PART 4 - Solution to Problem 1

The standard lightbulb is turned counter-clockwise for removal. So the railway company simply installed sockets and bulbs which turned in the opposite direction. Thus youngsters attempting to twist bulbs out of their sockets merely screwed them tighter instead, sometimes cutting their hands if they turned a bulb too hard. Within a very short time, the theft of light bulbs dropped to almost nothing.
Other ideas that could well have proved equally effective are :

• Fit a wire guard over each bulb.
• Manufacture light-bulbs with thorny sufaces.
• Fit a loud-sounding alarm activated by the removal of a bulb, the sound of which increases in volume as more bulbs are removed.

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