Winseer:
Mustn’t forget the “free rail travel for you and your family” perk that goes with it too… Does that include the commute across London if someone like me from Kent had a job that involved them going into somewhere like Stonebridge Park?
I think this perk is not as good as it once was. A lot of countries on the other side of the world would recognise your pass and offer some discount 
I think some TOC’s only offer the free travel to the worker rather than their family as well.
I get free travel for my spouse and myself on the trains operated by who I work for. I get nothing at all on anything operated by TFL, and I get discounted travel on all other Uk mainline trains.
Winseer:
Mustn’t forget the “free rail travel for you and your family” perk that goes with it too… Does that include the commute across London if someone like me from Kent had a job that involved them going into somewhere like Stonebridge Park?
that little perk went with privatization only those who had it originaly still get it and its a lot more restricted than it was new entrants tend to get only free/discounted ttravel on there own companys trains .
had a college who got it through his dad being a signalman when he joined railtrack as a trainee he lost it .was nice perk tho 16 48 hr free passes per year plus discounted travel the rest of the year + free passes for europe and beyond .
worked out i could get my family of six by rail to sicily and only pay port tax to cross the channel petty we never did it before i left .
bazza123:
Henrys cat:
Harry Monk:
I think train drivers deserve every penny they get, how they manage to balance a great big long train like that on those skinny little rails is awesome, even more so when they have to steer it round a corner.Just as an aside on this.
I work for a rail maintainance firm who have Road Rail volvo’s, its very weird the first time you go down track in rail mode and your pulling on the steering wheel as the track turns (steer wheels are locked in a straight ahead mode to keep you in gauge when on track)
Got to admit to still trying it occasionally towards the end of a long shift
I wouldn’t like their job though, its hard enough to get 26t of truck to move/stop on slippery rails never mind a full train. But that said we’re still paid a good amount for what we do on the overhead maintenance
When you first touch the wires, even though you are told its switched off, do you still hold your breath?
I’m ok about it now, but for the first 6 months was very wary. You can sometimes get a bit of a jolt even though its off and all earthed up, that’s from residual and static, very rare though.
It is fun though with a newbie on their first shift. Just as you get to the wire, you grab it a shake about the basket. They crap themselves
Henrys cat:
bazza123:
Henrys cat:
Harry Monk:
I think train drivers deserve every penny they get, how they manage to balance a great big long train like that on those skinny little rails is awesome, even more so when they have to steer it round a corner.Just as an aside on this.
I work for a rail maintainance firm who have Road Rail volvo’s, its very weird the first time you go down track in rail mode and your pulling on the steering wheel as the track turns (steer wheels are locked in a straight ahead mode to keep you in gauge when on track)
Got to admit to still trying it occasionally towards the end of a long shift
I wouldn’t like their job though, its hard enough to get 26t of truck to move/stop on slippery rails never mind a full train. But that said we’re still paid a good amount for what we do on the overhead maintenance
When you first touch the wires, even though you are told its switched off, do you still hold your breath?
I’m ok about it now, but for the first 6 months was very wary. You can sometimes get a bit of a jolt even though its off and all earthed up, that’s from residual and static, very rare though.
It is fun though with a newbie on their first shift. Just as you get to the wire, you grab it a shake about the basket. They crap themselves
PMSL. Do you have some sort of beefed up multimeter to test for current in the wires before you touch them, or just go on blind faith from the supplier? I’m not sure how it works.
Harry Monk:
My mate went for a train driver’s job with Connex South-Eastern but he failed because he was late for the interview… because the Connex Dover-Charing Cross train broke down while he was a passenger on it. And no matter how many times he explained this to Connex, they just weren’t interested.
If its any consolation, tell him Connex were the worst bunch of ■■■■■■■ cowboys and unscrupulous train operating company that ever walked the earth. They’ve gone now though thank ■■■■. They were a real shower of ■■■■.
bazza123:
PMSL. Do you have some sort of beefed up multimeter to test for current in the wires before you touch them, or just go on blind faith from the supplier? I’m not sure how it works.
Personally we don’t have testers, we just trust the people who do the earthing up.
How it works is:
The ES (Engineering Supervisor) gets the ok from the PICOP (Person in charge of possession) to set up the worksite. He tells the NOM (Nominated person) that its ok to earth up. The NOM phones the ECO (Electrical control officer) and asks him to switch certain sections off, when he has said they are off, the NOM instructs his AP’s (appointed persons) to put the earths up. Before they put them up they should test the line with a tester to ensure its off, and then again after they are up. Once the AP’s confirm to the NOM that the earths are up and all is dead he then issues a form C to all relevant CC’s and MC’s ( crane and machine controllers). They then tell us what the limts of the isolation are and that its safe to go up/stick the crane up.
Ideally you wouldn’t go near the lines until the power is off and its all earthed up, but some firms (ours included) have machines that have been cleared to on and off track and travel under live wires, as long as they are above a certain height.
aye, 25KV will and does jump a considerable distance to get you! The rule book section concerning the overhead line states that you or anything you are carrying does not come within 9 feet of it.
It turns the body into instant, very over done bacon rashers closely followed by death.
Have a look at this video but maybe not if your squeamish- youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOsm4PYr0
Truckulent:
Rhythm Thief:
weeto:
toby1234abc:
Why is that? Pilots on double that.For a train driver.?London tube drivers earn more than that.Perhaps it’s because they stick together for the cause!
… and don’t have a macho bs culture about not being a proper train driver unless you work a seventy hour week.
Yup ^^^^
Never seen a train driver with tasselled curtains and chrome wheel trims. Nor with a lot of extra LED lights everywhere in various colours (often illegal), that serve no purpose whatsoever.
In short, they’ve got their priorities much better sorted than truck drivers.
you wont see any bling on trains full stop,because as you are aware they would not be allowed to,as regards the trucks i myself do not have a truck like that nor would i want one but if every hgv was the same then transport would be even more boring in general, some look quite nice
Gembo:
aye, 25KV will and does jump a considerable distance to get you! The rule book section concerning the overhead line states that you or anything you are carrying does not come within 9 feet of it.
It turns the body into instant, very over done bacon rashers closely followed by death.
Have a look at this video but maybe not if your squeamish- youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOsm4PYr0
I know a chap who was once told by someone in authority that up to 6 inches from the wires could be the minimum clearance on a dry day! Not sure I’d want to test it though!
There is a VERY graphic video available on youtube from India showing the effects of touching the wires.
bazza123:
Gembo:
aye, 25KV will and does jump a considerable distance to get you! The rule book section concerning the overhead line states that you or anything you are carrying does not come within 9 feet of it.
It turns the body into instant, very over done bacon rashers closely followed by death.
Have a look at this video but maybe not if your squeamish- youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOsm4PYr0I know a chap who was once told by someone in authority that up to 6 inches from the wires could be the minimum clearance on a dry day! Not sure I’d want to test it though!
There is a VERY graphic video available on youtube from India showing the effects of touching the wires.
6 inches! ■■■■ that for a game of soldiers! I wouldn’t risk 3 feet.
Think Ive seen the video you mention, grabs the contact wire and bursts into flames if its the one im thinking of.
Gembo:
bazza123:
Gembo:
aye, 25KV will and does jump a considerable distance to get you! The rule book section concerning the overhead line states that you or anything you are carrying does not come within 9 feet of it.
It turns the body into instant, very over done bacon rashers closely followed by death.
Have a look at this video but maybe not if your squeamish- youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOsm4PYr0I know a chap who was once told by someone in authority that up to 6 inches from the wires could be the minimum clearance on a dry day! Not sure I’d want to test it though!
There is a VERY graphic video available on youtube from India showing the effects of touching the wires.
6 inches!
Think Ive seen the video you mention, grabs the contact wire and bursts into flames if its the one im thinking of.
I’m fairly sure we have less than that when travelling under live. After all its only 600 clearance from live to earthed structures.
Will check the clearance we have later as I’m on track in about 2 hours
Henrys cat:
Gembo:
bazza123:
Gembo:
aye, 25KV will and does jump a considerable distance to get you! The rule book section concerning the overhead line states that you or anything you are carrying does not come within 9 feet of it.
It turns the body into instant, very over done bacon rashers closely followed by death.
Have a look at this video but maybe not if your squeamish- youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOsm4PYr0I know a chap who was once told by someone in authority that up to 6 inches from the wires could be the minimum clearance on a dry day! Not sure I’d want to test it though!
There is a VERY graphic video available on youtube from India showing the effects of touching the wires.
6 inches!
Think Ive seen the video you mention, grabs the contact wire and bursts into flames if its the one im thinking of.I’m fairly sure we have less than that when travelling under live. After all its only 600 clearance from live to earthed structures.
Will check the clearance we have later as I’m on track in about 2 hours
Obviously the 6 inch figure is for bone dry conditions. So I’m told.
I’m not absolutely certain, but ISTR that back in the days of steam, more than one fireman got zapped by overhead lines when he went into the tender coalspace to trim it.
If you look at old pics of steam engines from the 1960’s, you’ll see that some of them had a diagonal stripe on the cab side. That indicated that they were restricted from working “under the wires” south of Crewe on the West Coast main line.
Deleted
Gembo:
Fair bloody play chap, sorry, I honestly didn’t realise there was a current TOC salary that high.
You on freight?
Definitely freight driver - there are a couple of TOCs that approach that including Virgin, East Coast and Eurostar. But included in that pay slip is a lot of overtime (Christmas) and freight drivers don’t get any discounted / free travel.
I’m also a train driver (and I drive coaches from time to time). I’m too embarrassed to tell other coach drivers what I do when I’m coach driving. I get the pi** taken out of me and they belittle the job as they say anyone can do it. One has even challenged me to drive a ‘proper’ diesel locomotive train on a preserved railway line - he says he would take it to better than me as he is mechanically minded.
daveb0789:
One has even challenged me to drive a ‘proper’ diesel locomotive train on a preserved railway line - he says he would take it to better than me as he is mechanically minded.
I’ve driven a diesel locomotive on a preserved railway line (EKLR), but preserved lines have such low speed limits that there really wasn’t a great deal of skill required. It took a bit of practice to get it to stop precisely where I wanted it to, mostly because unlike the footbrake in a truck, you can’t feel any resistance when applying the brake.
Just found a pic of it, but a bit of digging suggests it isn’t there any more but has moved to the Spa Valley Railway.
Very nice Harry. I do plan on having a go. The maximum allowed on preserved lines is 25 mph
One of my favourite videos. Sit back and enjoy.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=s5kLJdCEgU4
When Britain was great.
And another firm favourite:
Never
Gembo:
Bking:
Mind you any muppet can drive a train.
Hardly Phd wok is itReally? Is that a fact!
I take it you’ve been a train driver on the footplate then?
You know the job inside out?
Man, you don’t half talk some complete and utter crap on here. Why don’t you take up knitting or summin. You wouldn’t know where to [zb] begin!
Ive been in the rail industry for just coming up to 20 years, Im not a train driver but ive been in a fair few driving cabs in my time, what these guys know, their skills in train handling alone and their knowledge alone would make your sad little head spin.
If you really think that stopping a 2000 ton coal train on the right side of a red signal from 60 mph in the pitch dark on a wet rail on a falling grade is a piece of ■■■■, then you really are in cloud cuckoo land
Never heard of brakes.For christ sake how many useless pillocks want to make themselves look important.
