Trainspotter Nearly Hit By Intercity 125

[class143]

PTS? Please explain!

PTS stands for Personal Track Safety. It's basically a certificate required before anybody can work within the boundary of Network Rail (ie at the side of the track).

More heritage lines now are requiring you take a course in PTS and get the certificate before you can work on the line or be a lineside photographer. Though they're only valid on the heritage line you applied for as far as I know. Even if the guy had one for a heritage line, he still wouldn't of been allowed on Network Rail property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Track_Safety gives a more detailed view.

Hope this helps

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

Even if the guy had one for a heritage line, he still wouldn't of been allowed on Network Rail property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Track_Safety gives a more detailed view.

TBH, ones on some lines are very easy to pass, all it requires is some common sense. Although "Where should you never walk?" may not be. The answer to that is the 6ft. Ironically, its safer to walk in the 4ft (if there are no con rails), than the 6ft although, if you are going to walk trackside, the safest place is the Cess. (The bit that is the edge of each line that is often an embankment or a cutting.)

Another one that may not be soo obvious, what do you do if you do get caught in the 6ft? A: Lie face down with your hands over your face. Obviously, if there are no conductor rails. Never lie in the 4ft.

There are also variants of PTSs, like some restrict you to certain lines, e.g. those with 3rd rails, overheads and depots.

 

[sterrett]

Idiot..............bloody train spotters.

IKB.

Now, now Mr Brunel! There's no reason why train spotters and railwaymen can't live together in harmony!

Indeed, I was very fortunate as a boy at Totnes railway station to make the acquaintance of all the ex-GWR station staff in the late 1960's. They taught us all about lineside safety and to respect the thundering giants that we were trying to spot and photograph! On dismal, cold days, we would be invited into the "Porters' Room" or into the porch of the signal box for a brew of strong, sweet tea and to hear yarns involving "Kings", "Castles", "Halls" and "Manors" and the "I don't know why you bother spotting they "bloody boxes on wheels" as they termed the Westerns, Warships, Hymeks and Class 29's that have quite a cult following nowadays!

Now, I work at Heathrow Airport where we have an abundance of aviation enthusiasts. I always treat them pleasantly and civilly, although for security reasons I can't be as helpful as I would like to be. If I was to see something that wasn't safe, I would approach the person and offer some friendly advice. IMHO railwaymen should do the same!

"The only difference between railwaymen and train-spotters is that railwaymen have chosen to make it their career!"

 

[JCitron]

Let's face it this is why railroad companies don't want the foamers working for them. I've read of other cases where a foamer, working for CSX as a conductor, was too busy identifying a unique locomotive or freight car, and nearly derailed the train he was working on by setting the switch wrong.

Whether he's a foamer or not the whole point is, no matter what someone does, you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

This guy again was too busy with his video camera and totally oblivious of being too close to the railroad tracks. The rail company may have made an acception to its rules because of the steam passenger train event.

John

 

[perry_weekley]

I hate to say it but it was almost perfect timing. In the distance there is the speck of the soon to be train. At 22 seconds there is a soft whistle from it. Probably not able to hear real well over the noise of the passing train. Plus nobody else can really seen the Turbo, someone else mentioned it, till it's seconds away due to the smoke. Then there was the weird way the person with the camera tried to warn him. A better way or warning someone is yelling Train and pointing behind him. If anything this was quite possibly the perfect setting. Luckily it didn't end up a bloody mess, but it did leave us with a few interesting thoughts and a topic to discuss those thoughts.

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

Now, now Mr Brunel! There's no reason why train spotters and railwaymen can't live together in harmony!

Indeed, I was very fortunate as a boy at Totnes railway station to make the acquaintance of all the ex-GWR station staff in the late 1960's. They taught us all about lineside safety and to respect the thundering giants that we were trying to spot and photograph! On dismal, cold days, we would be invited into the "Porters' Room" or into the porch of the signal box for a brew of strong, sweet tea and to hear yarns involving "Kings", "Castles", "Halls" and "Manors" and the "I don't know why you bother spotting they "bloody boxes on wheels" as they termed the Westerns, Warships, Hymeks and Class 29's that have quite a cult following nowadays!

Now, I work at Heathrow Airport where we have an abundance of aviation enthusiasts. I always treat them pleasantly and civilly, although for security reasons I can't be as helpful as I would like to be. If I was to see something that wasn't safe, I would approach the person and offer some friendly advice. IMHO railwaymen should do the same!

"The only difference between railwaymen and train-spotters is that railwaymen have chosen to make it their career!"

I have never been a "trainspotter". Thank god on the maintenance side of the job, we had very little contact with the public.

Trainspotters amongst the various workmates i had, at more than one depot. Were never spoken about in very complimentary terms.

IKB.

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

Let's face it this is why railroad companies don't want the foamers working for them. I've read of other cases where a foamer, working for CSX as a conductor, was too busy identifying a unique locomotive or freight car, and nearly derailed the train he was working on by setting the switch wrong.

IF you say that, why did GoVia Southern recruit me for a train caring job, despite the fact that they know very well that I am a train enthusiast, my life revolves around trains and I do some work on a preserved railway? The same is said for someone else I know.

I must be doing something right then.

 

[hope5]

despite the almost death experience the guy seemed to enjoy it
(btw i think the steam locos a britannia even tho I'm not very familiar with steam)

 

[wholbr]

Hi Everybody.
Don't be too hard on the person who had the near miss in the video as my experience would tell me it could happen to almost any of us.

I spent over 40 years of my working life in the road haulage industry initially as a HGV driver and and went on to become a senior health and safety officer for a very large international company. I am now retired but very often I am called back by my former employer to carry out what is known as root cause investigation of accidents.

Accidents can be divided into two sections the primary cause and the root cause. The primary cause can be that someone pulled out of a side turning into the path of an oncoming vehicle, or as I recently investigated a driver unloading a vehicle by the use of a tailift did not place the safety bars in the upright position causing a heavy cage to fall from the tailift onto a person standing close to the vehicle. In both the above examples the person driving the vehicle from the side turning and the person operating the tailift would apparently be 100% at at fault. However, root cause investigations very often show something different.

In the case of the driver operating the tailift it was found that during the course of his normal journey he had been telephoned by the company management and told to divert approximately 20 miles from his normal route to carry out a collection of some goods from a company that had not been listed by mistake on another drivers journey. By the time the driver diverted and then got back to his normal route he took in well over an hour to complete the extra work.

His vehicle had to be back at his depot by 6 pm so that the goods he had collected could be transferred to a trunk vehicle for transport and sorting at a hub depot. The trunk vehicles always leave at their set time regardless of whether the feeder vehicles have returned or not. The foregoing put pressure on the diverted driver who started to rush his remaining deliveries and collections which eventually caused the accident with the tailift.

In the above no one thought when telling the driver to carry out the extra work that this would put excessive extra pressure on a already tight schedule and therefore as the driver perceived intolerable pressure on his day's work. The distraction of running late and perhaps not returning to the depot in time for the trunk vehicles leaving lost the safety focus of the driver concerned, bringing about the route cause of the accident with the tailift.

In the case of the train spotter he also lost his safety focus when trying to get some good photographs of the tornado. The photographs became the overriding mental thought to the detriment of everything else. Safety was completely blocked out as he only had a few minutes to get his shots. Those few minutes nearly cost him his life. However, the thought of the minute or unusual pressure throughout a day are nearly always the root cause of accidents and it is something which could bring about an accident to any one of us.

Bill

 

[NikkiA]

(btw i think the steam locos a britannia even tho I'm not very familiar with steam)

It is, it's 70013 Oliver Cromwell, as I posted earlier..

As a bonus, if anyone wants to see it *really* running well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baIuy0lW0qo

It's quite surprising to see such a recently restored engine being pushed so hard, but it's a beautiful sight.

(I'm too young too have seen true 'steam expresses' running, so it's also surprising to hear how much different a heavily pushed express sounds, almost like a helicopter