Bagpiper and Train Engineer

[cessna152towser]

Re-discovering this still from an old super 8 sound film sequence of the piper playing at Edinburgh Waverley prior to departure of a day excursion train to Aberdeen in August 1978 reminded me of an incident later that day. The piper accompanied the train to Aberdeen and back then after we returned to Edinburgh many of us including the piper boarded a Glasgow bound service train. Part way to Glasgow a fault developed and the train ground to a halt. At this point the piper made himself known to the train guard (conductor) as an off duty railway engineer. He then jumped down to track level, crawled under the train and freed the brakes. He rejoined the train somewhat covered in oil and muck but the train was now able to continue forward.
Somehow I could not see this happening today.
Nowadays the engineer who maintains the trains probably works for a different company than the train operator.
Health and Safety regulations would probably prevent him working on the mechanics of the train on an active railway line after dark, while off duty and wearing a kilt but no hi-vis vest.

[English Bloke]

Couldn't agree more Alex, probably no probablies about it. Great story.

[auld argonian]

You remind me of a recent incident here in Chicago.

One car of a coal train derailed dumping the entire carload of coal and stopping the train. This happened near my mom and dads' apartment building so we had a "balcony" seat to watch the event. What happened was that they had...and I am not exagerating...twenty-five guys in hard hats and yellow safety vests standing around with cups of coffee in their hands looking at the overturned car and shaking their heads for several hours. Once in a while, one of them would shift his coffee cup over to his left hand and point at something with his right...this would start a whole new round of head shaking.

Finally, the heavy equipment showed up and an entirely new crew went to work righting the car and sweeping up the coal...the original twenty-five guys got a fresh cup of coffee and continued standing around shaking and pointing.

I guess that the key man in this operation was the fella who went for the coffee.

Best

AA

[piperdbh]

How did the world ever get built before all the rules and regulations came to be? The Industrial Revolution could not happen today, what with all the belts and pulleys and flywheels in those old factories. The pyramids could not be built today because someone might get a finger pinched between the stones. The Romans could not build their roads today because someone might trip over a loose cobblestone. And there were no hard hats!

[Chas]

Ah, the dreaded Health and Safety. Can you remember the time when people just DID things, without having to consult a committee?

Regards

Chas

[Highlander31]

Nice photo, and a good story, Alex. You're right of course, it wouldn't happen today. Thanks for sharing the story.

[Hothir Ethelnor]

...And there were no hard hats!

Now that's funny!

(what are those things they wear into battle anyways? ... )

[beloitpiper]

How did the world ever get built before all the rules and regulations came to be? The Industrial Revolution could not happen today, what with all the belts and pulleys and flywheels in those old factories. The pyramids could not be built today because someone might get a finger pinched between the stones. The Romans could not build their roads today because someone might trip over a loose cobblestone. And there were no hard hats!

Yeah, how DARE we have child labor laws!

[Frank McGrath]

You remind me of a recent incident here in Chicago.

One car of a coal train derailed dumping the entire carload of coal and stopping the train. This happened near my mom and dads' apartment building so we had a "balcony" seat to watch the event. What happened was that they had...and I am not exagerating...twenty-five guys in hard hats and yellow safety vests standing around with cups of coffee in their hands looking at the overturned car and shaking their heads for several hours. Once in a while, one of them would shift his coffee cup over to his left hand and point at something with his right...this would start a whole new round of head shaking.

Finally, the heavy equipment showed up and an entirely new crew went to work righting the car and sweeping up the coal...the original twenty-five guys got a fresh cup of coffee and continued standing around shaking and pointing.

I guess that the key man in this operation was the fella who went for the coffee.

Best

AA

My father and I were on the scene of a horrible train derailment soon after it happened. Two carloads of cattle derailed, scattering cattle everywhere. Some were dead, some injured, and some roaming the area. The fire department responded, but could not do much, as the cattle were not on fire. So they just stood around watching cattle bleed to death. After that incident, my father would call one particular department, the Uh-Oh Squad. Since then, Every time I go by an accident where people are standing around, I call them the OH-No team. Every incident needs an Oh-No team. I tend to dump on members of the team because they just get in the way and say Uh-Oh.

By the way, the State Police sent a team to dispatch the cattle that were injured and could not be reloaded onto trucks. What a mess. Probably about 75 head were put out of their misery. I told one cop, ( old family friend) Maybe he should shoot some of the Uh-Oh squad .