Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/202

 of rails to that on which the Royal train is running, from the time the pilot is due until the Royal train has passed. For instance, supposing the Royal train is to run on the down line from Stafford to Norton Bridge, and the pilot is due at Norton Bridge at, say eight o'clock, if a goods train or light engine required to travel on the up line from Norton Bridge to Stafford, and it was ready to start at eight o'clock, it would be kept back until the Royal train had passed.

The precaution is also taken of specially guarding every level crossing, farm crossing, and station, to prevent trespassers, and of securely bolting all facing points over which the Royal train must pass. Plate-layers are also posted along the line to prevent the possibility of any obstruction or impediment occurring; and all level crossing gates, where gatekeepers are not kept, are locked an hour before the train is due, and kept so until it has passed. Special arrangements are made for telegraphing the passage of the train from point to point as it speeds along its journey, and an instrument is conveyed by the train by means of which a telegraphic communication can be established at any place on the journey in case of need. The train is accompanied by a staff of fitters, lampmen, and greasers, who keep a vigilant watch on each side of it, so as to notice any irregularity in the running of the carriages, and who, upon the train stopping at the appointed stations, examine it throughout and grease the axle boxes. The average speed of the train does not exceed about thirty-six miles an hour excluding stoppages.