Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/175

Rh and safe running condition, that the wheels, axle-boxes, springs, buffers, draw gear, brakes, and all other working parts are in perfect order, that the axle-boxes are well greased, and that any waggon in which a defect is discovered is promptly shunted out of the train, and a red card affixed to it to indicate that it is not to run until the necessary repairs have been attended to.

When a through train is standing at a station or junction, where it is required to stop, it is met by an examiner, whose duty it is to pass along each side of it and examine every wheel, not only by means of the tapping hammer, but by personal inspection. He also examines the axle-boxes, to see that they are well greased, and are not running "hot," and watches the revolving of the wheels, in order to detect a bent axle, stress being laid upon the fact that in the event of a waggon being stopped with a bent axle, no attempt is to be made to straighten it while cold, but the wheels are to be taken out and sent to a repairing shop where the axle can be heated, and thus properly and safely straightened.

The following are the minimum dimensions of axles to be allowed, which a long experience has dictated as representing the limits of safety, and any waggon found running with an axle of less dimensions is stopped and treated as a defective vehicle:—