Re: Guardian Angels but who do we tell

["Arthur Marsh" <mars0177@flinders.edu.au>]

This was a recent topic under the subject of "reporting rail-related
emergencies".

The short answer is to call the police, state that you have a rail-related
emergency, use 000 if it's life threatening, or the other police
attendence/operations number if not. If calling from a mobile, leave your
mobile number; if calling from a public telephone, ask to stay on the line
while the appropriate rail operations staff are contacted so that you can be
contacted should any clarification of the situation be needed.

In the Adelaide metropolitan area I use the TransAdelaide Transit Police
number - they at least answer the phone very quickly and know who to
contact.

The problem with trying to contact controllers directly is that they have a
limited number of lines and are not in a good position to handle a large
number of calls. The police should at least be competent to answer and
filter calls, and contact the right parties quickly.

Arthur.

PS, please do not post to this newsgroup in HTML.


"Thommo" <mjthom@hdc.net.au> wrote in message
Km%x5.3$ii2.617@vic.nntp.telstra.net">news:Km%x5.3$ii2.617@vic.nntp.telstra.net...
Given there are more rail enthusiasts trackside than there are rail workers
in today's environment, in particular the country areas, most of us have
encountered a freight train passing with a potential disaster looming, in
the form of a load shift, seized bearing, dragging brakes, tarpaulin blown
loose, or dragging undergear. A good example is depicted in the September
edition of Railway Digest, and indeed the incident at Junee earlier this
year certainly highlights the fact. In days of past,signalers and station
staff usually reported these defects and contacted the appropriate authority
to rectify the situation. Us as observers are now the Guardian Angels for
these potential mishaps but who do we tell?? I used to carry the Melbourne
phone number for standard gauge traffic, after the death of a truck driver
at Wallen, when he careered down an embankment, and then a freight train
ploughing into him. Now most of us carry a mobile in our travels, therefore
we should have direct access to the train controllers and inform that their
train has a potential disaster on board.

Your Guardian Angel
Thommo