Australia’s Puffing Billy prohibits riding outside

Australia’s Puffing Billy prohibits riding outside after grade crossing incident

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor ... cea98debb2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Four injured in Puffing Billy crash with bus"

That would've been banned in the US decades ago.

I don't know of any operation that allows it here in New Zealand either. Usually there's an announcement to keep hands and heads inside the open vehicles. Riding in open vestibules is allowed on some excursion lines, the mainline trains have open observation cars , but they have waist height solid walls.
The puffing billy is accessible by suburban train in Melbourne , another thing that is quite unique about it . I took the train to it around 30 years ago , but it was closed due to it been a weekday.

David Benton wrote:Australia’s Puffing Billy prohibits riding outside after grade crossing incident

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor ... cea98debb2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Four injured in Puffing Billy crash with bus"

"The driver of the minibus was yesterday assisting detectives." A discreet way of putting it. Anyone know what form of crossing warning is provided at that location? The stock photo in the link (not necessarily of the crossing involved) only shows inert crossbucks. Could the bus driver have been complacent because of infrequent movements over the crossing?

ExCon90 wrote:"The driver of the minibus was yesterday assisting detectives."

with their enquiries.

The customary way to describe the contact between a policemen and a witness, as used in British usage. "Helping the police with their enquiries" means being interrogated.

ExCon90 wrote:

David Benton wrote:Australia’s Puffing Billy prohibits riding outside after grade crossing incident

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor ... cea98debb2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Four injured in Puffing Billy crash with bus"

"The driver of the minibus was yesterday assisting detectives." A discreet way of putting it. Anyone know what form of crossing warning is provided at that location? The stock photo in the link (not necessarily of the crossing involved) only shows inert crossbucks. Could the bus driver have been complacent because of infrequent movements over the crossing?

If Aussie law is the same as NZ law , then a bus has to stop at every railway crossing, regardless of the level of protection. Also , the warning system is only regarded as assistance for the road user to fulfill their obligation to give way to trains. Therefore , the bus driver is almost certainly at fault, though there could be mitigating circumstances. British police talk is used here too, I always smile at the image of a hardened criminal "assisting the police". sadly , another term often associated with railways, "referred to the coroner", usually means it was suicide. 'not looking for anyone else in relation to the case' means they know who did it , and they are in custody , or dead .

I had run across "assisting police with their inquiries" -- love that phrase -- numerous times, but "assisting detectives" was a new one for me.

Ah , I see. Yes , that is strange, for detectives to be involved in a transport accident so early on .

The laws that apply to trains, also apply to private hire trains. If a train runs on rails it doesn't cease to be subject to the law just because it seems to be a holiday attraction. And a holiday attraction can still kill people if they don't obey the legal requirements for travelling on a train.