Never a dull moment.....

[Craig Haber <albatross@harnessnet.com.au>]

G'day,

one comes across interesting goings on all the time in this job, a
couple of good ones today involved train 8217 (13:15 down Warrnambool).
  
It was held up about 5 mins at Newport...a spark had failed, and
apparently it caught fire, so to avoid the mess there 8217 ended up
going down the west line to Werribee, and ended up on platform 1 (that's
the back platform).  Then the down departure signal fails, so the
signalman decided it was quicker to set back to the up end crossover and
go across there (rather than issue a caution order), so it did just
that, eventually got to Geelong at 14:24 (18 late).  Then there's some
consternation - do we bring 8232 through from Winchelsea?  Nah, keep
going (delay 6 mins acc. train order)....am checking tickets and (as
happens occasionally) someone's got a "Geelong - Melbourne".  'Where you
going mate?'  I asks. 'Melbourne' he answers.  Not on this train, so we
get to Winch and 8232 is waiting patiently in no. 2 road, we get this
bloke over to it (long way Geelong-Melb via Winchelsea!)  After all that
we get to Warrnambool only 7 late.  Runaround and come home, away on
time, approaching Newport South we pull up in the middle of the Champion
Rd level crossing.  The main res had come undone between loco and
powervan, when the brakes came on for the 65km/h diverge, they stayed on
and she pulled up!  Never mind, we get going and arrive Spencer St just
1 late. 

A real classic was Saturday morning, 8246 had arrived on Plat 8 on
Friday night (usually plat 7) acc. push-pull train of P-H set-H set-P in
7.  So 8207 goes off 8 Sat morning, I put out a sign on the whiteboard,
8:43 comes and I give "station work complete"...driver's not ready so we
sit there...the platform bells are ringing as about 6 late passengers
come sprinting up the ramp with bags etc etc, they nearly knock over the
sign I've put out, then pile into the H set on plat 7, their Mum stands
back and starts waving!  hahaha!  So off I go, round 'em up and get 'em
onto our train and off we go.  Never occured to them that the H set was
dark and empty!
 
Never a dull moment....

Cheers,
CH.
-- 
Craig Haber
albatross@harnessnet.com.au
Manufacturing Systems Engineer (B. Eng, RMIT 1998)
Web Page Designer, Harness Racing, Railways, and Essendon Football Club
fanatic
http://www.harnessnet.com.au/