Light rail tunnels

coops · 04 Feb 2016, 9:42 pm

Hey, I was wondering if anyone had done the lightrail tunnels before and if so are they hard/risky?

Cheers

Echo · 04 Feb 2016, 11:06 pm

Anything relating to live train tunnels, light rail tunnels whatever is generally not talked about here, or if you do talk about it expect to get answers along the lines of "don't go in there."

Panic! · 06 Feb 2016, 7:16 am

coops wrote:Hey, I was wondering if anyone had done the lightrail tunnels before and if so are they hard/risky?

Cheers

Don't go in there.

Panic! · 06 Feb 2016, 7:20 am

Back in the day before they became light rail tunnels they were a very safe explore. Now though there's not much you can't see that can't be seen by riding a tram or from the station there. That's a much safer and faster way to explore.
Apart from being illegal, the tunnels have trams running through them. Being hit by one will seriously spoil your day and the days of those that have to pick up the bits of you left.

Panic! · 06 Feb 2016, 3:44 pm

I think I'm going to expand on this on why I don't explore live train tunnels any more. Back in the day when I was a teenager, shortly after the dinosaurs died out and before the infernal engine and electrickery was invented I used to explore all sorts of things. I wandered into a few rail tunnels without much concept of the danger. Oh yes I knew getting run over by a train wasn't something I wanted right? But I figured I'd be able to hear them coming. So I figured I knew the risks and would be fine.
So anyway one day my friends and I were exploring a railway tunnel. It was cool, old and fun. There was some nice alcoves along the tunnel that we could have hidden if there was a train. So we spent about 20 minutes in there and then walked out back to the car. We had to walk along a cutting then scramble up a bank to the road. I figured it was easiest to walk along the side of the track on the sleepers instead of the ballast. I figured I'd hear a train coming. Anyway we reached the bit we had to scramble up and up we went. I was last. I stepped off the sleepers and was about to scramble up the embankment when there was a blast from a horn as a train approached around a bend. In seconds it was at and past the place where I had been standing only moment before. I only had time to spin around, see the train and watch helplessly as it sped past. If it had been seconds earlier I would have had an instant to leap out of its path. There is NOTHING like a train bearing its way right through where you had been standing moments before to convince you that trains and people on tracks at the same time just don't mix.
Now I realise everyone thinks "I know the risks, that won't happen to me" and thinks it won't. I can tell you that it will. I've been a train driver. I've been in plenty of train tunnels and there are some that you don't get the warning you need. Trains coasting up to stations don't make as much noise as those with power on. Continiously welded track is quieter than plate separated track. Maintenance trains run when you expect nothing to be on the track. Heck I've ridden on the footplate of diesel engines running at 3am through the Melbourne city loop. I've driven freights and run over cattle and camels at night before I've even realised what they were. Chopped up dozens of kangaroos under the wheels of freight trains I've driven. I'm lucky I never ran over a person, but I knew a driver who did. An old lady was crossing the line with a gap between the two tracks. She saw another train coming and turned around and stepped right in front of his train. He knew it wasn't his fault and he was back on the job in a week be he always had a haunted look after that and gave it up a few years later, still a young man.
So if you don't have consideration for yourself, think about others. Think about those drivers and the people in emergency services who have to deal with literally picking up limbs and body parts and cleaning the remains of you off of the bottom of trains and the tunnel. Think about the police who would have to tell you parents what happened to you and your parents having to go through trying to identify you from your belongings because there's nothing left of you that can be recognized.
Then think of the alternatives. There are plenty of disused and publicly accessible rail tunnels not far from Sydney. You can catch a train south to Helensburg, or north to Newcastle. It is safer, and frankly more picturesque.
If you really want to see rail tunnels, apply to be a driver. There's nothing like powering up a big metal wheeled giant and being at the head of a multi thousand tonne load. Best indoor job there is. If you get one of them up to speed you start to get an idea of what real power is like.
From Old Fart. Who may just once have been in a train tunnel or two (thousand) in his time.

coops · 06 Feb 2016, 4:54 pm

Wow, a lot of very useful information. Don't think i will do anything like that now! It pays to have experience

Panic! · 07 Feb 2016, 7:17 pm

Sad but timely news
http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act ... 0203709af8

shhsydney · 08 Feb 2016, 7:18 pm

I wouldn't do it myself...my ex's brother was electrocuted running across some train tracks and only survived because something 'earthed' him by chance. Lost several fingers...

The trams only run up until a certain hour, so theoretically it's unlikely to get hit by one in the mid-AM hours... however, there's probably cameras everywhere and wouldn't be safe.

Abandoned railyways are a relatively safer option, I reckon!

Vicinity · 08 Feb 2016, 7:34 pm

shhsydney wrote:I wouldn't do it myself...my ex's brother was electrocuted running across some train tracks and only survived because something 'earthed' him by chance. Lost several fingers...

That doesn't sound right - Qld, Vic, NSW, and WA all use overhead electric while SA uses non electric and Tas/NT don't have any regional train lines, so unless he was running across some train tracks in another country with a third rail system it shouldn't be possible. Not saying you're wrong/lying just that it doesn't sound right for Aus.

Panic! · 10 Feb 2016, 5:51 pm

CafeCSK wrote:
shhsydney wrote:I wouldn't do it myself...my ex's brother was electrocuted running across some train tracks and only survived because something 'earthed' him by chance. Lost several fingers...
That doesn't sound right - Qld, Vic, NSW, and WA all use overhead electric while SA uses non electric and Tas/NT don't have any regional train lines, so unless he was running across some train tracks in another country with a third rail system it shouldn't be possible. Not saying you're wrong/lying just that it doesn't sound right for Aus.

It could have happened overseas. 3rd rail is common in underground rail systems. London, New York and Paris all use it.

MacDaddy · 11 Feb 2016, 5:19 am

its not that good having been through every train tunnel in sydney id know
again this tunnel is so easy its not funny you can run in at anytime as long as no one is looking at you.

Yes its dangerous trust me lightrail tunnels are just the childrens playground places like in between central and redfern have awesome features like a turnback and a portal with an awesome ladder that you used to be able to enter from track side of central
thus if you've never been in a train tunnel whilst there running or arent going with anyone who knows there s*** dont bother you'll end up squashed under or on the front of a train
thats my 2 cents worth of input
stay safe

coops · 11 Feb 2016, 6:09 pm

Yeah I'm a tunnel noob. Want to do them but wouldn't do it alone as I know nothing lol