KotangaGirl makes a very valid point. Until the 60's/70's each section of track (2-3 miles) here in the UK would have a track crew of 1-3, to maintain the track and the surrounding ground. Their job was to check for broken rails, loose fish plates etc. grease signal coupling rods and so forth, and to look after the banks and keep the track clean. Growth around the track was allowed to grow but kept trimmed to prevent fires from the sparks and cinders from the steam trains while preventing erosion, and in many places their derelict line-side huts can still be seen to this day. What with efficiency drives, 'Beeching' and other so called improvement, continuous rail, automation and so forth such workers today have been long replaced by machinery and mobile maintenance teams to the extent much goes wrong before its maintained. Line-side growth is hacked back by machine, and the loss of low level vegetation has led to erosion which to often is frequently missed or ignored until banks give way, tracks are blocked, delays and cancellations unfortunately all in the name of progress. Peter