Motorcaders (was: 3801/30 to ararat)

[James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au>]

clinton smith wrote:

> just got back from chasing train. my 3 yo and i enjoyed seeing 38's for
> the first time.
> however the reason for this post (my first) is to comment on the
> disgraceful driving
> displayed by so many chasing the train. these people are obviously
> chasing on a regular basis judging by the camera gear and hi vis vests i
> could see as they sped past. i know its good to chase trains but not at
> the peril of others. personally, i don't give a toss about those who
> wish to endanger themselves but i am a bit peeved at the inconsiderate
> people who dont seem to care about others on the same stretch of road.
> otherwise it was an enjoyable outing.
> any others have similar experiences??

I was on the train and I saw a person in a blue Ford Laser overtaking about
5 cars near Tatyoon Loop (I think) when there was another car coming in the
opposite direction. He then forced his way back onto the left hand side of
the road and the oncoming car had to slow down to avoid an accident. If the
oncoming car hadn't slowed down then there might have been a head-on
collision. As it is, the idiot was cutting it a bit fine.

On the Moulamein and Denniliquin SRV weekend tour in 1997 I saw another
example of idiotic driving. While driving at about 50kph a person took his
hands of the steering wheel to get a shot of D3 658!

As for other experiences while motorcading. I have run into a guy who is a
#*&##@$ lunatic. I first ran into him near Sunbury on cup day last year
while chasing the NSWRTM day trip with J515 to Bendigo and then Maryborough.
Me and my dad had been waiting at the top of the grade outside Sunbury for
about half an hour when he turned up at the very last minute. He then drove
down the PTC access road to where we were and parked his car about two
metres behind us, blocking any possibility of a receding shot of the train.
My dad told him that we were hoping to get a receding shot. He was then
going to ask the guy to move his car back to where we were so he wouldn't
block our shot but before he even got the chance to ask him, this person
stormed back to his car and then reversed up the access road and
deliberately set up his video camera in front of us. We then had to go
further up the line to have any chance of getting a reasonable shot, but
there was absolutely no smoke where we were and the shots were terrible
compared to what they could have been. If he had just let my dad finish what
he was going to say instead of just storming off back to his car like a
typical gunzel he would have got basically the same shot as where he
originally set up. The only difference would have been he was two metres
closer to Melbourne. We would have also got a good shot. It is this sort of
inconsiderate behaviour that really wrecks trying to photograph a steam
special.

We then ran into him again while chasing the SRV Oaklands trip in November
last year. We had been waiting for about half an hour at Beveridge. There
was also another guy who had been waiting there longer than us and he had
parked his car at the entrance to the access track. With about 5 minutes to
go before the train arrived I noticed him speeding down the road towards us.
He then turned into the access track and barely missed us and the other car
as he tried to drive around us. He even drove the right hand side of his car
up onto the ballast of the standard gauge! He then sped down the access
track but luckily he didn't block our shot this time. It ended up being
rather funny because the down XPT was running parallel to the special where
he was but it cleared the special by the time it passed us! I like to think
of it as poetic justice. :-)

I have seen him chasing other trains but after these two incidents I usually
avoid him unless it's a really good location.


--
- James Brook -

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