Drivers: Do you like people waving from platforms?

[Condor7]

Judging by the reply from drivers, you do sound a bit of a miserable bunch, although I know you’re not and I imagine if I had to put up with what you have to I might sound the same. My experience however out trackside is quite different. I confess to never asking a driver to sound his horn but appreciate it if my grandson is with me. I do however give a small acknowledgement/wave if I have taken a photo or am directly looking at the driver as he passes, it only seems polite. I find the majority wave back, or sound the horn. That being said it tends to be the quieter line when this happens, I wouldnt do it on Thirsk or Northallerton station for instance when the train shoot past at great speed.

As has been mentioned it is magical for most children, and there is nothing nicer than being on a platform and seeing children getting all excited as a certain train approaches. Even larger children shouting “it’s a namer” or “it’s a large logo one” etc reminds me of the thrill at such things when I was young, and truth be told the thrill I get now when it is something unusual or unexpected.

 

[Peter C]

I tend to find the drivers wave to me first when I’m on the platform about to board the train that arrives. I always acknowledge them as a courtesy. The railway is a friendly place and fellow colleagues will nearly always be courteous like that even if you don’t know them. Sometimes you find other TOC’s drivers will give a friendly wave on occasion too when they see your uniform.

Wouldn’t happen in civvies though lol

OK. Interesting - I always assumed the railway was a friendly place, and it's nice for this to be confirmed!
It's all about being nice and polite, isn't it? If someone waves at you (say a driver) then waving back or even just nodding is kind.

-Peter

 

[DVD]

Myself and my partner were on a footbridge which crosses the Sidcup line halfway between stations one Sunday afternoon. A train approached and we both waved to the driver. Much to our surprise he cheerily waved back. We both thought it was a really nice gesture and it made our day.

 

[Lockwood]

Sound a right bunch of grumps.
What other job do folks wave at you?
Other than maybe the Fire Service.

When I was working out of Chertsey I would give a wave to any of the services(*). Most would wave back. LAS and the Met tended not to wave back, miserable folks that they were.
Rarely saw the fire service out and about, so didn't interact with them much at all.

Yes, muscle memory did kick in and I would tend to give a wave to passing traffic in my own car on the way back from shift.

(*) and would raise my hand to oncoming Morrisons vans, only to carry the motion onwards and scratch my face/hair...

 

[delticdave]

I always give a wave to the driver if I'm photographing an approaching train from the platform

I would hope this would give some reassurance to the driver that I am fully aware of his train's presence and that he (or she) has seen me

Totally agree, I did the same thing recently, for the same reasons. Got a smile & a friendly wave in return.
Had a chat with him before departure, (the station is the only crossing place on a single line branch & this particular service is booked to wait for a few minutes longer than normal for the opposing train). Nice guy, very informative but not too happy with his shift patterns & ASLEF though......

 

[theironroad]

I had a pigeon wave at me last week. He then promptly threw himself into my windscreen. Brown trousers moment. Left a pretty shape though....

My horn gets blown when I want to, regardless of people's actions. I will wave if I feel like it, I will honk if I need to. I ignore if I'm concentrating on something else.

But we need to know whether in between the pigeon waving at you (with both hands as well) and throwing itself at you , did you return the wave?

 

[4F89]

But we need to know whether in between the pigeon waving at you (with both hands as well) and throwing itself at you , did you return the wave?

Does it count as waving if it's your sphincter twitching?

 

[Crawley Ben]

I was stood on a bridge overlooking the line near Tenby a few years back as a train approached. Got a toot and wave from the driver so I waved back at him.

Also had a the same from a freight driver near Edale very many years ago (an EWS 60 if I remember rightly?) when I as part of a Duke of Edinburgh expedition. We all waved back on that occasion

Cheers

Ben

 

[Esker-pades]

I only wave at drivers if:

• They acknowledge me
• I feel like I need to reassure them I'm not going to do anything stupid

I also wave at most members of staff when volunteering on the Strathspey.

(By "wave" I really mean "put my hand up".)

 

[Panupreset]

I always try and give a wave back to the kids waving as they wait for the train with the parents. It’s nice sometimes when you get to London and they say thanks as they walk past the cab.

Recently I was pulling out of my terminus station on London and another train pulling out of another platform on an adjacent line drew alongside. I glanced over and a passenger looked up and waved at me. I waved back and we both laughed.

When your on a long diagram and it’s all a bit monotonous little moments like that break things up.

No one on the DLR ever waves back. Miserable so and so’s.

 

[Atishyou]

I only wave back to kids. And their mums.

 

[rg177]

I'll raise my hand in acknowledgment of a passing train if the platform is narrow etc just so the driver knows I'm aware of the large amount of metal hurtling towards me!

Otherwise no, unless the driver is feeling friendly and waves first (which occasionally happens!)

 

[Bigfoot]

If kids with their parents are waving or look like the kids are being encouraged to wave I will happily wave provided it's safe to do, so be it on an overbridge or platform, I might even give a toot if traveling at speed if I think I've seen something orange ahead if I'm feeling generous.

However anyone making the blow the horn hand jesture will not be entertained, I am not a performing monkey.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I nodded at a driver as he got off my train at end of the line and he complimented on my dress sense / smartness. (I have had that a couple of times, it's rather nice.) Considering I was a scruff as a child / youth.

 

[axlecounter]

I usually give a soft toot for kids waving, or wave back if better suited.

Adults waving...I have mixed feelings about them. I can see why they’re doing it and in fact share part of that enthusiasm, so I’m inclined to wave back. On the other hand I’ve seen enthusiasts do things that have ruined it for me. So maybe yes, maybe not.
Either way, it doesn’t bother me if someone waves. I don’t think someone waving could be mistaken for an emergency situation, in the same way I can almost 100% tell if the person waving is railway staff or not, without even knowing him/her. You see immediately what it’s all about.

People doing the blow-the-horn gesture get the “I don’t think so” face.

 

[sw1ller]

I stopped waving after my first week in driver training when a young lad, about 14, waved at me from a footbridge near flint.... I waved back and he gave me some sort of gesture I can only think means he’s pretending to get the tomato sauce from a bottle?? Little kids, yeah, but anyone else can go swivel.

 

[algytaylor]

Just to say that my twin boys (aged 2) always wave at the drivers when they see them. One, on the Chester to Crewe service a bit back, blew the horn and gave them a wave out of the window. They loved it and ran back to tell their mum "choo choo train beep beep and go". It was quite magical for them. Anyway, thanks to all the lovely train folk who wave to them around Wrexham/Chester, you're all making their childhood a bit more special

 

[theironroad]

Just to say that my twin boys (aged 2) always wave at the drivers when they see them. One, on the Chester to Crewe service a bit back, blew the horn and gave them a wave out of the window. They loved it and ran back to tell their mum "choo choo train beep beep and go". It was quite magical for them. Anyway, thanks to all the lovely train folk who wave to them around Wrexham/Chester, you're all making their childhood a bit more special

Not my part of the world, but lovely to hear. That's the sort of thing most of us drivers hope happens.

 

[Urobach]

If kids with their parents are waving or look like the kids are being encouraged to wave I will happily wave provided it's safe to do, so be it on an overbridge or platform, I might even give a toot if traveling at speed if I think I've seen something orange ahead if I'm feeling generous.

However anyone making the blow the horn hand jesture will not be entertained, I am not a performing monkey.

This ^

 

[malc-c]

When out videoing, especially at stations, I will slowly raise my had in acknowledgement should the driver sound the horn when the train is approaching the station, but other than that I don't instigate any interaction so as not to distract them any more than seeing me standing at the end of the platform behind the yellow line pointing a camera rig at them.

Whilst at Hitchin station just over a week ago I suggested to two teenage lads that leaning out and gesturing the driver to sound the horn with the usual "yanking the chain" motion is distracting and they should refrain from doing so, especially the enthusiastic rate at which they were doing the motion

 

[Red1980]

QUOTE="theironroad, post: 4191981, member: 27688"]Not my part of the world, but lovely to hear. That's the sort of thing most of us drivers hope happens.[/QUOTE

Definitely. And it's precisely why I give a wave. A- what harm is it doing? And B- knowing a gesture so small is making someone's day is a great feeling in comparison to the Normal feeling of despair with the way the rest of the general public treat us.

 

[sw1ller]

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