Chris Dark Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Hi all, In March I am off down to the West Somerset Railway to undertake my Personal Track Safety course, Can anybody tell me what this entails exactly? I'm really looking forward to this but would like to have an idea of what the day will throw up. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
modfather Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Half a day learning the theory, where to stand (speed dependant), what bits of the overhead/third rail/infrastructure you can and can't touch, how to communicate effectively and correctly on a SPT to a signalman, how to protect a train in an emergency, then you will put it all in to practice. A large proportion is common sense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 The important thing is to remember all the distances given, as those are key knowledge when out and about on a railway. Generally speaking being unable to recall this information is an automatic fail, personal track safety is about the most important thing you will learn on the railway (any railway) and this knowledge will keep you safe. It's also worth pointing out that PTS doesn't give you carte blanche to wander freely about the railway network, and is not transferable to other railways, for example a WSR PTS doesn't automatically mean you can hop over the fence with your orange vest on at the GCR and start taking photos, despite what some others may tell you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad_Hatter Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 The course will last for approx 3 hours including the test with a brake in the middle. It is based on the one Network Rail use and includes some film of real near misses and staged accidents based on real cases. I can send you an email with all the information on it for your course and they have more than 90% parse. I did this course last weekend for the first time on the WSR and the card is valid on this line only and includes all the telephone numbers for the signal boxes as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 20, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 20, 2015 Presumably it includes an exam at the end of the day or is it just an information session? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad_Hatter Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Presumably it includes an exam at the end of the day or is it just an information session? Yes as that is why I used the word "Test" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Yes as that is why I used the word "Test" Are you sure it isn't slightly smaller? Maybe something like a testicle? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 20, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 20, 2015 Are you sure it isn't slightly smaller? Maybe something like a testicle? Could be - I used to reckon about 30 mins to an hour for a PTS exam but that depended vey much on the examinee and how easy it was to get the answers out of them. The aim of course was to ensure that they understood what their personal safety was all about and how to look after themselves thus in many respect, certain distances apart, it was not quoting from the book which was needed but understanding. Oddly enough at various times I did internal exams for BR staff under authority from our Operations Director while at one time I was also one of the two (back then) BR people authorised to examine SLOA members for mainline steam operation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad_Hatter Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 The test is approx 30 minuets with 26 questions with some of them you just tick the right answer/s and some you have to write your answer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Dark Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thanks for the responses, all very helpfull. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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