In another thread:
trainrider47 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is one area (among many) where the WW&F group
> really shine. They work entirely with hand
> signals. They don't use radios, period, which can
> occasionally result in some interesting
> situations. On the winter weekend, the
> participants convinced the organizers to change
> plans and run a double header, so the conductor
> had to hike back to Alna center to talk with the
> dispatcher and the crew of the other loco to set
> up the new moves.
>
Very good.
But, in case of an emergency (health, injury, etc.) of a volunteer or patron, I'd like to have a line-side phone, a radio, or a cell phone to call for assistance.
This takes me back several decades (I think in the 1980s) to when the National Capital Trolley Museum, which operates in a regional park in Maryland just outside of Washington, DC, had a head-on between a passenger carrying street car and a line (overhead wire maintenance) car at the end of the day. The park police did not know what to do with this kind of event and called the NTSB. Well, the NTSB sent out an investigator who showed up wearing a tie-clip with an enameled street car design on it -- he was a traction/rail fan who had also worked in the transportation industry.
The NTSB ended up making recommendations to both the Association of Railway Museums (ARM) and Tourist Railroad Association (TRAIN) that they publish to their members four or five recommendations (I was ARM secretary and newsletter editor at the time). Without digging out a copy of the newsletter, I can remember a few of the recommendations.
[*] ...have the dispatcher phone system answered by a duty dispatcher and not just any clerk in the visitor center.
[*] ...if radios are used they are for dispatching use or for use in an emergency and not for casual conversation.
[*] ...have the local first responders visit your site/museum/tourist railway/campus to know the road entrances and locations of buildings before a need
And I would add -- if not on the mentioned list -- to develop an emergency response and recovery plan. Cover anything from what to do in case of accident, injury, flood, fire, etc. Who to call/notify inside and outside the organization, who can talk for the organization to officials and the media, list of recovery/repair resources. And review this on an ongoing basis.
Brian Norden
P.S. ARM and TRAIN recently merged and are now HeritageRail Alliance.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2017 10:46PM by Brian Norden.
