Shunting American style.(WW2 US Railway Troops.
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdV6G...eature=related

Have a look at this from America during WW2.
It shook me a bit when I saw the men jumping on and off of moving trains.
I have seen 2 shunters loose thier legs by such action in my time on the railway.

Another film from the USA. This time about a horse shoe curve and coal trains.
Yet again it looks like a Health and Safety nightmare.
We have such a curve which connects the L and Y to the LNW near Miles Platting at Manchester.
We called it Indian Rubber Junction.
As when a MGR rain goes round this railway, you can see the rear of the train at right angles to where you are at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3__B...eature=related

Couple of interesting films, sadly people are getting hurt getting on or off moving trains very recently.
Richard

One of the victims was run over by a 08 350hp the other injury happened as the shunter was riding on the steps of a Class 56, when he slipped off and went under an HAA coal truck and lost his legs.
Those of you readers who take short cuts when on and about the railway should always remember that all things on the railway are big, dirty and heavy, and if they hit you it WILL hurt and sometimes you do not get up again.

When I started out on the railroad fourteen years ago, we were all trained to get on and off moving equipment. Today, it is a forbidden act. Some say the "art of railroading" is passing on as the skills taught for generations are replaced with safety rules that are far more restricting. I'll admit that while running a ten thousand ton train that could be a mile long, having to make a complete stop to let someone off and then restarting it can be problematic. I would like to state that in my opinion a great deal of the personal injuries that occur on US railroads are a result of complacency and a lack of situational awareness.

Regarding Matt's commentary on "Extreme Trains", well Matt was accused by many railroad enthusiasts as being a bit "over the top" with his enthusiasm in an attempt to make the show interesting to the general tv viewer. As a fellow "New Englander" and railroader I have to say I enjoyed his attempts to bring the world of modern railroading to the viewers. I would speculate that the average American has far less exposure and understanding of railways than you folks in the UK.

Nice to hear from you lads accross the big ocean.
In the 1980's we had a culture on British Rail that included cosuming beer whilst on duty, slack methods of working, which quite a few people lost limbs and were killed by not adhereing to the rules of the railway.
Gradually the slack working was ironed out by management setting examples of employees who were found lacking.
One engine driver lost his life by consuming beer before driving his train, when he went onto an occupied platform and ran into the back of the stationary train.
In my 3 decades on the railway my only drink was tea out of a brewing can I bought whilst on holiday in Spain............................................. ....

Railroading in the US has been plagued in the past by alchohol and or drug use. All train service employees are now subject to manadatory drug and alchohol testing. These tests are often done randomly through computer selection. The governing standards are established by the Federal government. Now it seems the focus is on the use of personal electronic devices after a head on collision a few years ago in California. It was determined that one of the engineers had been texting prior to the collision.

Hmm, a nice cup of tea. We can't get that here in the US. For a good cup I have to visit family in Canada.

Best Wishes,
Joe

Concerning complacency - in my time on the railroads here in Canada, the couple of fataliites that occurred in the yard were both cases of employess close to retirement. Familiarity had led to complacency, in one case the employee was within a couple of months of finishing.

For the UK, would a central buck-eye coupling of reduced the injury in the cases cited? Every time I see wagons being coupled in Europe, I shudder at the increased risk when between the wagons.

Finally, I did enjoy the video - the procedure for marshalling and despatching a train over here is almost identical 70 years later on!

Nice to hear from you in Canada.

A person on the UK System is not judged by how much money they have of where they come from.
They are judged on how good they can play cards in the mess room and how many times they will brew a can full of tea in a shift.

Interesting to note that in most of the occasions when someone got on a moving vehicle in the film it was the rearmost step of the rearmost vehicle, thereby removing the possibility of falling under the wheels should they miss! I wonder if this was how they were trained or just how it was done in this instance?

Interesting catch Nigel, yes you did notice the correct procedure.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PoathArc...29/l77WU1DE1W8

The Poath archive collection on youtube has some great old films!

It makes no difference, which step you ride on, it a dangerous practise, but people tend to think that it w ont happen to them.
If take your mind off what your are doing for a second and thats all it takes to loose and arm or leg.

Interesting I think.
It wasn't too long ago that shunters in parts of Australia were still allowed to hop on & off moving rollingstock.
As the video shows there is a technique involved that minimizes the risk of injury.
In this day and age though, the management are so concerned about covering their backsides that, although some of the safety initiatives are a step forward in natural health and safety progression, they have taken it way too far in some instances.
I know in my role working on track, after an unfortunate incident that resulted in the deaths of two colleagues, the knee jerk reaction virtually stopped us from accessing the track to get any maintenance done. Only when some equipment began to fail did they let us “bend “their new rules to get trains running again.

These new “safe working " rules were introduced by management and lawyers that have zero track experience, but plenty of rear end covering experience.
Common sense should prevail, certainly rules are necessary, and have indeed been in place in ever increasing increments to suit different scenarios, however, most workers are responsible enough to take ownership of their own safety, if not, their mates on the job with them certainly will let them know.

One thing is for sure though; this is a very complex issue that has very strong support for both sides of the argument.

Perhaps we should adopt this film as a training aid of HOW NOT to do it!!!

In regards to the dubious safe work practice demonstrated in this video, those who know nothing about the job in hand should really speak to those who have made a career out of these jobs.

Just a quick note to update the brilliance of office staff who dictate safety standards about tasks they know nothing about, having never actually done these tasks themselves, aimed at staff who actually really work in the dangerous areas.

Latest...

"Must hold hand rails whilst walking down stairs."

People who are adept in walking should be outraged.
What should these rogue walkers do if they are walking UP stairs?
They will be lost and without any direction on how to climb from the place where they must have got to at some stage.


These tossers are paid big money to make totally inane statements that most people know already, or choose to undertake if they feel necessary.

Imagine the anguish for these muppets to even think about somebody stepping on a piece of ballast, let alone having to work on an actual track with actual rail traffic.

Before there are cries of “we have to cover all potential accidents"...
There are really only two words that sum it up for me...harden up.

Everyone’s got a story...

Sorry, but I would have thought that GOOD advice, even more so at home with carpeted stairs.:)

Oh, certainly good advice, what burns my butt is the amount of dollars that these Einstein's are getting paid to deliver these words of wisdom.
And the thousands of dollars spent to communicate this " new safety initiative" to the workforce.
Seriously, primary school stuff.