4 
Continuous Railway Breaks. 
[January, 
adopted it would be one of the most fruitful sources of 
saving collisions ; and he further remarked that out of 
eighty-one accidents into which he enquired in one year, 
had continuous breaks been able to have been worked by the 
engine-drivers, at least in thirty-five cases the accident 
would have been mitigated, if not prevented altogether. 
The Royal Commission, in their recent Report, remark— 
“Accidents of the nature of collisions are generally the 
result of several contributory causes, but the amount of 
available break-power is obviously a matter of the greatest 
importance as a means of preventing them and of modifying 
their consequences. Our own enquiries confirmed the im- 
pressions which the Inspecting Officers’ investigations of 
accidents led us to form, that not only was there generally 
an insufficiency of controlling power in trains, but also that 
the distance within which a train running at high speed 
could be stopped by the break-power ordinarily in use was 
not ascertained with any approach to accuracy.” Conse- 
quently the Commissioners applied to the Railway Companies 
to institute a definite series of experiments, to test the 
amount of control given by the break-power ordinarily 
applied to their trains, and the effeCt of various systems of 
improved or continuous breaks. From the experiments 
carried out for this purpose it appeared that the amount of 
hand break-power usually supplied with the trains of the 
respective Companies failed to bring up the London and 
North-Western train within 2374 feet, that of the Caledonian 
Company within 3190 feet, that of the Midland within 
3250 feet, that of the Great Northern within 3576 feet, and 
that of the Brighton within 3690 feet, the speed of the trains 
varying from 454 to 48J miles per hour. It must, however, 
be borne in mind that the trains with which these experi- 
ments were made were in the most complete order, and the 
guards and drivers had notice of the exact; spot at which 
the signal to stop would be given. A large addition must 
therefore be made to those distances in practice, and unless 
much greater control is obtained over trains by additional 
break-power the Commissioners consider that to ensure 
safety the distant signals must be, for a level line, carried 
back to the distance of a mile. From the experiments 
made with continuous breaks, however, it is evident that 
there are ample means of controlling trains within 
much less distance by some of the various systems already 
in use. 
Besides an improvement in break-power, it is also neces- 
sary that— whatever improvement upon the present system 
