[PRCo] Re: Electric Railway Accidents

[Fred Schneider]

Different philosophy ... lives are worth saving versus crossing gates  
cost money.  Which do you prefer?  The railroad accountant naturally  
prefers the latter.

It may have also been a philosophy that accounts for shorter times  
from work to home and a life style in which people want to relax with  
friends in a Gasthaus or pub contrasted with ours where you drive  
like hell to get home so you can vegetate in front of a wall sized  
digital television screen.    (You know, guys, I'm deliberately  
baiting you to see what kind of answers I get.)

Regardless of the philosophy,  the village idiot always finds a way.   
I recall a manual (unattended, non-automatic) gate was of Canterbury,  
England.  You drove up, telephoned the dispatcher for permission,  
then raised the gate.  Do you think that stopped the stupid from  
ignoring the rules?  No, they killed people too.   But as a general  
rule, I agree with you Jerry that a six inch red and white pipe that  
crosses all lanes of the road and both sidewalks and has a lattice  
hanging from it has a far better chance of stopping ignoramuses than  
a breakaway wooden pole.   The European societies also have done a  
much better job than us (except perhaps the British) when it comes to  
convincing their citizens to accept a regimented lifestyle.   I'm  
pretty sure Boris is going to disagree, stating that a lot of the  
regimentation in the "East" disappeared with the end of communism and  
yes, Boris, I understand that.   I recall a lovely and intelligent  
tour guide in Bulgaria explaining that it had been common for working  
men to take a nap after lunch and that children were simply told to  
be quiet, and that after the fall of communism suddenly the kids made  
noise on the philosophy that it is my right to do so.   But still, I  
think Europeans are herded much more easily than we are and when  
gates come down they routinely stop where here the last three or four  
drivers push the gas pedals to the floor.

You probably have also noticed from your trips that European  
locomotives never carried headlights because the grade crossings were  
so well guarded.   Afterall, you don't need a headlight to see what's  
ahead when you can't stop within 1/2 mile.   They simply installed  
small classification lamps.   But there were, years ago, two or three  
British steam locomotives (John Swindler would know) that did have  
headlights specifically for use on one line in Scotland that had an  
unguarded crossing.

On Sep 28, 2005, at 4:16 PM, <mtoytrain at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Jim
>
> I like the crossings in Europe, a different type of gate than what  
> we have there is not goring
> around them.
>
> Jerry
>
>>