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Post by railtechnician on May 19, 2013 15:42:27 GMT
Perhaps he just didn't like having to work in such close proximity to the live rails. I thought his comment that it was 'only 630v' indicated that he found it pretty intimidating. Not unreasonable. Different people have different things that they find particularly threatening. Could he have been doing it to make a point to the audience? "This isn't a playground down here on the tracks. You have to know exactly what you're doing if you want to get back in one piece" That message was not evident at all, one second he's on the phone getting the message, next he's at the points, no suggestion of proper procedure to access the track etc. He should have surely been more concerned about being run over than electrocuted! |
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Rich32
Staff Emeritus
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Post by Rich32 on May 19, 2013 19:19:51 GMT
Could he have been doing it to make a point to the audience? "This isn't a playground down here on the tracks. You have to know exactly what you're doing if you want to get back in one piece" That message was not evident at all, one second he's on the phone getting the message, next he's at the points, no suggestion of proper procedure to access the track etc. He should have surely been more concerned about being run over than electrocuted! Bear in mind the programme is edited and the full procedure is not shown, as to Mr & Mrs average punter, the intricacies of track access does not make an interesting and 'fast-paced' documentary. Remember this is for a general audience, not an OU-style programme where your argument about showing the full procedure would have more weight as the target audience would be expected to appreciate the full-on proper procedure. |
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Post by Alight on May 19, 2013 21:02:31 GMT
What were the tunnels they visit originally used for at Moorgate? It wasn't very clear.
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Post by railtechnician on May 20, 2013 5:25:42 GMT
What were the tunnels they visit originally used for at Moorgate? It wasn't very clear. There's the subway from beneath the Met platforms passing the lift shafts to the old Northern platforms. There's also the disused area above the Northern running tunnels which is old subways to the lifts partially condemned when I last worked in that area circa 1995/6. The shield is visible from one of the platforms at the end of the running tunnel. Not too much in that programme was 'very clear' and to call it a history of the tube was sacrilege. Passengers may be unaware that when they enter the ticket hall from the street they walk right over the tops of the disused lift shafts. |
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Post by railtechnician on May 20, 2013 5:45:56 GMT
That message was not evident at all, one second he's on the phone getting the message, next he's at the points, no suggestion of proper procedure to access the track etc. He should have surely been more concerned about being run over than electrocuted! Bear in mind the programme is edited and the full procedure is not shown, as to Mr & Mrs average punter, the intricacies of track access does not make an interesting and 'fast-paced' documentary. Remember this is for a general audience, not an OU-style programme where your argument about showing the full procedure would have more weight as the target audience would be expected to appreciate the full-on proper procedure. I did not mention 'full procedure', I will say that impression is everything, there was no hint that there was more to going to clip and scotch the points than getting down onto the track. Apparently, according to the 'experts', people are impressionable to the extent that in a 'monkey see, monkey do' way they will follow quite thoughtlessly what they see others do. Now you can't have it both ways, either the railway is a dangerous place or it isn't as far as the general public is concerned. The idea that a safe system of securing the points would have been conveyed with a few appropriate words conveying that impression rather than the impression presented by the comment about the juice once he was on the track. |
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Rich32
Staff Emeritus
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Post by Rich32 on May 20, 2013 8:18:07 GMT
RT, the people who are making this programme are doing so primarily from an informative entertainment viewpoint and are not going to get bogged down with the detail. Sure even you can see that.
If they made it with the detail you are bemoaning no-one except a small band of interested people, e.g.forumites, would bother to watch. Agreed it's a fine line and they may have, in your opinion, come short, but overall the programme delivered IMHO
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 8:29:13 GMT
Rail Tec - Scotch & Clip of course! Scotch first, clip second – It’s a common mistake. We used to get told off at RTC if we used the term incorrectly. The idea was to instil the importance of using the Scotch Block first to prevent injuries if the points moved while you were trying to fit the clip. And of course the clip is fitted under the rail (not there’s any suggestion he did otherwise).
Although I thought he was a bit blasé around the juice rails. Also he seemed happy to stand on that 4 foot size open drain cover. Personally I never stood on those things, just in case they gave way. The correct procedure on the track is never to stand on any rail and to walk on the ballast where you can. Reason being the old wooden sleepers could be slippery. Perhaps not so relevant these days with concrete sleepers.
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Post by railtechnician on May 20, 2013 15:44:00 GMT
RT, the people who are making this programme are doing so primarily from an informative entertainment viewpoint and are not going to get bogged down with the detail. Sure even you can see that. If they made it with the detail you are bemoaning no-one except a small band of interested people, e.g.forumites, would bother to watch. Agreed it's a fine line and they may have, in your opinion, come short, but overall the programme delivered IMHO Nowhere have I suggested that detail is required, try to read what is written and NOT something between the lines which clearly isn't. |
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Post by railtechnician on May 20, 2013 16:12:02 GMT
Rail Tec - Scotch & Clip of course! Scotch first, clip second – It’s a common mistake. We used to get told off at RTC if we used the term incorrectly. The idea was to instil the importance of using the Scotch Block first to prevent injuries if the points moved while you were trying to fit the clip. And of course the clip is fitted under the rail (not there’s any suggestion he did otherwise). Although I thought he was a bit blasé around the juice rails. Also he seemed happy to stand on that 4 foot size open drain cover. Personally I never stood on those things, just in case they gave way. The correct procedure on the track is never to stand on any rail and to walk on the ballast where you can. Reason being the old wooden sleepers could be slippery. Perhaps not so relevant these days with concrete sleepers. I don't much care whether it's scotch & clip or clip and scotch, clip and scotch are the items, scotch and clip are the procedures is the reason for that! It is common sense to put the scotch block in first (and take it out last of course!), no-one who doesn't know that should be anywhere near the turnout. It is also common sense that the clip goes under the rail but there is a distinct difference between operating and engineering staff in terms of competence in anything that takes place on or about the track and outside rolling stock. Standing on anything trackwise is a no-no, one should never step on anything but ballast or other trackbed, many signal problems are caused by all and sundry being allowed onto the track and not being careful where they tread. Many track failures are the result of lack of care around track connexions (yep the correct word for an electrical connexion, sadly long forgotten by many and never learnt by most). Those drainage grid covers are notorious, I recall a wireman walking on one some thirty years ago and dropping four or five feet as it gave way. He was lucky and unharmed other than a soaking and some embarassment. Working on the track is dangerous but far more dangerous to those who don't do it regularly and AFAIR station staff do it seldom or never and rarely when trains are running. As a lineman I had some 'interesting' experiences when accompanied by operating staff on signal failures, I wondered how some folk managed to reach the grades they were in without ever having been in a tunnel in engineering hours let alone traffic hours. I recall one station supervisor who clearly thought that clips and scotches were self removing so he didn't bother to go and check after reading the daily station log, one of several events I could relate following early morning calls to 'signal failures'! I found station staff wanting in many things that they really should have been better trained in so I admit to being somewhat biassed but one takes as one finds, it is after all the LUL way! |
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