DR. CAMERONasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether his Department possesses any information 761 regarding the use of mirrors fitted on a locomotive engine on the North British Railway, by Mr. Lockhead, of Glasgow, in such a manner as to enable the driver clearly to see the whole train behind him without turning round; and, whether, in view of the recent fatal fire in a Pullman car in the Scotch Midland Express, he would consider the advisability of recommending some such arrangement on all passenger trains?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINSir, I have made inquiries into this subject, and I am informed that the arrangement referred to in the Question is not a novel one, but was employed on the South Devon Railway some 20 years ago; and as regards the particular experiment which has recently been made on the North British Railway, I have received a report from the general manager of that line to the effect that one of their locomotives was fitted up with a mirror, but after a fair trial it was removed. He says—
The experiment we made showed that the mirror was unsuitable, as the drivers complained of their eyesight getting dazzled, and so confused their look-out ahead for signals,which was considered of much more importance than any advantage which might be derived from a mirror.