andrew-the-tortoise
Swarfega Abuser
Rising bollards may be the answer.
level crossings
- Thread starter buggi
- Start date
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andrew-the-tortoise said:
you will always get some prick who tries to beat them, like they do with the gates. so it's like the ramp, once it's up, no chance of escape, which not only puts the prick driving at greater risk, but also the train driver and passengers.
stoatsngroats
Guru
- Location
- South East
thomas said:
This is NOT true of all crossings.......At some crossings they may have CCTV observation, but no control of the barriers.
Sounds strange - but definately true! (15 years a train Driver...!)
Mr Pig
New Member
- Location
- North Lanarkshire
andrew-the-tortoise said:
That seems like a good idea. I'm sure they could configure them in some way that would prove safe. Probably costs too much.
I don't think it matters what you do, there will always be morons who'll get around it. I mean, how thick do you need to be to play chicken with a train!
I lived near a railway when I was a kid, a slow-moving freight line, and we played on the line all the time.
Globalti
Legendary Member
I hope my wife doesn't read this....
I nearly killed myself and my Hungarian agent one day when I was driving her car back to Budapest. She was asleep, we had had a long day and I admit I was following the car in front on auto-pilot. The sun was low and I simply didn't see the red lights so I just followed the car over a level crossing, realising as I was halfway across that the buffers of a train were about twenty feet from my ear. Made it alive and my agent never woke up, so I said nothing to her. Closest I've ever come to death.
I nearly killed myself and my Hungarian agent one day when I was driving her car back to Budapest. She was asleep, we had had a long day and I admit I was following the car in front on auto-pilot. The sun was low and I simply didn't see the red lights so I just followed the car over a level crossing, realising as I was halfway across that the buffers of a train were about twenty feet from my ear. Made it alive and my agent never woke up, so I said nothing to her. Closest I've ever come to death.
cheadle hulme
Guru
- Location
- Clywdian Range
Its not like railways are full of blind bends that trains come hurtling round either - if you insist on jumping the barriers at least have a look first! Jeez - that first kid, the train knocks his trainer off!
purplepolly
New Member
- Location
- my house
cheadle hulme said:
except for the pendolinos going through cheadle hulme station
hackbike 666
Guest
When I first Started driving I was wroking a train down the Reading road during the night and approached Star Lane Lvel crossing doing 70mph.I was quite surprised to see cars crossing in front of me and I couldn't have been more than 400 yards away.
The barriers were AHB and I became accustomed to this little 'trait'.
Unfortunately a young lady was killed in the 1990's due to her stillettos? getting jammed in the accelarator pedal causing her to shunt forward onto the track where a train hit the car and became derailed.
After this Star Lane became full barriers.
I don't really worry about cars too much but what is worrying is when peds jump over the barriers because they can't be bothered to wait.This has the same sort familiarity as RLJers.Take a risk to save a few seconds.
The barriers were AHB and I became accustomed to this little 'trait'.
Unfortunately a young lady was killed in the 1990's due to her stillettos? getting jammed in the accelarator pedal causing her to shunt forward onto the track where a train hit the car and became derailed.
After this Star Lane became full barriers.
I don't really worry about cars too much but what is worrying is when peds jump over the barriers because they can't be bothered to wait.This has the same sort familiarity as RLJers.Take a risk to save a few seconds.
Rhythm Thief
Veteran
Not a level crossing, but still scary.
my mom knew a kid that died because his mate chucked some money onto the line at the station, and it landed on the line. the kid being a bit niaive thought it would be enough to derail the train so jumped down to get it and didn't get back up in time. The station staff said the train just would have flattened the coin.
Rhythm Thief
Veteran
Indeed it would. I still have an almost uncontrollable urge to put pennies on the line whenever I'm at a country railway station. You end up with big flat pennies.
Mr Pig
New Member
- Location
- North Lanarkshire
buggi said:
That's right, we used to sit coins on the line, and anything else we could think of. Another one we did was sit on a rail each and work along backwards sitting ballast stones on the rails. You just kept going until a train came, by which time you had two big lines of stones, then you stood back and watched!
When the train hit the stones it made an almighty popping, cracking banging noise as bits of stone flew everywhere! Driver must have crapped himself. Some kids put far bigger things on the line, nothing ever delrailed a train. You really understand how powerful and heavy trains are when you see them hit stuff! One hit a cow once, knocked it flying.
We also used to batter the trains with stones, we did that practically ever day! The best trains were the ones out of Bathgate loaded with vans and trucks, we tried to smash the windows. Often did to.
Could tell you a lot of stories about playing on the railway. Not proud of it but it was just what you did when you were ten, didn't even think about the right or wrong of it. Whole time I lived next to that line no one was killed, which was quite surprising considering. The house I live in now backs onto the same line and it will soon be reopened as a passenger line, it was a freight line before it was closed.
some firemen i knew once told me this story. got called out to B'ham international to an "incident". when they got there, there was a copper throwing up, and loads of ambulances, so they knew it was a bad one.
apparently some kid had decided to commit suicide by jumping in front of the train. train driver got out, ran back down the track but couldn't find him. phoned it in, in a right state, so they told hiim to carry on to b'ham international and pull up in the sidings just past the platforms. As the driver came through the station all the passengers on the platforms starting fainting. turned out the kid was still stuck to the front. my fireman friends had to get him off and apparently he was in a right state, and all the ambulances were for the fainting passengers.
worse thing was, he committed suicide coz he thought he failed his exams. he hadn't.
apparently some kid had decided to commit suicide by jumping in front of the train. train driver got out, ran back down the track but couldn't find him. phoned it in, in a right state, so they told hiim to carry on to b'ham international and pull up in the sidings just past the platforms. As the driver came through the station all the passengers on the platforms starting fainting. turned out the kid was still stuck to the front. my fireman friends had to get him off and apparently he was in a right state, and all the ambulances were for the fainting passengers.
worse thing was, he committed suicide coz he thought he failed his exams. he hadn't.
