working on a Heritage railway ,the benefits.

[Dave1987]

I have read the report and I've read his background which is the more concerning actually that an ex proffesional could get like that. I really did question whether it was the preserved line culture that did that. In the proffesional world if we don't follow procedures properly and cause an accident then our job and livelihood is on the line whereas a volunteer can simply walk away. It's a serious point. I'm no way suggesting that every preserved line and every volunteer has such a lax attitude to safety but even one is too many!

 

[E&W Lucas]

I have read the report and I've read his background which is the more concerning actually that an ex proffesional could get like that. I really did question whether it was the preserved line culture that did that. In the proffesional world if we don't follow procedures properly and cause an accident then our job and livelihood is on the line whereas a volunteer can simply walk away. It's a serious point. I'm no way suggesting that every preserved line and every volunteer has such a lax attitude to safety but even one is too many!

Not so. The consequences can be just as serious, ie individual prosecution. These people are doing the job because the WANT to. The reward is job satisfaction. Remember, the NYMR has volunteers allowed out onto the mainline network.

A personal view - I would suggest, that one of the biggest challenges for the heritage outfits, is the loss of people onto the mainline network. Since the big railway job market opened up post privatisation, ie you could start much later in life, plenty of people who were regular volunteers, or were potential or actual paid staff, have gone mainline. Especially true of the brighter young ones.

 

[AlexS]

I have read the report and I've read his background which is the more concerning actually that an ex proffesional could get like that. I really did question whether it was the preserved line culture that did that. In the proffesional world if we don't follow procedures properly and cause an accident then our job and livelihood is on the line whereas a volunteer can simply walk away. It's a serious point. I'm no way suggesting that every preserved line and every volunteer has such a lax attitude to safety but even one is too many!

You get just the same on the national network though - the difference being they tend to get caught a bit more quickly, I guess. There's plenty of cowboys around. Heritage lines are/have been kicked into shape by the ORR with the requirement for SMS and other things being monitored and improvement notices being issued/operations being closed down. But you have to remember that the likes of Network Rail have got plenty of improvement notices themselves (and who can forget shenanigans like, for example, the track gang in Birmingham who ****ted a train with a rail and tried to cover it up).

As a safety critical worker on both the national network and a heritage railway (I've worked on 3 to date doing one thing or another from signalman to trackwork) in various roles you see good examples and bad examples of people and practices.

 

[Beveridges]

During nights on the Maintenance Depot Driving I have come across a mix of cowboys and people who do the job properly, in all roles from Fitters to Maintenance Depot Drivers (including a certain "minder" Driver a constant cowboy whenever a DTM isnt there). Intolerence of the rules does not just end at preserved lines. Some people will do as little as they can get away with, even if this means taking short cuts and not doing the job properly.