[PRCo] Re: Electric Railway Accidents

[Boris Cefer]

F III, I understand what you mean by the regimentation. It has been shoving
tendency to disappear, but there are stil some traces of it. The problem is
the people that refuse to accept any rules because we have a "democracy".
Actually, it is rather an anarchy.

Locomotives in Europe do not have headlights? They have headlights, but
probably not so strong as in the us?

Boris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 1:36 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Electric Railway Accidents


> 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.