Trains, Difference Between Europe and The US

[Onyrlef]

First time I was in London I almost got myself killed... Has some free time so I went walking. Stopped on a corner and looked left for traffic, seeing none I stepped off the curb. Well, you know the rest.

I tell bike riders here to never ride against the flow even if it's on a sidewalk or bike path. A car at an intersection turning right is going to look left, not right, where you'd be coming from. For runners and walkers it's opposite, run or walk facing the flow, the onus is on you to anticipate what the stopped car is going to do. And after 50 years riding on the roads, I've found this is an absolute fact, if a driver at an intersection makes eye contact with you and then breaks eye contact, you need to stop, they're going to pull out in front of you everytime.

 

[Tom]

One of those things drummed into us in UK elementary school was "look right, look left, look right again" (before crossing the road). Makes sense if traffic is moving on the left side of the road. Had to un-learn the habit on visits to CA and when we moved here.

 

[Oldgator73]

Not everywhere. In fact hardly anywhere I've been in the UK...

I think I was referring to London.

 

[Chef Duane]

It’s stamped on the concrete at each intersection “LOOK LEFT”.

Not on the street corner I was on.

 

[Lou Schneider]

It’s stamped on the concrete at each intersection “LOOK LEFT”. Every subway also has a sign that says “MIND THE GAP” at each subway door.

Wouldn't you normally LOOK RIGHT to see the closest oncoming traffic in the UK? LOOK LEFT would be the exception, only applicable to a one way street running in that direction.

 

[JudyJB]

It’s stamped on the concrete at each intersection “LOOK LEFT”. Every subway also has a sign that says “MIND THE GAP” at each subway door.

(Just read Tom's post after I wrote this.)

The problem with London and every other town in the UK is that there are one-way streets. So, even if you "LOOK LEFT" you could get killed by traffic coming from the other way on a one-way street. (Also pertains to U.S. cities.)

My advice is to look left, right, left, and then right again, just for good measure. Look again halfway across the road just in case someone has made a turn and isn't where they used to be.

And they are not kidding about minding the gap. Subway stations and subway cars have been built over many decades, and they do not always match. In some places, the "gap" may be 6-7" wide and 8-10" high. Very easy to step into gap instead of over it.

 

[meaningful_meanderings]

One of those things drummed into us in UK elementary school was "look right, look left, look right again" (before crossing the road). Makes sense if traffic is moving on the left side of the road. Had to un-learn the habit on visits to CA and when we moved here.

Same here, heck I look both ways at traffic circles...

 

[jymbee]

My advice is to look left, right, left, and then right again, just for good measure. Look again halfway across the road just in case someone has made a turn and isn't where they used to be.

There 'ya go!

 

[jymbee]

For runners and walkers it's opposite, run or walk facing the flow...

When I see someone walking along a road with their back to the traffic, I'm tempted to stop and politely warn them of the danger. Doubt it would have any impact of course.

Simply assuming all drivers bearing down on you from behind are vigilant, not texting, not talking on their phone, playing with the radio or GPS, can be a fatal mistake.

 

[Dusty Traveler]

You all may enjoy this North American Railroad track Network.
Click Here to view the railway system

 

[Oldgator73]

Not on the street corner I was on.

You were in New London, CT

 

[Chef Duane]

You were in New London, CT

Nope. London, UK.

New London, CT. is where the Coast Guard Academy is located. As a former Coastguardsmen I know the difference.

 

[Oldgator73]

Nope. London, UK.

New London, CT. is where the Coast Guard Academy is located. As a former Coastguardsmen I know the difference.

The only thing I can say is we visited London on many occasions and I can say with certainty that painted on many curbs in London is “Look Right”. Now it could be you were at a one way street. Or it could be the you found one of the only intersections without the warning.

Look Left/Look Right: Life Lessons from London Road Signs

I had the good fortune of traveling to London over the holidays with the USF Herd of Thunder Band. We were there so that the band could march in the London New Year’s Day parade, but we got t…

alisacarmichael.blog

 

[Oldgator73]

You all may enjoy this North American Railroad track Network.
Click Here to view the railway system

I wonder how much of that is commuter rails. We have tracks running through our little town of Dover, DE but no passenger trains use them. At least none we’ve seen. You have to go to Wilmington to catch an Amtrak.

 

[John From Detroit]

One of those now abandoned lines ran just a few miles from where I grew up. if the weather was right we could hear the trains ... Later I got a job working a couple hundred feed from the tracks.. You could FEEL the trains. Alas last time I drove through town.. No more tracks.

Then I moved to Battle Creek, MI At the time the city was surrounded by tracks with just one bridge into the city where you went over them (not across them) In the Roaring 20's all the big bank robbery gangs did their research.. and robbed elsewhere cause they were afraid they get stopped by a train. In I think the 1970s there were two bank robbery attempts in the city. one did not make it out of the bank (The very bank I banked at) and the other... Caught by a train.
(There was also one in what is now the township. Guy ran on foot through the woods and WHAM right into a police Sgt walking through those same woods to cash his pay check) not a good town to rob banks in)


I now live about half a mile from the nearest tracks.

 

[Chef Duane]

The only thing I can say is we visited London on many occasions and I can say with certainty that painted on many curbs in London is “Look Right”. Now it could be you were at a one way street. Or it could be the you found one of the only intersections without the warning.

Could be. But that's all it takes.

 

[Dusty Traveler]

As for myself, not that anyone is asking. I have never been across the pond and have no desire to make the trip. As for U.S. trains, while in 5th grade, we were given an orientation and a short ride where we were met by the school bus and returned. While working in D.C. and on becoming an RV'er we made stops with our college sports teams. But only on small trips, on city trains and underground rails. On many RV trips which took us to some wonderful fun locations and small towns with train history and rides. But nothing major while learning that my grandfather worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad out of VA. The funny thing was my grandfather worked for them for over 20 years. But his Social Security record showed only 4 years, meaning his last four years when Social Security was newly created. My Great-Great Grandfather worked as a farmer and rail from Maine down to New Hampshire where he joined the 6th New Hampshire Infantry Volunteers, and his name is shown in rolls in the back of the book by the same name with 1000s of other Union soldiers all walking to D.C. LA and back up into Ohio where they were discharged.

 

[1stimerver]

Rented motorbikes in Bermuda and had a few close calls making turns and entering roundabouts until I got used to the left side of the road driving standard.