Loudspeaker happiness

You only see a non sequitur as it differs from your view. We live in a world of instant information and I find people expect to be keep up to date with what's going on. Visited a heritage railway a few weeks ago and we were delayed at an intermediate station. No P.A. system there so information as to the nature of the delay took a while to get the length of the train. A simple P.A. announcement - had a system been available - would have informed us all as to what was going on.

 

Announcements at stations? Fine by me. I would agree that it only really works at large stations, but places like Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Minehead, Pickering, Grosmont, Bury Bolton Street and Sheffield Park, amongst others, are very busy places now. There would never be enough staff around to make sure everyone is properly informed. On smaller lines with fewer passengers (maybe on a nearby island or in the Welsh borders) or on quieter stations on major lines this may be less of a problem so no need for any 'intrusion'. Have to say that I do find 'commentary' type messages on trains very irritating.

 

I think you had better look up what a non sequitur means.

If there is a will to inform people then it can be done either way. This is the sort of use a P.A. would be legitimate. for.

PH

 

One of the places you refer to is one where I have found P.A. announcements to be rather less than inspired!

PH

 

Indeed it was. It could have been the signalman or the booking clerk or any other functionary who had a few moments to spare. The point is that no number of loudspeaker utterances will be of practical assistance to someone in these circumstances. Customer care and all that.

PH

 

I don't think anyone has suggested they might be. You should always have some staff available to answer questions, but for things like "the train is about to leave" I don't have a problem with a tannoy. That is after all, what they have been used for on the big railway since steam times in some cases.

 

in my experience, most pa systems are unintelligible.

On train announcements that "this service is for...." are totally infradig imo

 

I am sure things are fine on the Gloucs. Warwicks. However the remarks referred to in the first posting on this thread were heard very recently and have been trotted out, off and on, for ages. As the general public get less and less experienced with slam lock railway doors what has always struck me as a bit "can't be bothered" needs some attention IMHO

Paul H

 

Agreed, and I'm not saying a tannoy should be a substitute for helpful staff. But your assertion that they should only be used in extenuating circumstances seemed a little close-minded. Like other things, we're mostly in agreement, only your view is even more strict than mine!

 

I have some sympathy with Paul's views. However the bottom - to many of us types rather unpalatable, but nevertheless true - line is that the vast majority of people who visit preserved railways don't give a flying chuff about how precisely realistic the recreation of their past existence is. What they actually want is a 'theme park' recreation of what they believe existed, not what actually did exist.

In other words, simply speaking, they want to see, hear, smell and know they are travelling on 'a steam train', but for that to be experienced through all the mod cons of modern life - clean, modern toilets, a decent variety of good quality food, WiFi, instant information, access by car, disabled facilities and all the rest of it. That's where the money comes from, not enthusiasts like us who would love to experience branch lines as they genuinely were back in the 1950s and before.

When they are doing other things in life, like travelling by train, nowadays Joe Public accepts tannoy announcements as an integral - nay essential - part of it. So they expect it on a preserved railway. In order to keep the money coming in and therefore to continue existing, the preserved line has to recognise its biggest audience and keep it happy - a process which is always going to be an ongoing compromise with how accurately it can recreate its own past.

Working in the professional sound industry, as I do, it is a similar paradox to that of live classical music and opera. The purists don't want the sound to be amplified, whereas the vast majority of paying punters want it to sound exactly like it does on their remastered high end full surround mixes at home. So an enormous amount if time, effort, money and technology goes into developing and installing systems that amplify the sound in a way that makes it sound unamplified and is as visually inconspicuous as possible.

I am sure Paul will tell me that none of this relates in any way to what he said, but it's what I think, so there!

PS The other day I was looking at some 1950s photos taken on what became the Bluebell Railway. I really appreciate the line as it is now, but by Christ I wish I had been born early enough to spend time on it when it was part of the national network, warts and all. Yet I suspect that very few of today's Joe Public would want to experience the reality of what it was like then.

 

There are times when a tannoy is the best way to pass information, such as " will passengers on platform 1 step away from the edge as the train arrives at the platform" or the train at platform 2 is not for public use, , the next train on platform 2 does not call at this station , etc, the public will often ignore sign boards, at Alton one day, i was walking back to the loco, when a passenger asked me, is this the Ropley train, staring at a board saying medstead & fourmarks, Ropley and Alresford, saying they haven't announced anything over the tannoy, some people used to mainline railways expect to be told, this train is for so and so, same as the door problem, they expect doors to open themselves, and to be told what stations their train calls at.

 

so the steam railway experience is a bit wasted on them if they expect it to be just like the mainline.

 

Following arguments through to its logical conclusion sometimes isn't very helpful, as if there's one thing people never are is consistent - in everything ever!

Equally "safety announcements" are, IMHO, unnecessary. Folk won't listen to them anyway and it's just not needed. Now before you say "ah, but if they won't listen, they won't listen to any tannoy announcements" Yes they will. It's the same difference between a notcie explaining how to open the door and one not to hang your head out the window. One is directly helping you, and another, Whilst with you're safety in mind, is just "Something they say".

 

I took Latin so I know exactly what it means et sententiam meam stabis.

 

Can this thread be moved to the "Personal rant and not listening to others" section please?

 

The first post in this (IMO) nonsense was the OP complaining about being 'irritated'
So, Mr Hitch, you're irritated, OK, you've had your say, you're not going to change anything, you'll either have to accept it or stay away from bus/train/air terminals or anywhere else a PA system is used

 

you have missed the point. It's the use of non heritage pa at heritage sites he is irritated by. So am I.

 

Are you also irritated by non heritage ice cream kiosks, book shops, cafes etc. on heritage sites?

 

OK, you're irritated, fine by me. I say again, the OP asked if anybody else 'shared his irritation. Me??...........No.

Sorry Ian, mine is a reply to Mr Reading General (avoiding confusion)