ; but as the traffic increased, and two 

 or more trains had to be despatched in the DOWN direction before 

 one had to run in the UP direction, some auxiliary arrangement 

 had to be introduced. This was effected by issuing train tickets, 

 kept in a locked-up box, which could only be opened by the 

 key attached to the train-staff. A properly dated train-ticket 

 was handed to the engine-driver of the first DOWN train, and, 

 if necessary, a second train-ticket to the engine-driver of a 

 second DOWN train, and then the train-staff itself was handed 

 to the engine-driver of the third DOWN train. There were one 

 or two serious drawbacks to this train-staff and ticket-work- 

 ing. As there was only a time interval between the starting 

 of the trains, the one train might overtake and run into the 

 other with disastrous results. Again, a second or third train, 

 which was put down in the schedule, might be withdrawn at 

 the last moment, and the staff left behind at a station when it 



