The root cause of the Cherryville accident was the flawed rule 55g which allowed a train to pass a red signal without obtaining the permission of the controlling signalman when it was not possible to contact the signalman by telephone.
The lead train could have been stopped for any one of a huge list of reasons, it could have broken down, hit an obstruction, someone pulled the communication cord, derailed etc it made no difference to what then transpired
Notably the rule book did not require the driver to check the fuel gauge when conducting the partial preparation procedures
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