Drivers Eye View Videos

[PeterY]

There are quite a few notable companies that produce drivers eye views including Video 125, Video 225 and Train Crazy.

I'm just wondering how people feel about them, whether they enjoy them or are they about as exciting as watching paint dry and watching the grass grow?

I enjoy them myself but prefer the ones with commentaries.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I prefer unedited ones that are full journey in real time with just the train noises on them.

 

[Ianno87]

The commentaries are what make buying them worthwhile - lots of detail on route operations and history that is not always easily accessible from other sources.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Some of the ones filmed around the early 80s are good as you've got the person filming discussing the line and stock with the driver. Later ons you don't.

When were people who are filming stopped from talking to the driver? Were they banned as a result of some incident or series of incidents?

 

[fairysdad]

Some of the ones filmed around the early 80s are good as you've got the person filming discussing the line and stock with the driver. Later ons you don't.

When were people who are filming stopped from talking to the driver? Were they banned as a result of some incident or series of incidents?

I have a video somewhere (probably in one of my boxes at my parent's house*) of the North Devon Line (and the Exmouth line). It's post-privatisation, but there is discussion with the other people in the cab (at least 3). It does, however switch between general train noises and the in-cab chat - somewhat annoying in at least one place where you hear the punchline of a joke but not the setup!

(*Yes, the apostrophe is in the right place!)

 

[bramling]

Some of the ones filmed around the early 80s are good as you've got the person filming discussing the line and stock with the driver. Later ons you don't.

When were people who are filming stopped from talking to the driver? Were they banned as a result of some incident or series of incidents?

I'm not sure it is banned as such. I have accompanied visitors in train cabs and certainly the driver has talked to the visitors, having a camera present is no different. Having said that, some of the Railscene ones are a little too far in my view. I would certainly be making sure the driver was comfortable with being spoken to, and of course a good inspector would be covertly keeping an eye on the drivers every move. When we did the V125 one for my area the drivers were specially selected, although I know somewhere else where they just used a random train which had a crew relief and the first the relieving driver knew of it was when the train turned up. She wasn't over keen but said yes to avoid the hassle of all the equipment having to be removed, that's an example of how not to do it!

 

[DasLunatic]

I personally prefer videos with minimal/no commentary. I find trains help me fall asleep after an evening of stuff. This doesn't seem to be a thing in the UK - fortunately, there are many commentaryless videos based all over the world on the Tube, and I've done one on a bus:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0j0svzZbT6VS1JLdDFPU3JMMGs/view?usp=sharing

 

[SpacePhoenix]

There's also various cab view videos of various train and tram routes around the world on Youtube

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

When were people who are filming stopped from talking to the driver? Were they banned as a result of some incident or series of incidents?

The current rules are designed to prevent distraction of the driver as this is recognised as a significant factor in many Safety Of The Line incidents. A qualified member of staff holding the appropriate cab pass is treated just the same, ie mobile phones completely switched off and conversation only permitted when running under clear signals. Other visitors are not expected to have sufficient knowledge of signalling to ensure compliance with this so need to be accompanied by a suitable member of staff, generally a Driver Manager. This third person provides that knowledge and can therefore "regulate" conversation as required, as well as normally having sufficient other knowledge to make conversation with the driver potentially unnecessary. It can of course make for a crowded cab especially if filming involves anything more bulky than a hand-held camera.