Random Toots On The Horn!

[GatwickDepress]

When I were young, collecting firewood for my grandma in Coghurst Wood near Three Oaks, crossing the footbridge and waiting to the driver of the Thumper; they never failed to toot either!

Always made my day, it did.

 

[ExRes]

When we were running Project Rio a couple of whistleboards were either put up or reinstated at, I think but I'm not sure now, Hathersage

After a couple of weeks of operation the locals pulled them up so they could get some peace and quiet back

 

[1e10]

I live next to a railway line and get workers on the line fairly often. Means lots of horns, I wouldn't ever complain about it. When my small cousin comes to stay he loves it and my nan often shouts 'train' as they pass too!

Drivers seem to blast their horns in all sorts of patterns whilst passing the Dawlish cam too.

 

[168lover]

In the land of chiltern there are some drivers that blast the horn if you wave and there are some that Don't.

 

[sarahj]

And how many of you drivers "toot" at us lonely "bobbies" in our mechanical boxes? Or wave at us?

There are a few ATW drivers that do it along the Marches Line.

As a guard I always give a wave to some boxes near the station. Newhaven Harbour box always gets a wave. The little box on Amberley station always got a wave, and always got one back. Was very sad this week to come across it all boarded up now the whole arun valley line has been redone. Life is not the same somehow.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

As a guard I always give a wave to some boxes near the station. Newhaven Harbour box always gets a wave. The little box on Amberley station always got a wave, and always got one back. Was very sad this week to come across it all boarded up now the whole arun valley line has been redone. Life is not the same somehow.

Its never been the same since I passed through a few weeks back, that tradtional vintage feel has gone on the lower section of the line. What Southern, Compass Travel and the South Downs National Park Authority should do is change the old signal box into a sort of little visitor centre, you may never know it could do well.

 

[sarahj]

There is something not quite right about it at the mo. Nice little station, well kept, and then the old mini box on the platform all boarded up with big padlocks. Gives out the wrong message.

 

[Taunton]

Always good to see at Didcot museum, when the steam locos are operating, the passing trains on the Didcot Avoiding line give a hoot, and the steam loco responds. There are always some parents who explain to their four-year-olds, clutching their Thomas books, that the locos are saying Hello to each other, and a nice look of amazement in return!

Alas the real classic has gone nowadays, of at midnight on New Year's Eve someone jumping into every cab of the locos in the depot and sounding the whistle. Meanwhile all the date-expired detonators would be strapped to the tracks and someone would drive up and down over those. At Taunton at the end of steam in the 1960s the sound could be heard all across the town.

 

[Minilad]

Always good to see at Didcot museum, when the steam locos are operating, the passing trains on the Didcot Avoiding line give a hoot, and the steam loco responds. There are always some parents who explain to their four-year-olds, clutching their Thomas books, that the locos are saying Hello to each other, and a nice look of amazement in return!

Alas the real classic has gone nowadays, of at midnight on New Year's Eve someone jumping into every cab of the locos in the depot and sounding the whistle. Meanwhile all the date-expired detonators would be strapped to the tracks and someone would drive up and down over those. At Taunton at the end of steam in the 1960s the sound could be heard all across the town.

They toot when there aren't any steam trains as well. Mainly due to a whistle board in the proximity
But I always give a little blast on the horn and a wave to kids. You can see their faces light up with excitement. Can't see why thats not something to be happy about

 

[Muzer]

Posh buggers , on our Disastros we just have extremely loud high and low tones, no soft/depot setting on them.

I have noticed that a few units/ coaches have had the volume turned down or new (quieter) horns fitted, they are still loud but it is a more sensible volume than the ear splitting standard setting.

Ah, is that why when sitting in my bedroom with my window open, I can only hear the Desiros pass the footpath crossing near Swaythling and nothing else?

 

[Bantamzen]

I can remember back in the 80's there was one driver who used to toot "On Ilkley Moor" when he was driving the Ilkley services. It always put a smile on passengers faces!

 

[455driver]

The bottom line with sounding the horn is that a manager can't pull you up with it unless they are sitting next to you in the cab. If I was ever challenged about a horn blast I would simply say that I thought I saw p-way on the line. They can't say anything to that weather it be midday in the middle of know here or midnight in a built up area. The horn is to be used whenever the driver feels it necessary.

The number of those pesky Sainsburys carrier bags I see which just happen to be near to where kids are waving at my train is no odds to anyone!
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Ah, is that why when sitting in my bedroom with my window open, I can only hear the Desiros pass the footpath crossing near Swaythling and nothing else?

Quite possibly, I am all for safety and being heard but they are just too loud, its the same sort of thing with headlights and LED signals which are blindingly bright now instead of being a sensible brightness.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

I've never had a horn, but I know that you can do a pulling down gesture to symbolise that you want a driver to do the horn from past experience. I got a wave while shooting at Levenshulme though...

 

[LowLevel]

As a guard I always give a wave to some boxes near the station. Newhaven Harbour box always gets a wave. The little box on Amberley station always got a wave, and always got one back. Was very sad this week to come across it all boarded up now the whole arun valley line has been redone. Life is not the same somehow.

I hate it as the boxes are slowly succumbing nationwide. There's nothing like pulling up at a station out in the sticks on a nice sunny day, or with the lights glowing away at night, waiting time for a minute or so and giving the bobby a cheery wave before trundling off. Seeing them boarded up or even worse, reduced to one of Network Rail's neat rectangles of clean ballast after being knocked down after being the source of a friendly bit of humanity for over a century in most cases is genuinely heartwrenching.

The Notts - Lincoln line is going to be truly horrible at night without the boxes and crossing boxes - it's a very dark and lonely place.

 

[TDK]

And how many of you drivers "toot" at us lonely "bobbies" in our mechanical boxes? Or wave at us?

There are a few ATW drivers that do it along the Marches Line.

ATW and many other TOC's encourage their driver's not to wave at signal boxes as they think it is a distraction

 

[Tomnick]

ATW and many other TOC's encourage their driver's not to wave at signal boxes as they think it is a distraction

Does anyone actually take any notice of it? It's certainly a shame if modern drivers can't be trusted to use their professional judgment to decide whether it's safe to wave or not. Personally, I find it a rather reassuring exchange - I know that all's well with the driver, and he knows that all's well with me. On the other hand, though I appreciate that sometimes they'll be concentrating on something, braking for an awkward signal at danger for example, and I fully understand if they don't want to distract themselves, I'm sometimes slightly concerned for the wellbeing of the odd one who (under clear signals) stares blankly ahead and ignores me!

 

[TDK]

Does anyone actually take any notice of it? It's certainly a shame if modern drivers can't be trusted to use their professional judgment to decide whether it's safe to wave or not. Personally, I find it a rather reassuring exchange - I know that all's well with the driver, and he knows that all's well with me. On the other hand, though I appreciate that sometimes they'll be concentrating on something, braking for an awkward signal at danger for example, and I fully understand if they don't want to distract themselves, I'm sometimes slightly concerned for the wellbeing of the odd one who (under clear signals) stares blankly ahead and ignores me!

You will find it is the newer drivers that fail to wave as it is drummed into them however I really feel that if waving at a sigalman distracts the driver so they may have an incident should that driver really be in the seat?

 

[M60lad]

I've noticed and been on a few trains where the driver has used the whistle/horn when passing MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry Manchester), when their train has been running and normally got a toot back from the driver of the MOSI train

 

[Tomnick]

You will find it is the newer drivers that fail to wave as it is drummed into them however I really feel that if waving at a sigalman distracts the driver so they may have an incident should that driver really be in the seat?

I wholeheartedly agree! None of the drivers that come over our line regularly seem too worried about it anyway.

 

[Delta558]

You will find it is the newer drivers that fail to wave as it is drummed into them however I really feel that if waving at a sigalman distracts the driver so they may have an incident should that driver really be in the seat?

That seems to be a general problem in the railway these days - we've a manager who will not ask questions on assessment rides in case it causes the guard to 'lose concentration' when operating the doors because they're still thinking about a question he asked a few minutes ago. Much as I appreciate his thought for the guard, I do think that if you are unable to deal with closing the doors safely when a distraction occurs (be it a manager or a member of the public asking a particularly awkward question) and it takes all of your concentration to do so, then perhaps you are not in the right job.

People are employed for their abilities, these should be recognised but unfortunately are often not!

 

[455driver]

And how many of you drivers "toot" at us lonely "bobbies" in our mechanical boxes? Or wave at us?

There are a few ATW drivers that do it along the Marches Line.

I always used to wave at Ash Vale box and always got a wave back (occasionally got a wave back from Aldershot box as well), the boxes are now closed but all the bobbies who wanted to stay on have found employment in other boxes, thje ones that didnt want to move took early retirement.

 

[SPADTrap]

That seems to be a general problem in the railway these days - we've a manager who will not ask questions on assessment rides in case it causes the guard to 'lose concentration' when operating the doors because they're still thinking about a question he asked a few minutes ago. Much as I appreciate his thought for the guard, I do think that if you are unable to deal with closing the doors safely when a distraction occurs (be it a manager or a member of the public asking a particularly awkward question) and it takes all of your concentration to do so, then perhaps you are not in the right job.

People are employed for their abilities, these should be recognised but unfortunately are often not!

I think you've missed his point, it's about accountability. IF he asked a question and distracted the guard, the same as a confused passenger might, and something bad happened then it would be the managers fault. So no questions from him covers himself. I'm sure a guard could deal with it but why is there a need? Same as approaching restrictive aspects, I'm not interested in anything else but the signal kind of thing.

 

[chris89]

Always good to see at Didcot museum, when the steam locos are operating, the passing trains on the Didcot Avoiding line give a hoot, and the steam loco responds. There are always some parents who explain to their four-year-olds, clutching their Thomas books, that the locos are saying Hello to each other, and a nice look of amazement in return!

I believe the same thing/ Would guess the same thing would happen on the SVR at Kidderminster between the locomotives on the SVR and the LM172s. Since of course the two lines are beside each other for a short time, before they both curve off towards Worcester or Bewdley.

Chris

 

[Llanigraham]

ATW and many other TOC's encourage their driver's not to wave at signal boxes as they think it is a distraction

Really?
Well thankfully it appears to be almost totally ignored by nearly all the ATW drivers on The Marches then!! As said, some of them even give us a "toot" now.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Really?
Well thankfully it appears to be almost totally ignored by nearly all the ATW drivers on The Marches then!! As said, some of them even give us a "toot" now.

I've tried waving at the Bobbie at Bromfield from inside the carriage without much success back - perhaps it was your colleague and not you Graham!

 

[craigybagel]

Very rare for us guards to get a wave from the boxes on that line though, I've given up trying! (That said Llanigraham, we're nearly always doing 90 when we go past your box so I'l let you off )

 

[455driver]

I think you've missed his point, it's about accountability. IF he asked a question and distracted the guard, the same as a confused passenger might, and something bad happened then it would be the managers fault. So no questions from him covers himself. I'm sure a guard could deal with it but why is there a need? Same as approaching restrictive aspects, I'm not interested in anything else but the signal kind of thing.

I read that post that the assessor wont ask any questions at all, not just when the guard is despatching the train.

 

[Delta558]

455driver has it - nothing at all through the entire ride. Personally I find it odd, as I think as traincrew we are generally able to decide when we can think about questions and when we need to concentrate on the safety side of the job, same as the driver knowing whether or not it is safe for him to give a quick wave / blast on the horn passing a signal box.

 

[TDK]

Really?
Well thankfully it appears to be almost totally ignored by nearly all the ATW drivers on The Marches then!! As said, some of them even give us a "toot" now.

See if they wave with a suit in the 2nd mans side

 

[Emyr]

Really?
Well thankfully it appears to be almost totally ignored by nearly all the ATW drivers on The Marches then!! As said, some of them even give us a "toot" now.

Not much to be distracted by on a single line?