The East Midlander Sat 9th April.

6201 accelerating away from the stop at Loughborough in tricky light after some patchy cloud have developed blocking the full sun we had early on.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10257146@N05/5607175948/

thanks for looking Simon.

 

I normally make a point of zooming such pond life, but sadly I wasn't travelling this time. Got some beautiful specimens on the Border Raider last year up Wilpshire, but no delay so kept them under wraps.

 

This link was just given to me on another thread.

If anyone knows who these people are, let us know.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m98Ub32DXuA

 

Are Vintage Trains prosecuting trespassers on the lineside now? Wouldn't the BTP be a better place to go to?

http://www.btp.police.uk/

 

Be a bit difficult to distinguish where the public footpath which crosses the line there, actually runs. (Certainly NOT on the ballast of the up slow!)

 

If the TOC get's hit with fines for the delays, why couldn't they prosecute the idiots? It is quite clear that their actions caused the delays....

And before anyone mentions a PTS card - it's not a right to to be on the line without reason.

 

I think the wooden crossing boards would be a pretty big hint.

 

Take a look at it on google maps, satellite view, the approach is not in line with the crossing.

 

To put it bluntly, bu**er what google maps shows. It's what your eyes tell you when you are there. The wooden crossing boards denote the safe crossing point and if you deviate from them then you are in trouble. Simple as.

 

Sorry, but as I have never been there nor am I likely to go there, I have to rely on such aids as are available to me, ie, Google maps. The whole thing is a storm in a teacup to me anyway, if people want to take their lives in their hands as shown on that video it's nowt to do with me, I stick to the right side of the fence.

 

What's with all this crossing nonsense? Since when has it been permissable to stand on a crossing when there's a train approaching anyway?

 

..... from behind the gate?

 

Do most people know that? I suspect the majority think they are "allowed" to stand on a public crossing (subject to dodging trains), particularly when on the section between the boundary fence and track. Even on an enthusiasts forum such as this, when a photo has raised suspicion and guycarr360 has asked if they were trespassing, several have replied "no, I was on a public crossing" and that has been accepted as legit access. The signage used by network rail should probably carry much clearer instructions regarding loitering on the wrong side of the fence at crossings, rather than most which seem just to display a generic "do not trespass" sign.

To be honest, it's an unfortunate side-effect of steam trains being so popular, many vantage points tend to be over-subscribed and people end up (sometimes unknowingly) in more dangerous situations than is desirable. I suspect the guy without the camera waving at the train didn't have a clue he was doing any wrong, but the photters really should know better and set an example.

There's not a great deal you can do without banning steam on the mainline. As a community, all we can do is try to educate those who put themselves in such situations. Unfortunately, from what I've seen, most enthusiasts aren't willing to self-police the community at the time in case they get a mouthful for their troubles (or worse), but instead go on a witch hunt after the event on forums such as this, which I personally think is rather sad.

While we can't be complacent, it does need to be kept in perspective; preserved steam has been on the mainline for many years and to the best of my knowledge there hasn't been a death or serious casualty resulting from people going out to see those trains.

 

The issue you sem to be missing here is the way the modern railway works, with swinging penalties being applied for delay etc. If it is deemed that the steam tour was the cause of the delay due to tresspass then the penalties could easily wipe out any profit or worse.

 

How does this work legally? Can the tour operator/promoter really be held responsible and be fined for the actions of these people?

 

I don't know, hence my IF. But if the tour operator is not held responsible (and I'm not at all sure thay can be) there will be no doubt be pressure from the other operators affected to curtail steam tours if they are going to result in such delays. Iain

 

Not sure if that was aimed at me, but I don't think that changes anything. It just means that tour operators won't run tours if the profits are wiped out and the trespass problem will go away (assuming they don't just do it for the love and have very deep pockets). Everything else I say still stands. If enthusiasts don't have the balls to sort out the problem at the time, then there is little point in complaining after the event when the damage has been done. There must've been a good few dozen folk spread over the crossing and on the overbridge at Cossington, yet apparently no one thought (or had the balls) to tell the people in a dangerous position to move.

 

Bit of a generalisation that - what if someone did but was ignored? The threat of trespass has been well done on here and in the media in the last few years but nothing has changed: trains still run, people still trespass. It's bad and not something to condone but neither does it seem to affect the number of trains run nor is it highlighted by Network Rail when steam hauled trains run.