To Blow, or not to Blow- that is the question

[seagoon]

Remember that our railways cover a much bigger geographical area, and correspondingly the infrastructure around it wasn't developed to the same extent as in Europe - both in lineside fencing and stations/platforms. ....

Australia is no different in that respect yet we don't have bells or multi-horn sounds for crossing approaches.
Maybe we followed the British format, seeing that our railways were initially developed by Brit engineers.

[Shawmut]

Some comparative figures help distinguish British practice from U.S. practice ...

The U.K. is approximately 2,000 square miles smaller than the U.S. state of Michigan, which, of course, is only one of 50. At the time of the Railway Mania, the U.K. was also far more industrially and financially advanced than the U.S., which at the time was an overwhelmingly rural place.

As a consequence U.K. railways were required by Parliament to fence in their property *for the entire length of the route.* In the U.S. that would bankrupt a line before it got off the ground, so to speak. Just look at the difference between the rail/roadbed infrastructure of the Union Pacific transcontinental route in the 1860's with basically any U.K. first class mainline like the LNWR, the MR, or the GWR. Just the bullhead track alone and its massive built like a dreadnought structure rams home this difference. The UP track looks like wires laid on toothpicks.

These space/time and financial differentials led to some interesting differences in practice, and not only the horn blowing one that started this thread. For example, many U.S. train enthusiasts/simmers/modelers from time-to-time express amazement when they find that U.K. steam locomotives didn't have a large headlight on the front of the locomotive. How on earth does the crew see?! Only when it's explained that the whole lineside is fenced in does it make sense that a headlight wasn't really necessary.

And when the lineside is completely exposed basically anyone and anything can appear on the right-of-way, and as we all know trains cannot stop on a dime ... or a pence. Or even a tuppence. And that is why the blowing of those horns is so omnipresent in North American (not just U.S.) practice. Years ago, someone I worked for told me, upon me explaining that I was a train nut and wished that I could be an engineer, that her father was an engineer for the Great Northern or Northern Pacific (I can't remember at this point, 50 years later, which one it was). And that he said he was terrified of hitting someone who would stupidly try to to dash across those open tracks and beat the speeding locomotive. I hadn't considered that at the time....

Anyone remember the penalties you'd get if you didn't blow the horn in 3DTS' Cajon Pass route? IIRC, if you didn't blow the horn for more than two or three grade crossings, you'd automatically fail the activity. Lots of folks *hated* that feature, and it was eventually dropped in some of their later routes.

Cheers,

Dave

[niknak]

I remember in the early 2000s running a German route (Harz?) which MSTS would chuck you out of the 1st time you forgot to sound the whistle at a crossing. Certainly kept you on your toes....

[NorthernWarrior]

I remember in the early 2000s running a German route (Harz?) which MSTS would chuck you out of the 1st time you forgot to sound the whistle at a crossing. Certainly kept you on your toes....

I think one of the 3DTS MSTS routes (Cajon?) also implemented that.

[haverfordwest]

Put your reading glasses on Vern. That's what Dave said in his above post.

Mike.

[NorthernWarrior]

Put your reading glasses on Vern. That's what Dave said in his above post.

Mike.

...off to the naughty corner. Can I say tl:dr??

[haverfordwest]

...off to the naughty corner. Can I say tl:dr??

Hahahahahahaha, you can say tl:dr. But i don't have a clue what it means Vern

Mike.

[NorthernWarrior]

Too long didn't read... Think it started out as a Reddit saying.

[haverfordwest]

Understood, thanks Vern. I just had to look Reddit up, never heard of it.

Mike.

[niknak]

You've led a sheltered life then Mike ..... lol