GCR Ending of Lineside Passes, ex-Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

I refer you to my post 444, a perfect illustration of my point.

 

I don’t see the connection.

 

Basically, if idiots like this exist then the risk of allowing the general public lineside is too great.

 

The King of Whataboutery strikes again...

Take an argument, then introduce a ridiculous and untrue assertion that no one has made and present it as if that were their argument.

It is irrelevant that it is at a station. It is someone who thought he knew better and who so focused on getting his shots he put himself in danger.

If not him then plenty of the rest of the crowd, the video demonstrating if anything that it is not one or two bad apples that we hear about so often but rather the whole orchard that is rotten.

 

Really ! ! !

 

The sort of person who applies for a line side pass is normally a serious photographer who will have been doing it for years. Idiots are easily weeded out

 

Stations tend to be where the general public congregate. A serious photographer avoids them like the plague, one of the reasons for applying for a line side pass.

 

A proposition soon countered by the evidence on this thread of photographers disobeying the rules they’ve explicitly signed up to, not to mention the guy who died on the Victoria Bridge.

I am absolutely sure that you, and most other, lineside photographers act responsibly and safely. Unfortunately, it’s clear that some of your peers do not and will not. In the world we live in, what are railway managers to do in the face of a known risk that could bankrupt their railway?


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Is it?


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The guy at Victoria Bridge was Paul Riley and a train wasn't involved.

 

One of those serious photographers who are no risk to themselves or anyone else?

Something that is missing from the discussion is the reality that there is no preserved railway that can afford the resources involved in a court case. Not just legal costs but time and human resources used up in a potential case. The SDR fine was £40,000 for a near miss. Which is £40,000 that isn’t being used to preserve stock, fund restorations and so on. No railway has that kind of money lying around spare so any fine or costs will take directly away from core activities.

So while it is more likely that you maybe hit by a car while walking around, the costs for those involved are no where near as high as they are for railway if someone is killed or injured on their property by one of their trains.

 

No. But he was in the category you’d classify as “safe” because he knew what he was doing.


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Two of us were out on the Mid Hants today doing some bank clearance (which will help photographers who can see this spot from nearby roads and paths) There were no trains running but one or both of us could have fallen from the steep embankment, or tripped over a bramble, or broken an ankle in a rabbit hole had we not remained viligant. In fact, I left earlier than anticipated as I was tired and I did have a minor slip and trip a couple of times towards the end of the session. I know I'm exaggerating for effect, but wanted to point out that being safe isn't just about avoiding being hit by a train. And yes we are both official volunteers and have Mid Hants PTS certificates.

 

I was the fireman on the very next train at that incident, I was the first person to realise who it was. Paul was a good friend of mine, I do not want anything like that to happen to anyone else friend or not .

I am sure that Paul knew what he was doing but it didn't end well for him.

 

Bringing Paul Riley’s sad demise into the argument is pointless. He was not hit by a train, he decided to have a nap on a bridge.

 

Agreed. But @Johnb is arguing that proper photographers are safe because they know the ropes. Yet Paul Riley demonstrated the tragic fallacy of that proposition.


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Obviously not.

 

I've seen people argue on photography forums that no serious photographer would take pictures of trains. Clearly, then, none of the photographers who apply for lineside passes are serious photographers so none of them can be trusted.

 

This thread is getting very silly and has been reduced to wibble and point scoring. Nothing more to see on the GCR issue, the mods should close it IMHO.