Railfan dangerous behavior- Hanwa Line

[bikkuri bahn]

Last week I went to Asaka Station on the Hanwa Line to photograph 103 series crossing the Yamato River.  I noticed on the up side platform end a sign warning not to stand near the edge, which wasn't there a couple of years ago.  Well, this may be the reason why that sign was put up:

[KenS]

Yeah, they were clearly over the yellow line even while the train was passing.  If I were driving a train, I'd be terrified seeing a pack like that at the edge of the platform.  All it takes is one bump from someone in the back, and the whole front rank could be on the tracks.

 

I know how easy it is to get caught up in the thrill of chasing a train, and focus entirely on that. But some attention needs to be spared for self-preservation.

[Jcarlton]

That's Just dumb.  All packed at the end of the platform, looking in opposite direction of travel.  You should always have the train that you are looking for on the near track side so that you can see it.  This is especially true of electrics which can sneak up on you.  Getting the shot doesn't matter if you are dead and the train crew doesn't need that kind of three day vacation.

[miyakoji]

I remember reading about or seeing people get into the right of way area when JRW started the Mahoroba service on the Yamatoji/Kansai Main Line, not far away.  Something in the water?  Then I found an image of people back in Kanto doing this as well.

 

http://rail-uploader.khz-net.com/img-box/img201210151957013627c.jpg[/img]

 

http://rail-uploader.khz-net.com/img-box/img201210151957013627c.jpg

from http://rail-uploader.khz-net.com/index.php?id=1057601

[gmat]

Hi, I also shoot in the Kanto area and these are my observations. Usually such crowding is due to a particularly desirable train passing by. These can be a once in a blue moon occurance and once you arrive at a particular station and find everyone else and his cousin showing up, too, you have to make the best of it. THe guys are pretty good about not really crowding each other in spite of the mass. They will look around and behind to make sure that they don't get in each other's way. So I've not experienced too much jostling. It looks worse than it is, I think. Sometimes you'll get the platform master yelling warnings to move back. When you're trying to get that shot you can get very tunnel visioned and words don't register in your mind.

One reason why they'e bunched is that groups of friends congregate at certain spots. So why not spread out on the platform, you might ask? I usually do that, but the angle that you can shoot the train is more acute and the window to get a good shot is smaller. You also have the mass of guys before you, so it is harder to get a good shot. And then you might have people walk into your field of view or worse, another photographer jumps before you to get his shot. Also a good third of the station platform may be under the shadow of the station overpass, so that means that the area after that has a limited area with decent lighting.

I'm not condoning crowding the yellow line, but I can see why it happens.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

It happens because there are too many people chasing the same shot- the early birds get the prime spot at the platform end, where the railing provides a good vantage point.  Everybody else, trying not to get another person's head in the lower left corner of the frame, tend to drift to the platform edge.  Better to either take the pic further down the platform, or even better, do it lineside or at less notable station, if possible. Also, usage of cell phones and cameras without proper viewfinders (i.e. using the screens for composition/focusing) creates lots of extended hands- these are usually the tyros that are sometimes into it for the event factor, like AKB fans going to a handshake meeting. You can see it in the picture miyakoji posted.

[westfalen]

There are drivers in Brisbane (myself included whether they are railfans or not) who coming upon that scene ahead of them would throw the brakes into emergency and report it to control who would record it as a near miss. It wouldn't take an awful lot for one of the idiots near the edge to lose balance or be unintentionally pushed, even so if a driver had recently hit someone all those bodies jostling for position at the platform edge might be enough to put him over the edge and off driving for life. In the second photo it looks like one guy has his legs over the edge of the platform, maybe he thinks he doesn't need them.

 

On QR even station staff aren't allowed past the yellow line any more.

[gmat]

Westfalen, you are correct in the situations that you are thinking of. But to give credit to the Japanese rail fans, they have spread out on approach of a train on the opposite tracks. In the video, the rail fans waited for the train on the track nearest to them to pass before spreading out. JR mandates enough of an interval between trains so that there would be little danger that another will come by too suddenly and catch them unawares. Yes, I have been caught by an arriving train sneaking up on my back, but that is why I try to stay on the other side of the yellow line. But it doesn't apply to the two shown above. In the video, the train on the track nearest the rail fans has also masked the approach of the blue train and has left very little time to spread out and get a shot. On this track, I prefer shooting from the opposite platform as if you shoot from the same side, the platform masks the lower portion of the train, there is a greater chance of someone blocking your field of view and it is harder to shoot the side of the train as it passes. Another point about shooting from the ends is that trains often arrive at or near the same time so if you are anywhere else, you are blocked by a standing train. Westfalen, if the fans were crowded on the opposite track platform, would you still call it in? I've been in crowds like that and there is remarkably little jostling. Of course, it could still happen.

BikkuriBahn, the wannabes seem to show up only when a train is stationary or departing. There are a number of rail fans who shoot with smaller cameras and after lugging my Nikon in a backpack filled with teaching materials and water bottles, I think that that might be a good idea.

Yes, I agree that we railfans can be a pain in the butt and can pose a danger or stress to the train drivers. But we are not completely thoughtless.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Sacto1985]

I really wonder what happens on every Shinkansen station platform when a JR Central Dr. Yellow or JR East East i train are going their track monitoring runs....

[westfalen]

Westfalen, you are correct in the situations that you are thinking of. But to give credit to the Japanese rail fans, they have spread out on approach of a train on the opposite tracks. In the video, the rail fans waited for the train on the track nearest to them to pass before spreading out. JR mandates enough of an interval between trains so that there would be little danger that another will come by too suddenly and catch them unawares. Yes, I have been caught by an arriving train sneaking up on my back, but that is why I try to stay on the other side of the yellow line. But it doesn't apply to the two shown above. In the video, the train on the track nearest the rail fans has also masked the approach of the blue train and has left very little time to spread out and get a shot. On this track, I prefer shooting from the opposite platform as if you shoot from the same side, the platform masks the lower portion of the train, there is a greater chance of someone blocking your field of view and it is harder to shoot the side of the train as it passes. Another point about shooting from the ends is that trains often arrive at or near the same time so if you are anywhere else, you are blocked by a standing train. Westfalen, if the fans were crowded on the opposite track platform, would you still call it in? I've been in crowds like that and there is remarkably little jostling. Of course, it could still happen.

BikkuriBahn, the wannabes seem to show up only when a train is stationary or departing. There are a number of rail fans who shoot with smaller cameras and after lugging my Nikon in a backpack filled with teaching materials and water bottles, I think that that might be a good idea.

Yes, I agree that we railfans can be a pain in the butt and can pose a danger or stress to the train drivers. But we are not completely thoughtless.

Best wishes,

Grant

That may be the case, but if you make a habit of doing something one day you will get caught out. If you fall onto the track and break a leg or sprain an ankle will you be able to get back up before another train comes?

 

Any railfan worthy of the title will know that another train coming along and ruining your shot is part of the game, it happens to me with great regularity whether in Tokyo or the Arizona desert but I've never put myself in a position of danger to get the shot, it's something you accept like going fishing and not catching anything.

 

If they were standing outside the yellow line, absolutely yes. Control would then make an urgent radio broadcast to any train approaching from that direction to approach the platform at restricted speed (max 25 kph, able to stop within half your line of sight) or stop before the platform and come in at a walking pace depending on situation.

 

As a railfan and a train driver I agree but there are a minority out there who will ruin things for the rest. JR won't care about the millions of railfans who stay behind the yellow line or on public property but they will about the one who falls off a platform.

[gmat]

Westfalen, thank you for your comments and advice.

Best wishes,

Grant

[marknewton]

I'm with Westfalen on this one - I'd drop the lot and get straight on the train radio to report it.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.