CONTROL

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 21st Year

Issue

Issue No.

6

Date Released

Feb 1968

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1CONTROL
2. 2County Durham - WE NEVER CLOSED
3. 3ATOMS & ENERGY

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: specially build skid track issued by Coal Board loco drivers to learn to use their trains safely.
NCB Commentary - Police drivers have to be good. Their job demands keeping a vehicle under control at all times, no matter what the circumstances. Control means knowin where you’re going - and where you’re going to end up. So, outside London, the Metropolitan police have an advanced driving school where men learn to keep mastery of a car in a continuous, controlled skid.
Locos in coal mines can skid, too. So colliery loco drivers have got to be advanced drivers as well, and know how to keep a train under control at all times.
At Manvers Main colliery, every Monday morning, 4 new drivers go back to school. In the lecture rooms they sit test papers to find out just how good they are - and they’ll sit them again at the end of the course.
They’re going to spend time on the special outdoor test track. On it, a loco can be made to skid, under controlled conditions, and still come to a safe stop in a sand barrier if someone makes a mistake.
A man’s first run down the track, with a 1 in 15 gradient in front of him and several tons of loco beneath, can be pretty hair-raising.
Control is the answer. When the loco wheels lock, it takes self-control to release the brakes, apply sand and brake again gently. The instructor’s there to advise - not to take over.
For a first shot, that wasn’t bad. But last week they had it down under 60 yards. The tally’s on the black board.
They play other educational tricks at Manvers, too. Coming along nicely in reverse, the driver being tested has to stop just - and only just - short of the bottle, which he can’t see by now.
Though practising on the track may look like fun, there’s a serious end to it. And that’s to haul men and coal safely through our mines, to acquire the know - how of getting out of danger and of keeping mine roadways safer places to work in.

Keywords

Education and training; Railways; Mining

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit