Level crossing stupidity...

[corneliuslundie]

At that Ashland crossing, it always seems to be drivers from the same side who turn. I think that one issue is that they intend to turn left just after the crossing but see a barrier (the road has been closed) and turn left before it thinking it must be on the far side of the road. Not an excuse but perhaps a reason.

But it gives us plenty of entertainment.

How frequent is the train service on this line? Some of the incidents have been in the middle of the night but that one was at about 6pm I think. Isn't there a good chance of a train coming along? I didn't get the impression that there was any urgency among those milling around, but does someone tell the railway = or do they just monitor the webcam?

Jonathan

[Michael Hodgson]

6 hours ago, crackedmember said:

Its happened in this country too.  A Polish driver listening to his SATNAV turned onto the railway at Oulton Broad Level Crossing.  The road he wanted was behind the signal  box.  It was very bad weather, a gale, and to help things the street lights were not working.  He stopped with his front wheels on the ballast, just off the cattle grid.

 

It still took sevaral hours to get it removed

Good job it wasn't the swing bridge!

[Wickham Green too]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

The shiny steel rails should offer a bit of a clue.

 

Probably look too much like white lines !

[boxbrownie]

16 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

We used have those in this country, but not only has that safeguard gone, we now have satnavs saying.  "Now turn left".  Not only does my pratt nav think I'm in the middle of a field when I'm on the bypass that was built after the car, it tries to persuade me to drive on roads that have been closed.

Mrs BB often turns too soon, the satnag always says first “prepare to turn left/right” so what does she do? 
 

 

edit: I should add though I am damn sure she would never turn on a level crossing though, and is actually a quite good driver…….she just doesn’t listen 

Edited February 6, 2022 by boxbrownie

[GeoffAlan]

1 minute ago, boxbrownie said:

Mrs BB often turns too soon, the satnag always says first “prepare to turn left/right” so what does she do? 

 

My wife had a similar issue with sat nav. 

First be aware that she has an unerring sense of miss-direction. So when her new car came equipped with a Sat Nav built in I thought my days of taking phone calls to try and redirect her home were long gone. 

We took it out for a test, I showed her how to program a destination and off we set. First couple of turns were ok then.... Sat Nav said turn left in 2 miles. A few yards later we turned into a housing estate! 'Why did you do that?' I asked. 'Well it said turn left.'

She never got into using it correctly, because, unbeknown to me until then. she has no idea of distances.

[Jonboy]

Thing is it only takes a few seconds distraction or not concentrating. 
 

Last week I got caught out as we have some roadworks that have started under the Marsh railway bridge in Didcot and then moving away up the road. There were three way traffic lights on the roundabout immediately adjacent to the bridge, with one set of lights on the opposite side of the bridge to close one lane, then the other for the works.

 

They initially involved wrong-siding the roundabout and then the route changed almost daily as the work progresses. A few mornings ago shortly before dawn I went through to wrong side it per the previous occasion and found myself head to head with a moved set of traffics lights, a queue of cars and nowhere to go, so had to make a very swift three point turn and go right way round the roundabout.

 

I noted the roadwork blue arrow signage had been updated correctly, and still have not a clue what possessed me to make the wrong-side move, as I use the route daily and it was back to the correct way round the roundabout….luckily no one else in the queue followed me…

[martin_wynne]

5 minutes ago, Jonboy said:

have not a clue what possessed me to make the wrong-side move, as I use the route daily and it was back to the correct way round the roundabout

 

 

Possibly the same thing which possessed me to look in the washing machine for the lunch I had put in the microwave, despite using it daily.

 

Martin.

[melmerby]

16 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

How frequent is the train service on this line? Some of the incidents have been in the middle of the night but that one was at about 6pm I think. Isn't there a good chance of a train coming along? I didn't get the impression that there was any urgency among those milling around, but does someone tell the railway = or do they just monitor the webcam?

Jonathan

There are frequent trains at various times of day with several Amtrak services (20+ Amtrak and 20-25 CSX)

I assume there is a routine about stopping trains as it happens so frequently, although there was one occasion where an Amtrak train was warned but was too close, went into emergency but didn't quite stop in time nudging the car forward a short distance.

The railway speed limit through the town is 35mph .

 

[SamThomas]

Cornelius does have a point about the road layout being changed.

 

We need to accept that all of us occasionally make mistakes ! We also need guidance, that's why we have road markings, traffic lights & so on.

Oh, & of course barriers accross the road for when a train approaches.

 

Cattle grids or something similar may help.

 

Surely, in the case where this is a common occurance (for whatever reason) it would not be too diffecult to install similar barriers accross the railway lines which would be in the down position until a train approaches ? Thats why we have 20mph limits near schools - experienced & compentant drivers do not need such signs as they would have showed down anyway.

 

& it is easy to blame SatNags - many of the "errant turns" could also be made in the days of road maps (remember them - I still carry an up to date Raod Atlas in case the technology fails).

The GPS system is accurate enough for the US military to post something that goes bang through your letterbox (provided they have the address correct). However, the device's used by the general public are not close enough to prevent errant turns (it also depends on how they are setup). Even the commercial units in HGV's can catch you out at times & they can be accurate to around 1m.

[jcredfer]

3 hours ago, SamThomas said:

Cornelius does have a point about the road layout being changed.

 

We need to accept that all of us occasionally make mistakes ! We also need guidance, that's why we have road markings, traffic lights & so on.

Oh, & of course barriers accross the road for when a train approaches.

 

Cattle grids or something similar may help.

 

Surely, in the case where this is a common occurance (for whatever reason) it would not be too diffecult to install similar barriers accross the railway lines which would be in the down position until a train approaches ? Thats why we have 20mph limits near schools - experienced & compentant drivers do not need such signs as they would have showed down anyway.

 

I suppose it would be simple enough to rotate the axle through 90deg, on the arm type, instead of vertically.  

 

[See, a perfect example of lateral thinking...   ]

 

[johnofwessex]

3 hours ago, SamThomas said:

...........................

The GPS system is accurate enough for the US military to post something that goes bang through your letterbox (provided they have the address correct). .........................

 

Where can I send some adresses?

[boxbrownie]

3 minutes ago, jcredfer said:

I suppose it would be simple enough to rotate the axle through 90deg, on the arm type, instead of vertically.  

 

[See, a perfect example of lateral thinking...   ]

 

Then you would get drivers ignoring the barrier closing and try to beat it again…….and become impaled or worse decapitated……well it’ll happen only once to them. 

[jcredfer]

1 minute ago, boxbrownie said:

Then you would get drivers ignoring the barrier closing and try to beat it again…….and become impaled or worse decapitated……well it’ll happen only once to them. 

 

Yep...  and no-one else to blame for the Darwin Award!!    Sadly, in all probability, the barriers are quite flimsy, so would just slide up the bonnet and windscreen, causing sadness to those who witnessed it.   

 

 

[melmerby]

4 hours ago, SamThomas said:

 

 

The GPS system is accurate enough for the US military to post something that goes bang through your letterbox (provided they have the address correct). However, the device's used by the general public are not close enough to prevent errant turns (it also depends on how they are setup). Even the commercial units in HGV's can catch you out at times & they can be accurate to around 1m.

The most accurate is the EU's Galileo which can have a best accuracy of 10cm but only 1m for public use, (GPS is 30cm & 5m)

 

The vehicle Satnavs still need the inbuilt road atlas to have it's co-ordinates syncronised with the actual position information received from the GPS satellites, sadly some not are as accurate as they could be.

The  GPS system (or Galileo/Beidou/Glonass etc.) alone do not show you where to drive!

 

How many on here with satnavs have had them updated?

My car is now 5 years old and the satnav (Ford) had out of date info when I had the car new.

I should be able to update it online but apparently even though it is in the instruction book, you can't do it. It is a dealer fix (at cost)

[Richard E]

9 minutes ago, melmerby said:

How many on here with satnavs have had them updated?

My car is now 5 years old and the satnav (Ford) had out of date info when I had the car new.

I should be able to update it online but apparently even though it is in the instruction book, you can't do it. It is a dealer fix (at cost)

 

Mine is in the region of £500 for a dealer update. I can live without doing it ...

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, Richard E said:

 

Mine is in the region of £500 for a dealer update. I can live without doing it ...

I have never used mine, I could but never had the need. It just sits there showing the route I am driving.

I'm fortunate with a good sense of direction, with a look at a map before setting off I rarely need a refresh

 

I found that I can download an update or but it will cost £172 and that is only for 2019 so still 3 years old.

A decent atlas each year will cost you a lot less.

 

 

[MyRule1]

Seems no one has mentioned the 2nd episode of Michael Portillo' s new series on Costal Railways when twenty minutes into the programme he does a long piece to camera standing on a crossing at Culross. All he says regarding traffic is that the line is "for freight only".

[melmerby]

55 minutes ago, MyRule1 said:

Seems no one has mentioned the 2nd episode of Michael Portillo' s new series on Costal Railways when twenty minutes into the programme he does a long piece to camera standing on a crossing at Culross. All he says regarding traffic is that the line is "for freight only".

For Longannet Power station.

Closed AFAIK between Alloa & Charlestown Junction (Dunfermiline)

The various facilities along the line that would have used it have all closed, the Power Station has been demolished.

A signal berth at the Charlestown end says "Rust" & another says "shut" and a road overbridge view dated Sept 2021 shows the rails are rusty.

 

I would imagine it will be used to extend the recently introduced passenger service to Alloa, some time in the future.

 

EDIT added detail

Edited February 6, 2022 by melmerby

[MarkC]

55 minutes ago, melmerby said:

 

 

How many on here with satnavs have had them updated?

 

Me. I updated my 3 year old Peugeot 3008 last month. Dead easy to do. Downloaded the new files from Peugeot onto a USB stick & followed the instructions given.  The cost? Nothing. The money saved by doing the job myself rather than paying the dealership has been put to better use 

Edited February 6, 2022 by MarkC
To add something

[Michael Hodgson]

44 minutes ago, Richard E said:

 

Mine is in the region of £500 for a dealer update. I can live without doing it ...

I could download it myself, but it would cost over £100 (when I last looked a few years ago).  I know my way round this country, and back my own judgment as to long distance routes anyway.  it's only finding streets or small villages where I find it useful.  I don't even carry a map these days, and of course I'm hardly going anywhere much since covid.   The data is getting more and more out of date, as the car is old enough to have needed a few MoTs, so it must be getting closer to the time I replace the vehicle, so it's not worth updating!

[PhilJ W]

8 hours ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Possibly the same thing which possessed me to look in the washing machine for the lunch I had put in the microwave, despite using it daily.

 

Martin.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, its called growing old. Its when you put the washing on a plate and try to eat it that you should worry.

[rab]

4 hours ago, jcredfer said:

I suppose it would be simple enough to rotate the axle through 90deg, on the arm type, instead of vertically.  

 

[See, a perfect example of lateral thinking...   ]

 

Surely you mean rotational thinking.

[jcredfer]

43 minutes ago, rab said:

Surely you mean rotational thinking.

 

Rotational axis, produced lateral movement from lateral thinking...  hence the pun   

 

 

 

[Dunsignalling]

14 hours ago, melmerby said:

I have never used mine, I could but never had the need. It just sits there showing the route I am driving.

I'm fortunate with a good sense of direction, with a look at a map before setting off I rarely need a refresh

 

I found that I can download an update or but it will cost £172 and that is only for 2019 so still 3 years old.

A decent atlas each year will cost you a lot less.

 

 

That's also getting on for twice what you can buy a decent basic Satnav for from Halfords!

 

Free updates whenever I want, just by plugging it into my laptop.

 

John

[ejstubbs]

I use Google Maps navigation on my phone.  No subscription and always up to date (and you can submit corrections if you find something seriously amiss).  I use it in my car, and in the van I drive for my volunteer work*, via Android Auto - it'll connect to the head unit of any vehicle with Android Auto, and if the vehicle doesn't have that you can just use it standalone with the voice guidance (which is pretty good IMO, providing clear instructions without being annoyingly chatty) either coming from the phone itself or via bluetooth to the car's audio system.  It monitors traffic and re-routes you if there's an obvious holdup somewhere on the route it originally chose.  It's very swift to re-route if I miss a turn or choose to take a detour.  It has never yet taken me down a closed road or a farm track.

 

In my view, built-in satnav for private cars is a technology whose time in the mass market has passed.  For HGVs and other "special needs" vehicles it probably still has its place (though how many users of said vehicles actually cough up for the additional functionality they need is perhaps questionable).

 

* IMO it's much better than the built-in satnav in the charity's van which I find overly chatty and often confusing.