Thank you SWT. At last some common sense. Lets just hope that other Tocs now follow there example of fairness. Hope this link works as I have not shown photo's here before.
www.railforums.co.uk/album.php?albumid=103&pictureid=428
Aye, it's good to see SWT putting these posters up, as - Even though they're more or less a copy of the info on the NR website - Any enthusiasts getting hassle from staff could simply direct their attention to the poster and use that as evidence that safe and lawful enthusiast activities are allowed there!
To be honest, the SWT staff at Eastleigh are a good example of how all stations should be, they'll leave the enthusiasts alone for the most, but if they see people going down ramps etc. then they'll intervene.
Good on SWT for this, i never have had any problems when at for example Clapham Junction although i wish i could say the same for Waterloo
. Regarding the poster at Eastleigh i think they've only put it up knowing that next week hundreds of enthusiasts (including myself)
will be descending on the station and they want the rules displayed.
Could be, could be...To be honest though - Even though I'm not a dedicated "spotter" at all (I only start noting unit/loco numbers at speeds of over 110mph as a workout of my eyesight and observational skills) - I've never experienced issues with trying to conduct enthusiast activities anywhere on the network. Mind ye, I only tend to hang about stations if I'm actually travelling though...So the staff might be seeing me more as the usual passenger than as an enthusiast.
I'm not sure SWT are all that strict on signing in, especially not at Eastleigh which is usually a "hive of veg", so having them all sign in would inconvenience staff more than aid them in running the station safely.
That's certainly true, and if I was going there just to snap some photos etc. I'd be inclined to get there early and be prepared to wait as I'd be letting travelling passengers speak to the station staff with their enquiries and waiting for a useful "gap" in the queue before reporting myself in.
Mind ye though - With the smartcard technology that SWT are installing at most of their stations - They could always produce a form of enthusiasts access card (Maybe having a charge of £5.00/year as it could act as a season platform ticket too) that could be presented to the gates or a reader to allow enthusiasts to sign themselves in/out electronically...Which would allow SWT to keep a log of who's on what station at that moment, which would be
very useful in the event of station evacuations - The main reason why we are asked to "sign-in" in the first instance! 8)
Regarding the poster at Eastleigh i think they've only put it up knowing that next week hundreds of enthusiasts (including myself)
will be descending on the station and they want the rules displayed.
By thy comments, I presume that there's some form of Railtour or
very rare stock expected through there next week?
Farewell...
>> Death <<
