Two safety items

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve just posted on another forum and want to repeat my warnings here in the hope that you will all be encouraged to keep yourselves safe.

FIRST… have you tested your smoke and C0 alarms recently… whether it’s by burning your breakfast or whatever… (What do you eat that gives off C0???).

Okay… that nag out of the way…

I’m posting this as written 'cos i think it makes the point without intro or adjustment…

I’ve worked on the rails for more than 25 years and trains can come on you without you knowing it for lots of reasons. You don’t necessarily see them, hear them or feel them (the least likely)

(Smooth wheels on smooth rail ,especially ribbon rail, should not be creating much vibration and can produce none that you will feel on the ballast). (A train doesn’t need to be moving at much speed at all to kill you).

When I get knew people to mentor I always ask them what the most dangerous thing on the track is. The answer is “You are”.

  • You put yourself there
  • You pay attention or not
  • You put yourself in danger or not (just being there is dangerous)
  • You look out for yourself or not
  • You get distracted… you probably will be distracted… "or not isn’t really an option
  • You have something to do/attend to/see… worst is “in a hurry”
  • You forget things… like one train will hide another.
  • When YOU hear a train horn YOU get clear OF ALL LINES… the one you see ain’t necessarily the one that blew…
  • When the tail of a train passes… another may be coming on the next track… Don’t put YOU in front of it
  • When the last container on a flat goes by in the dark it doesn’t mean that it isn’t followed by a string of empties. Don’t walk YOU into it.
  • When you wait for a train to clear so you can cross wait clear of the track. Don’t put YOU in the path of another train
2

Dave;

Great advice! In the US here, pedestrians don’t have a lot of access to the rails, except of course via auto–there are still many areas(mainly rural) in Ohio that don’t have crossing gates, so your advice should be heeded by us all whether on foot or while driving.

Jim

3

Thanks for the posting.I feel the most dangerous part of my job is when I train workers to be switchmen at my employers railyard.Thank God we never had any serious injuries. Joe

4

Well, all you said is good common sense that most of us picked up on years ago…[:D] Thanks for the reminder.[8D]

5

In my main line of work, we had a name for people who didn’t maintain complete situational awareness. We called them casualties, and sent them back to base in body bags.

I personally approach a railroad’s right-of-way the same way I would approach a minefield subject to hostile fire. KNOW what you are stepping on BEFORE you put your weight on it. EXPECT a train, even if the rails are rusty from disuse. NEVER step on a rail, even where it crosses a road at grade. Treat anything electrical (especially third rail) with GREAT respect. Don’t EVER put yourself in a position where you could be hit by a train just to get a picture or sketch a track layout.

After decades of “inspecting” rail facilities on two continents, I can honestly say that the worst thing that has ever happened to me is sunburn. I don’t think that luck had anything to do with that.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964, largely from his own photos and notes)