Posted By Joel779 on 03/27/2009 10:15 AM
Tac,
Thanks for the response. Couple comments - It would be impossible to keep the tracks 100% protected, even with a fence, so if I was on the throttle of one of your express trains at 11:30pm I would be a bit concerned about ANYTHING that could have fallen, stalled, broken, ??? on the tracks. Although at 80mpg, the lights really just tell others you are coming, they don't do much to illuminate any problems that can be dealt with.
re the 'new old stock' A1, I figure that this was outfitted with a headlamp to meet current safety regulations.
as you say, it must have been exciting.
Ah, you see, over here, it is an offence, punishable by death [if you get it wrong] to trespass on railway property, and folks tended to stay away from the tracks - still do, in fact. Without ready access by either people or animals, and with 95% of all crossings gated, what then will stray onto the tracks?
You would be surprised as to just how few of your 'problems' actually occurred. Trains hitting objects on the line are usually due to somebody screwing up on a level crossing, either accidenatlly, or, like a year or so ago, on purpose. Having decided to klill himself by parking on a crossing, he then chickened out and left the car - seven people died in the ensuing crash.
And as for current safety regulations, our preserved steam locomotives are required to conform, safety-wise, to steam locomotive headlamp codes.
To my knowledge, there has never been an accident of any kind involving a preserved steam locomotive at night.
tac
www.ovgrs.org