Arthur Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Series 2 of "The Toughest Place to be a....." starts this Sunday, 29th Jan., with a bin man in Jakarta. There are two more episodes to follow on subsequent Sundays, one of which is, "The Toughest Place to be a Train Driver". A British driver tackles the job in a tough environment, from the trailer it, could be somewhere in the Andes. I cannot find the actual broadcast date, either February 5th or 12th. Looks interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaned Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Correct , I think it was filmed in Peru , the driver is a Virgin West Coast chap and was featured in the ASLEF journal recently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium steam-driven boy Posted January 31, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31, 2012 Hi, I cannot find the actual broadcast date, either February 5th or 12th. Sunday 12th February 9pm. Noticed the trailer last night, tried the BBC website which has been revamped and improved so much I couldn't find it - only info on the first two in the current series. Anyhoo, a web search resuled in the following on ASLEF's website - their news item with broadcast info here, and a two page pdf of their magazine article here. Regards, Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks Gerry, a date for the diary! Arthur Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Sure I met this guy at Preston a couple of years ago,very pleasent chap. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium steam-driven boy Posted February 6, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 6, 2012 Hi, I eventually managed to find the web page here, the Related LInks Contrasting Lives and the Profiles are worth a read B) Regards, Gerry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon020 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 BBC New item onlien today here Looks good! Time to hit the green button! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I saw this on the bbc website too and agree it looks like it will be worth turning the tv on for once, if I remember Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted February 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thank you, recording set just in case I miss it tonight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Bump... 10 mins to go. Looks good from the previews Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12, 2012 Set to record tonight - should be good! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Lets just say that if I were driving that train, there would be a considerable pile of bricks stacking up behind me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Reaaly enjoyed watching that, especially the smoking brakes bit. That is driving skill over there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Trainshed Terry Posted February 12, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thank god for i Player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted February 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13, 2012 Must admit i enjoyed that i like the fact they used a pendolino driver as oppossed to a freight man as it put him right out of his comfort zone....... "2500 tons backwards downhill, just like reversing out of daw mill mate" Id have jumped at the chance to go out there and have a try Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Why did they keep going on about it being the steepest railway in the world? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13, 2012 Must admit i enjoyed that i like the fact they used a pendolino driver as oppossed to a freight man as it put him right out of his comfort zone....... "2500 tons backwards downhill, just like reversing out of daw mill mate" Id have jumped at the chance to go out there and have a try Spot on Jim - just like coming down from Cwmbargoed but nothing like as many burning brakeblocks or smoke - and a bit further of course But as you say it was taking the bloke out of his (very comfortable) comfort zone; and introducing him to a spot of real railway work with as much need for the straight air brake on the loco as any other brakes. But very interesting for all that and the highly dramatised commentary wasn't too bad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Some of the background stuff was eye-opening, like the lead smelter pollution way up in the mountains, and the attacks on the trains in the suburbs by people who can't see where all that mineral wealth is going. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Some of the background stuff was eye-opening, like the lead smelter pollution way up in the mountains, and the attacks on the trains in the suburbs by people who can't see where all that mineral wealth is going. Hi, Yes, those bits of film were very thought provoking I must say. It was a very interesting programme, it was clear that the bloke did have a translator while he was on the railway, but not while he wasn't on the railway! I quite liked the bit where he had to stand on the point lever to keep the blades in place, health & Safety would have a fit if they saw that here! Overall, very good! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Some of the background stuff was eye-opening, like the lead smelter pollution way up in the mountains, and the attacks on the trains in the suburbs by people who can't see where all that mineral wealth is going. Bear in mind that the sites shown (La Oroya and Cerro de Pasco) were nationalised in 1974 and although some at least was reprivatised in the late 90s there has rarely if ever been the political incentive to address environmental, health and social matters. Bit like Soviet-style industrialisation in that respect. New mines, either developed by private multi-national mining companies or in joint-venture with the government, are much better designed and operated and these days have to answer to strong regulations, shareholders and NGOs. The 'old' mines have a lot of catching up to do and it's not easy, although with the high prices of metals at the moment you would hope that improvements would accelerate. But Peru is still a poor country and revenue from mining does not always get out of Lima and back to the even poorer mining areas that are suffering the most. The worker in La Oroya who had been attacked for trying to improve conditions was a very dignified and brave man. There are other mining railways in Peru and elsewhere in South America, maybe not as spectacular as this one though. I've worked at the Southern Peru copper mines where there are railways between the two mines including a 9 mile tunnel, and down to a smelter on the coast. Got some pictures somewhere from the early 90s at the mines themselves, Googling will find some very good contemporary shots out in the desert. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted February 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2012 Some of the background stuff was eye-opening, like the lead smelter pollution way up in the mountains, and the attacks on the trains in the suburbs by people who can't see where all that mineral wealth is going. It did strike me that the film maker had an agenda about some parts of the program, most however was very well done and didn't seem to concentrate on the families as much as some of the others have done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Very interesting programme - but rather him than me! Should have been wearing a brown boiler suit not orange. You could hear the interpreter in the background occasionally. What type of loco was he driving later in the programme. The first one was a C39 which is a Co-Co but it was Bo-Bo at the end wasn't it? With the amount of black clag that came out it should have been an Alco! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13, 2012 It was a very interesting programme, it was clear that the bloke did have a translator while he was on the railway, but not while he wasn't on the railway! I quite liked the bit where he had to stand on the point lever to keep the blades in place, health & Safety would have a fit if they saw that here! Simon I think you will still find 'hold-over' handpoints in use somewhere in Britain although the do have their dangers (usually of someone letting go!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Very interesting programme - but rather him than me! Should have been wearing a brown boiler suit not orange. You could hear the interpreter in the background occasionally. What type of loco was he driving later in the programme. The first one was a C39 which is a Co-Co but it was Bo-Bo at the end wasn't it? With the amount of black clag that came out it should have been an Alco! I've struggled in finding hard info on their roster - all looked to be GE's of various parentages! * The C39-8 at the start appears to be secondhand ex Norfolk Southern in the US (GE only built them for NS and Conrail - and I can find references to them getting ones ex NS - I think NS inherited all of them after the Conrail split in 2000 and I think got rid in the early 00s?) * The one he stalled was something that looked like a C30-7 but with a rebuilt smaller/steeply angled radiator area - not sure if that was a custom GE machine or a modified ex US one - my *guess* would be the latter. That had older electrical panels in versus the -8s more modern electronic ones which would figure? * The 4x axle machine he trained on the plateau looked like a B40-8, again my guess would be ex US service * There were some older(?) and noticeably smaller GE 'export' designs (sorry i'm not as good on them!) kicking around, the one switching at the port on his first day for example. I can find reference to them also having rebuilds of B23-7s too but i'm not sure whether we saw any? Pretty much everything had a smaller, shallower fuel tank than what they will have had in US service, presumably to reduce the axle weights? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Maybe also to increase ground clearance for the changes in gradient? All in all definitely one of the better attempts at railway programming on the TV - it could easily have been twice as long and only in a couple of places was I squirming at obvious errors! I did wonder though what happened to the first stalled train (they just seemed to leave it there) and whether after the second one they still only had a half load when they came down the gradient. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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