Driving at night

[Julius]

Can spmsome tell me how the driver aquires the necessary route knowledge vision at night, when everything is pitch black, like how do they know their beakibr points and old station sites in the dark?

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Can spmsome tell me how the driver aquires the necessary route knowledge vision at night, when everything is pitch black, like how do they know their beakibr points and old station sites in the dark?

By learning the route in such detail during daylight hours that by the time it comes to go out in darkness they know exactly what is where. Think of moving about your home at night with the lights off but then transfer that experience to a heavily controlled, and therefore very predictable, environment. There's a reason why route knowledge is taken so seriously as the standards required are very high. In fact the real test is fog: this can change the way everything sounds which can interfere with that mind's eye picture of the route.

 

[dk1]

Driving trains at night is far easier than doing it by day. Signals stand out clearly with no daylight distractions.

 

[rd749249]

Yes fog definitely hightens your senses. Just slow down, take your time and focus. I prefer driving at night as there’s less to distract my attention. It’s also less busy so I feel more relaxed. Each to their own though.

 

[dk1]

Yes fog definitely hightens your senses. Just slow down, take your time and focus. I prefer driving at night as there’s less to distract my attention. It’s also less busy so I feel more relaxed. Each to their own though.

I would never slow down in fog. Obviously if I've had a distant on or a single yellow yes if maybe ive lost my exact location but I would be annoyed with myself if I had lost time.

 

[iphone76]

Also a % of our hours during training had to be during darkness so it wasn't a big deal really. I also prefer the dark to a degree as the DOO monitors both on platforms and in train are usually clearer.

 

[jamesst]

Driving trains at night is far easier than doing it by day. Signals stand out clearly with no daylight distractions.

Yeah fully agree,i much prefer driving at night time

 

[ungreat]

Yep agree..nighttime driving is my favourite too

 

[ComUtoR]

You develop a sixth sense pretty quickly. Sometimes you just 'know' instinctive where to brake. Check out 'cognitive mapping' for the psychology behind it.

 

[Johncleesefan]

The only downsides are the piss heads vomming in the vestibule behind you.

 

[duesselmartin]

Irish Rail had high power headlamps in their locomotives but not in their MUs . So the advantages must be limited.

 

[Overspeed110]

Irish Rail had high power headlamps in their locomotives but not in their MUs . So the advantages must be limited.

On Some units / locos I've driven, the headlights are so poor you can't even tell they are on looking out from the cab.

 

[ComUtoR]

On Some units / locos I've driven, the headlights are so poor you can't even tell they are on looking out from the cab.

319s

 

[Shunter_69]

You’d be surprised how much you can see at night So many reflective signs etc.

I did 80% of my training hours in the dark. Helped me immensely with learning the routes.

 

[furnessvale]

You’d be surprised how much you can see at night So many reflective signs etc.

I did 80% of my training hours in the dark. Helped me immensely with learning the routes.

There is a road sign at Alvecote on the WCML which flashes up at passing Pendos and Voyagers telling the driver to slow down. They are obviously doing more than 30mph!

 

[choochoochoo]

On Some units / locos I've driven, the headlights are so poor you can't even tell they are on looking out from the cab.

I thought the headlight was for the train to be seen by others, not for the driver to see what's out there at night

 

[GB]

I thought the headlight was for the train to be seen by others, not for the driver to see what's out there at night

At night it is to be seen and to illuminate trackside signs.

 

[choochoochoo]

I thought expert route knowledge meant you should not need to worry about track signage. I was under the impression you should know where all hazards are regardless of signage. What happens in winter when they're covered in snow or in the fog when you can't see them anyway ? (Or if they've been nicked for scrap metal)

ESRs which are self-lit are obviously different and can pop up anywhere.

 

[Bromley boy]

I thought expert route knowledge meant you should not need to worry about track signage. I was under the impression you should know where all hazards are regardless of signage. What happens in winter when they're covered in snow or in the fog when you can't see them anyway ? (Or if they've been nicked for scrap metal)

ESRs which are self-lit are obviously different and can pop up anywhere.

That’s right. ESR/TSRs aside, signs are there as an aide memoire only.

Driving it night is easier apart from in one crucial respect: it can be easier to mistake lineside street lights etc. for signals at night.

 

[choochoochoo]

I'd argue even TSR signage is an aide memoire. - If you've read your WON

 

[Deafdoggie]

Driving it night is easier apart from in one crucial respect: it can be easier to mistake lineside street lights etc. for signals at night.

I have often wondered that! The street lights by Stoke station (SOT) have side reflectors on them, so can't be seen (directly) by train drivers

 

[Bromley boy]

I have often wondered that! The street lights by Stoke station (SOT) have side reflectors on them, so can't be seen (directly) by train drivers

That’s very sensible. Some of the effects of lights can be surprising, and very misleading!

There’s a notorious signal at one of my locations where platform lights in the background look like the two white lights of the position light signal when approaching the red...

 

[MichaelAMW]

Tentative question here based on patchy data... Would you say that the newer LED signals' yellow aspect is extremely close in colour to a sodium street lamp, increasing the risk of a mistake, whereas the older tungsten bulbs, or at least the filter in front of them, was just about different enough to keep that risk small?

 

[Overspeed110]

I thought the headlight was for the train to be seen by others, not for the driver to see what's out there at night

Did i say they were for seeing where you're going?

 

[Bromley boy]

Tentative question here based on patchy data... Would you say that the newer LED signals' yellow aspect is extremely close in colour to a sodium street lamp, increasing the risk of a mistake, whereas the older tungsten bulbs, or at least the filter in front of them, was just about different enough to keep that risk small?

I wouldn’t comment either way on that - I can’t say I’ve noticed it.

The greens of older signals are a noticeably different shade to LEDs, with a much bluer hue to them.

 

[furnessvale]

The greens of older signals are a noticeably different shade to LEDs, with a much bluer hue to them.

Indeed, with oil lamps they were noticeably blue and when combined with a yellow flame gave a green.

My brother, who was a driver in steam days, used to refer to a "blue one" rather than a "green".

 

[6Gman]

My father always used to say that in many places you could "feel" where you were. He would often awake from a snooze # somewhere between Euston and Crewe and within a few seconds, and without looking out of the window, say "oh, Tamworth already" or similar.

# When travelling with family; not when driving!

 

[Statto]

I'd have thought the worse time to drive is sunrise/sunset when the sun is low in the sky & bright, quite often traffic lights can be hard to make out, show as Amber when they're on Red or Green because of the sunlight suspect rail signals have similar problems even with bells & buzzers.

 

[GW43125]

That’s very sensible. Some of the effects of lights can be surprising, and very misleading!

There’s a notorious signal at one of my locations where platform lights in the background look like the two white lights of the position light signal when approaching the red...

There’s a story at a southern region station of guards using a traffic light as their signal rather than the actual signal and only realising when they got red and yellow together.

There’s now a board blocking the view of the traffic light.

 

[Muzer]

Even on the tube I find you learn quite easily to recognise the telltale signs of your station approaching. Usually there's nothing noticeable in terms of the tunnel but you just learn the pattern from the feel of the track etc. So I can certainly imagine this would be similar for drivers given enough time.

My father always used to say that in many places you could "feel" where you were. He would often awake from a snooze # somewhere between Euston and Crewe and within a few seconds, and without looking out of the window, say "oh, Tamworth already" or similar.

# When travelling with family; not when driving!