Re: NSWGR Timber Trestles

["Derick Wuen" <cullend@webone.com.au>]

Krel wrote in message <3771edf5.896254@news.netconnect.com.au>...
>On Wed, 23 Jun 1999 22:42:36 +1000, The Morphetts
><grahamm@onthenet.com.au> wrote:
>
>>You're out trainchasing and you decide to walk through a tunnel so you can
get
>>in place for your next shot - but the train is closer than you calculated
and
>>before you know it, you have a raging 38 behind you entering the tunnel at
+/-
>>70MPH. You can't get to one of the workman's safety thinggies in time and
the
>>tunnel is quite narrow - there's a good chance you'll be hit by the train
if
>>you stand against the wall. Having prayed, how do you save yourself?
>>
>Not only would you have a raging 38 behind you; you would also have a
>raging train crew.
>You lay down as close to the tunnel wall as you can and hope that you
>survive long enough to write a letter to the train crew apologising
>for scaring the daylights out of them. Not only are you tresspassing
>but you must have left your brain at the mouth of the tunnel. No one
>except a rail employee in the execution of their duties has any right
>to walk through a tunnel on an operating railway. This would rank as a
>super-dumb idea.
>
>
>
>Cheers
>
>Krel
>
>Steamfreight 99 at Victorian Goldfields Railway - July 17-18 1999.
>
>VGR website http://www.castlemaine.net.au/~vgr/
>
>Waxy Wary Zany Zebu

Agree with your sentiments, but its doubtful that the crew on a 38 going at
any pace in a single track tunnel would see the idiot. In my experience most
crews on locos not equipped with respirators will prepare for the onslaught
before entering tunnel thusly....

. blower on
. firebox door closed
. ease off on steam as much as grade and timetable allow
. turn on turbo and cab lights
. roll down sleeves, turn up collar
. dip sweatrag in washbucket and place over nose and mouth
. huddle in centre of cab and as close to rear of firebox as possible
. driver holds sand valve in case dampness in tunnel induces slip
. blow whistle before entering tunnel

The cab will fill with steam and smoke. You will not be able to see
anything. It will be unbearably hot. Danger is scalding by steam.
Self-preservation is main aim. Fool in tunnel will not be seen or even
looked for.