proverbially you can't tell which way the train went by looking at the track, and frankly, it wouldn't help if you could.
what would be nice though, would be to know which way your train was going to come in (so you can walk to the right end of the platform etc.)
I therefore propose the painting of several huge arrows on each platform to say which way trains leave.
P.S. obviously, if you got one of those ambitrainsterous platforms where trains come and go in both directions, you'd be best off just not painting anything.-- neilp, Jul 20 2003 There are usually signs, no?-- snarfyguy, Jul 20 2003 In the spirit of the great masters, the cartoons of Warner Brothers, the <-- It-Went-That-A-Way indication device would leave a small cloud of smoke and set of motion lines in the direction of the recently departed. It would stay hovering in the air just long enough for the person who needed to know the direction got to the train platform and looked at the indicator.-- Cedar Park, Jul 20 2003 + to you sir. I have a nagging doubt that the French SNCF train service already do this, but can't prove it, so I present you a bun to behold and enjoy-- jonthegeologist, Jul 21 2003 1. Ask the guard. 2. Judge by general direction of destination in relation to track. 3. Put ear to rails and listen...-- silverstormer, Jul 21 2003 Is that train coming or <<SPLATT!!>>-- egbert, Jul 21 2003 [silverstormer] you are clearly lucky enough to have helpful guards where you live. However, if you were in France you would invariably find that the guards were on strike.-- hazel, Jul 21 2003 Can't the train just hit a spinning sign as it goes by?-- RayfordSteele, Jul 21 2003 Perhaps velour tracks? One could tell train direction by looking at the grain.-- bungston, Jul 21 2003 this is one of those things that cats carry off so well. they don't get embarrassed by little things, they just lick themselves down the front as though they don't give a toss.
I think I know where neilp is coming from, if you excuse the pun, you stand watching the track in one direction for ten minutes and the train streams in behind you. similarly, when on a tube train, you stand in front of the doors as it emerges from the tunnel and the doors open behind you.
well, no, it never happens to me, I am far too cool for any of that. <lick, lick, lick>-- po, Jul 21 2003 you can't see the green and red from the other end of the platform, or from the middle of the platform (on the tube at least), thus huge arrows (or velour) would help a lot-- neilp, Jul 22 2003 <more boring Japan stuff> In Japan they have marks on the platform to indicate exactly where each carriage of the train will be stopping so you don't need to know which direction the train is coming from. Clever people, the Japanese. Did I mention that I've been on holiday recently? </mbJs>-- DrBob, Jul 22 2003 No, where were you?-- FarmerJohn, Jul 22 2003 Brighton.-- po, Jul 22 2003 or is it Hove-Actually just next door.(As in Q: "Do you come from Brighton?". A: "No, Hove actually")-- gnomethang, Jul 22 2003 or Portslade, even.-- po, Jul 22 2003 //Portslade// Isn't that where Noddy Holder keeps his boat?-- silverstormer, Jul 22 2003 [DrBob] in London on the new bits of the tube they have doors on the platform too (to prevent jumpers/pushers), and these line up with the doors on the tube trains.
(at least they do now, it did take a few months for the drivers to get used to)-- neilp, Jul 22 2003 (but this isn't about doors, or lining up, it's about trying to get on at the front/back of a train (your preference) so when you get to your destination you have less of a walk).-- neilp, Jul 22 2003 On the Metro in Paris, the trains always arrive left to right and main line trains in the UK arrive right to left as they loosley follow the same rules of the road as cars in that respect. However some platforms in some stations (Lancaster springs to mind) the train can arrive from either direction depending on whether it's a through train or one terminating there.-- oneoffdave, Jul 23 2003 Mmmmm.... velour tracks....-- Taika, Jul 23 2003 At Lancaster trains can also arrive with the front coach having gone through the station and out the other side. I was strugggling with a rucksack at the time and missed the station going past. By the time I realised what was happening, the train was underway and I had an hour and a half wait for the next train back. This on top of a six and a half hour journey. Ah, happy pre-driving days.-- egbert, Jul 23 2003 [egbert] Just be glad you're not travelling to/from Lancaster now. Some trains only pick up passengers, with anyone alighting incurring a hefty fine! You have to either get off at the stop before and await a local train or go past it and catch one back! Add this to the confusion of train directions and you can see why Lancaster is so popular.-- oneoffdave, Jul 23 2003 I thought about posting this as a separate, related idea, but I'd guess it's similar enough to just be an annotation:
I want an "It's *going to go* thataway" indicator for trains. When I get onto a train, I want to be able to make sure I select a seat facing the direction of travel. There are times when my equilibrium can become upset travelling by train in a rear-facing direction, and I always seem to attract stares when I get settled into a seat and then jump up and move to another seat as soon as the train leaves the station.-- beauxeault, Jul 23 2003 [beauxeault] - that's actually exactly what I meant
"I therefore propose the painting of several huge arrows on each platform to say which way trains leave."
I just thought the cartoon-caper title made more sense, and it only really works when trains always go the same way anyway.-- neilp, Jul 23 2003 Anybody like the Long Island Railroad notice system??
Sensors, announcements, crt display, led crawl, central update, local update and overide.-- bob_c, Jul 23 2003 oops, sorry, neilp. I misplaced the emphasis in reading your description, and thought you were proposing an indicator to show which way to look for an arriving train. Gets my vote either way.-- beauxeault, Jul 24 2003 thanks [bx]!-- neilp, Jul 24 2003 random, halfbakery