roythebus Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Just listening to the BBC midnight news, and there were interviews with passengers on a Cardiff-Portsmouth train which hit a tree near Salisbury (fortunately nobody injured). The train's been there about an hour, all this passenger seemed to be concerned about was not how to get home, but "everybody was worried about their phone batteries going flat".FFS, there's more to worry about that using mobile phone or laptop every minute of the day and night! Also a report of another train hit by a tree at Mottingham on the south eastern; reports of the Tonbridge-Hastings line being closed till mid-March while they make a properly engineered repair to a damaged embankment, a repair that will last a long time! Again, thanks to all those pulling together in true railway fashion to try to get the job going again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Just listening to the BBC midnight news, and there were interviews with passengers on a Cardiff-Portsmouth train which hit a tree near Salisbury (fortunately nobody injured). The train's been there about an hour, all this passenger seemed to be concerned about was not how to get home, but "everybody was worried about their phone batteries going flat".FFS, there's more to worry about that using mobile phone or laptop every minute of the day and night! Also a report of another train hit by a tree at Mottingham on the south eastern; reports of the Tonbridge-Hastings line being closed till mid-March while they make a properly engineered repair to a damaged embankment, a repair that will last a long time! Again, thanks to all those pulling together in true railway fashion to try to get the job going again. If their mobile batteries went flat that might have to actually converse with each other - how scary is that! XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 ... nobody injured ... but "everybody was worried about their phone batteries going flat"... That seems perfectly reasonable to me; the mobile phone is not necessarily about idle chit-chat but is also a tool to enable you, for example, to make new travel arrangements or to book a hotel room if you get stranded. And to let people at home know that you'll be late but they shouldn't worry. There are precious few payphones left and, even if there is a working one, you probably don't carry with you the phone numbers of B&Bs in the remote town in which you happen to have been dumped. Smartphone? Problem solved (well, the first part of the problem, anyway). Just because lots of people seem to use them for things which feel to me to be trivial doesn't mean that a phone is not a really useful tool to have in an emergency/unplanned stranding. So I'd also be concerned if my batteries were running low. Which is why I usually carry not just a charger but a spare battery... Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sheep Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Also a report of another train hit by a tree at Mottingham on the south eastern; reports of the Tonbridge-Hastings line being closed till mid-March while they make a properly engineered repair to a damaged embankment, a repair that will last a long time! Again, thanks to all those pulling together in true railway fashion to try to get the job going again. There was a time that would have been done within weeks, mainly by a load of blokes with flat caps and shovels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcombe Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 I was heartened to hear on Radio Devon this morning that a group of volunteers has cleared the line (a landslip, presumably) from the South Devon line twixt Staverton and Totnes in order that the steam trains can run for half term. A good news story! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 If they're that worried about their phone batteries why are they talking to the BBC? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 Perhaps in times of disrupted travel keep the phone FOR those times you may need it instead of trivialities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 There was a time that would have been done within weeks, mainly by a load of blokes with flat caps and shovels. Mid-March is weeks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted February 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2014 I was heartened to hear on Radio Devon this morning that a group of volunteers has cleared the line (a landslip, presumably) from the South Devon line twixt Staverton and Totnes in order that the steam trains can run for half term. A good news story! I assume that they are talking about this http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80284-south-devon-railway-landslide/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 On the more positive side though, there was a piece on the BBC live coverage earlier where a passenger was commending the heroism of his driver who kept having to get out ofthe cab to remove fallen trees. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bingley hall Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 There was a time that would have been done within weeks, mainly by a load of blokes with flat caps and shovels. Trouble is these days people just don't know their place in society. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 That seems perfectly reasonable to me; the mobile phone is not necessarily about idle chit-chat but is also a tool to enable you, for example, to make new travel arrangements or to book a hotel room if you get stranded. And to let people at home know that you'll be late but they shouldn't worry. There are precious few payphones left and, even if there is a working one, you probably don't carry with you the phone numbers of B&Bs in the remote town in which you happen to have been dumped. Smartphone? Problem solved (well, the first part of the problem, anyway). How ever did people manage in the days before mobile phones. I remember breaking down (in a car) on several occasions in various remote areas of the country. Didn't we manage then by simply walking to the nearest house and talking face to face to the occupants (locals). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointstaken Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Kenton, You aren't actually expecting people to walk, are you? Many of them would not have a clue what those appendages starting about a foot below the waist are intended for. Dennis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Yeah, being of an older? generation I leaned to use mine when I was very young - certainly before learning how to press a button to call for nanny to do it for me. Sometimes I simply don't understand people of today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 How ever did people manage in the days before mobile phones. I remember breaking down (in a car) on several occasions in various remote areas of the country. Didn't we manage then by simply walking to the nearest house and talking face to face to the occupants (locals). Yep - I remember cutting across country at twilight heading for the nearest sign of civilization, ie: a farmhouse with a light on, hoping to God it wouldn't turn out to be a middle England version of the Bates Motel, and hoping to use their phone... However, in the 21st century, expecting people to actually walk anywhere and ask a stranger for a favour is so, like, yesterday, Kenton... Isn't there an iPad app to summon help if you break a fingernail now...? Tongue firmly in cheek... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunsignalling Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 That seems perfectly reasonable to me; the mobile phone is not necessarily about idle chit-chat but is also a tool to enable you, for example, to make new travel arrangements or to book a hotel room if you get stranded. And to let people at home know that you'll be late but they shouldn't worry. There are precious few payphones left and, even if there is a working one, you probably don't carry with you the phone numbers of B&Bs in the remote town in which you happen to have been dumped. Smartphone? Problem solved (well, the first part of the problem, anyway). Just because lots of people seem to use them for things which feel to me to be trivial doesn't mean that a phone is not a really useful tool to have in an emergency/unplanned stranding. So I'd also be concerned if my batteries were running low. Which is why I usually carry not just a charger but a spare battery... Paul If they excercise a little self-restraint and stop using them for trivia until they get home, the battery will last long enough for any essential use required. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
multiprinter Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 How ever did people manage in the days before mobile phones. I remember breaking down (in a car) on several occasions in various remote areas of the country. Didn't we manage then by simply walking to the nearest house and talking face to face to the occupants (locals). Loco failures also tended to occur in remote areas requiring the poor old guard to wear his legs out walking some miles to the nearest signalbox. From experience this walk usually coincided with a torrential downpour or a blizzard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted February 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2014 A friend of mine was on a train on the ECML last week when the wires came down near Huntingdon, I believe due to a balloon of some sort entrangled with the wires. It was about 4 hours before they got to Kings Cross with a 67 attached. he was appalled about the same thing that many of the passengers were panicking about their phones. He was told that an iphone wiull run down in about 5 hours in such circumstancesd due to the number of apps that they are running. His phone also died and he couldn't find a working payphne when he got to the Cross. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 He was told that an iphone would run down in about 5 hours in such circumstances due to the number of apps that they are running.Only partly true - it actually depends on the searching for any signal (often 3/4G) So inside a metal cage (like I sit in at work) then the phone runs down in about an hour! But all you have to do is switch it off to conserve battery life. Simple. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 A friend of mine was on a train on the ECML last week when the wires came down near Huntingdon, I believe due to a balloon of some sort entrangled with the wires. It was about 4 hours before they got to Kings Cross with a 67 attached. he was appalled about the same thing that many of the passengers were panicking about their phones. He was told that an iphone wiull run down in about 5 hours in such circumstancesd due to the number of apps that they are running. His phone also died and he couldn't find a working payphne when he got to the Cross. Jamie That's very true - and some apps are the devil incarnate to try & stop... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted February 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2014 Only partly true - it actually depends on the searching for any signal (often 3/4G) So inside a metal cage (like I sit in at work) then the phone runs down in about an hour! But all you have to do is switch it off to conserve battery life. Simple. The problem was that the complainers hadn't the sense to switch them off. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted February 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2014 There was a time that would have been done within weeks, mainly by a load of blokes with flat caps and shovels. There also was a time when the repair would have consisted of said men chucking loads of waste material like ash down the bank to rebuild it - which might last for a year or so, but would guarantee it would slip again in the future. In the Heritage world both the Bluebell and the GSWR have been afected by slipping banks that were not repaired properly back in BR or big 4 days. What NR are doing on the Hastings, Oxted, Botley lines and, have done at Ockley is put in place deep piles and curtain walls plus a careful backfilling with suitable, well draining materials, the net result being a bank that won't slip again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Trouble is these days people just don't know their place in society. "I get a terrible ache in the back of my neck..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 So inside a metal cage (like I sit in at work)Seems apposite ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Seems apposite ;-) monkeys in a zoo (put enough in together and you get the complete works of Shakespeare, and all without Google mobile) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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