level crossing near misses, was Re: problems at ringwood

[david <david@nmit.vic.edu.au>]

I  cross Cramer St at Preston  four working days a week, and I  shudder at the
cars gambles. Those train come around so quick as to have no chance ( the same
must be for Bell St as well ).  These days  when the bells go and the booms
come down, they do not give enough time to try to clear the crossing (
something about not holding up the traffic, so we will reduce the warning time
).

As others may wish to point out - who would fund such an advert ?



Michael wrote:

> Hi,
>
> During the PTC open day approx 7 years ago, I remember watching a
> demonstration at the Epping Workshops, by the CFA. The basic scenario
> was, they ran a spark directly into an old car.
>
> A couple of things to note are, the spark was doing no more than 5kph, at
> the time of the impact, as to probably not do any damage, and the car
> wasn't exactly small. By the end of the impact, when the train stopped,
> the car was a total mess.
>
> Imagine a fully laden 6 car spark doing this at anywhere between 20kph
> and 60kph? Or we can go one level worse, pick any freight train,
> particularly steel, hauled by heavy locos.
>

I do worry. Trains do not stop on a dime ( motorists also think trucks stop on
a dime too, but that's another story ).



>
> People take the attitude "nah, it can't happen to me, it never has before
> so it wont now". People also think that the train can stop, or they won't
> get stuck on a crossing. People also think that just because there is a
> blind spot not allowing them to see more than 25m up/down the track, that
> there is no train.
>

And they may think they have enough time to drive off if the bells go - not
these days !
I hate to think of  the near misses the drivers see everyday !

>
> You are right, we do need a TAC style ad campaign, however the other
> issue to be addressed which is just as important, is pedestrian traffic.
> "Oh, i cant hear the train, so there mustn't be one", never mind that
> they are probably listening to a portable stereo, or the train is a quiet
> one.
>

If you haven't seen a silent train - it will be the one to get you. I have
noticed a Dynon to be very careful on escorted tours there, as a idling loco
may move with little extra noise.

>
> I believe I may have mentioned this on past occasions, but I have seen the
> stupidity that goes on, at the Bell Street / Bell Station level crossing,
> having been committed to 6 years of secondary education within that
> vicinity. Then there was the accident there. A train (375M??) ran into a
> stationary truck. The train was going slowly, as it had to stop at Bell
> Station, but still did not have enough time to stop. A number of people on
> the train itself suffered minor injuries as well, for this truck driver's
> stupidity.

Yes it creates more chaos ( remember as well ) - Cramer Street fills to
capacity with diverted traffic inviting the same thing !

>

> Writing/ranting about it in here won't help however, maybe we need to
> convey the message onto our local members to try and get somethign done.
>
> Regards
> Michael

>
> (Who also saw a car sitting in middle of the level crossing at Glenroy,
> last week, while a train was approaching).
>

Regards,
David