Train driver caught reading newspaper at 60mph (25 July 2011)

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

White lights on, so this was the front end

[Tim]

Isn't there a "dead mans handle" that woudl make it impossible to use two hands to read a paper whilst the train was moving?

The driver certainy needs a talking to even if he is only guilty of alarming the public by looking like he is reading a newspaper at the controls, but  we should wait for some mroe facts before jumping to any other conclusions. 

[ChrisB]

So on the face of it this is more than likely nothing unsafe or worth bleeting about, but since a snapper has snapped it they must get their blood money so they sell it to a tabloid and let the tabloid make up whatever headline they want 

Rubbish - my money's on dismissal. He's definitely got a case to answer....

[Sprog]

There is no dead mans 'handle', but there is a foot pedal they must keep depressed and release and re-apply every 60 seconds or so.

So on the face of it this is more than likely nothing unsafe or worth bleeting about, but since a snapper has snapped it they must get their blood money so they sell it to a tabloid and let the tabloid make up whatever headline they want 

Rubbish - my money's on dismissal. He's definitely got a case to answer....

Judge, Jury and Executioner....this is a persons livelihood you are writing off here in a single sentence.....

[ChrisB]

He's definitely got a case to answer....

Not if he can answer it.
But there is the case that he has got his emplyers bad press. Suggest even handling a newspaper while in control of train is bad idea. You can be disciplined by most employers for bringing them into disrepute.

Any car driver doing that (opening a paper across their sterring wheel) even while stationary at traffic lights could expect a ticket from any passing police officer.

[broadgage]

Certainly looks bad, even if there is some inocent explanation.
IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), reading a newspaper is only acceptable if the train is stationary and expected to remain so for some time.
Ive seen drivers watching a DVD in the cab, or reading, fine IMHO on an engineering train that is stationary, with the brake on, but no way if moving.

I am aware of a case of a driver who APPEARED to be drinking beer in the cab, reported by a passenger. The police met the train at the next stop and interviewed and breath tested the driver.
The test was negative, and the driver stated that he regularly used a washed-out Grolsch beer bottle for drinking water.
A second beer bottle also containing water was in the drivers bag.
I was on the train and was asked to make a statement confirming that the driver had been seen filling beer bottles with water on the platform.
The train was cancelled and much delay caused.


I believe that a memo or instruction was issued shortly afterwards stating that bottles previously used for alcoholic drink should never be re-used for water or soft drinks.

[IndustryInsider]

Drinking from a beer bottle in view of the public?  How blindingly obviously a bad idea is that?   

[ChrisB]

'Reading' a paper in full view of the public is about the same!

[The SprinterMeister]

There is no dead mans 'handle', but there is a foot pedal they must keep depressed and release and re-apply every 60 seconds or so.

So on the face of it this is more than likely nothing unsafe or worth bleeting about, but since a snapper has snapped it they must get their blood money so they sell it to a tabloid and let the tabloid make up whatever headline they want 

Rubbish - my money's on dismissal. He's definitely got a case to answer....

Judge, Jury and Executioner....this is a persons livelihood you are writing off here in a single sentence.....

Personally I think debate on the subject should be confined only to those of you who can say honestly you have never done anything remotely dangeous, illegal or silly like using your (non hands free) mobile phone while driving a motor vehicle. Which is far more dangerous than what is alledged to have happened here.

[Rob S]

to me if the train  was travelling at such speed, surely the picture would be blurry, and not so perfect.

photos of movement at speed will create slightly blurry effect. is there any evidence the train is moving, is there anyone else in control we cant see from that one photo? the zoomed in potentialy photoshopped picture above isnt strong enough evidence to me!

So you think it's possible to photoshop a newspaper in to the picture but at the same time not possible for a camera to shoot at 1/1000 of a second or faster? How much blur do you think a train travelling at no more than 60mph is going to create when photographed at shutter speeds of even 1/125 of a second? Why was I looking at the pics I was taking of a hovering Apache helicopter at the RIAT, miffed that I couldn't get a speed slow enough to create ANY motion blur in the main rotor but fast enough  to have the rest of the helicopter sharp because of camera shake?   

Other possibilities..... 
- He's just thrown up over the control panel and he's covering up the mess with a newspaper as the sight of the vomit might make him throw up again.

- He's covering the controls because he's just about to open a can of Coke that he knows only just fell on to the floor and it's going to spray everywhere when he opens it.

- He's gift wrapping the controls because he knows the driver taking over at Exeter is celebrating his x0th year of driving that day.

-It's a map, he's just checking where he is on the route.

- He's going to use it to shield his identity from the strange woman at Dawlish station that is always stalking him.

[TerminalJunkie]

So you think it's possible to photoshop a newspaper in to the picture but at the same time not possible for a camera to shoot at 1/1000 of a second or faster?

A train travelling at 60mph will travel 1.056 inches in 1/1000th of a second. A digital camera's JPEG conversion algorithm will almost certainly reduce any blur to an imperceptible level.

Other possibilities..... 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occams_razor

[The Grecian]

If it's any help, that definitely appears to be the north end of Coryton Tunnel, the second tunnel west from Dawlish. There's a viewpoint on the clifftop. If you type 'Coryton Cove, Dawlish' into Google Maps and click on the first option, you can see roughly where the photographer would have been. There's also a better view if you request street view on the map itself.

It shows the photographer wouldn't have been close enough to see what the driver was doing. I don't know enough about cameras to guess what effect the distance would have had on the image.

[Rob S]

It shows the photographer wouldn't have been close enough to see what the driver was doing.

And the tunnel in the picture would indicate he'd have no time to see what the driver was doing to even decide to take the picture of it. It's a pretty unremarkable view and moment until you see the paper by chance when you are going through the pics once you've stuck them on the computer. Maybe the photographer regularly checks what the driver is doing or simply spotted it as he zoomed in to the front of the train to check for sharpness.

[ChrisB]

The latter would be my guess,

Bear in mind the train is coming towards the photographer, hence the movement would be minimal, just the speed of the auto-focus would need to be quick

[dog box]

you cannot draw comparisions with driving a Train to a Motor Vehicle, Trains are not driven on line of sight but to signals, therefore any Driver with  route knowledge knows the speed restrictions and braking points etc .
Its a stupid thing to do and i wouldnt condone it, but people need to have some idea of what driving a train is all about before making stupid ill informed comments