More FGW Train Simulator Experiences
Two Networker members paid a visit to the FGW Train Simulator at Reading Station. Below follows an account by one of them.
I made it to Reading this time to visit the simulator, having found it too hard to go last year. Liz, the other UNTC member and I went in my car, and I must have been a little more preoccupied than usual as I sailed past the Reading turnoff on the M4 that we should have taken...
Elaine Wilde from FGW warned us that the simulator was in the bowels of the station. Once in the office we met the train driver instructors who showed us the simulator and demonstrated it. The fear uppermost in my mind was whether it would sway around inside like a real train but was reassured that it is firmly fixed to the ground.
It is a little room kitted out like the cab of a train, and the door remained open so that it I didn't forget that it was a simulator. The graphics of the view outside were very good but again not so good that I thought I was really on a train. And the engine noise is realistic but nowhere near as loud as when you are outside a train. That removed some of the stress so that I was able to concentrate on the demonstration and it was very interesting.
I didn't realise that drivers have to prove that they are conscious and aware every ninety seconds by reacting to a buzzer. There are all sorts of safety systems built in everywhere to override human error and double check the actions of the driver.
I am not sure what effect it has had on my ability to travel by train. There was a slight sense of anticlimax afterwards, due to having psyched myself up so much to get there I suppose. I felt that while we were in the simulator there was an unspoken question hanging in the air about the last moments of our crash. I personally had a strong sense that no amount of safety features would have prevented the Ufton Nervet crash. I don't wish to sound negative about it though, as I have learnt that all the pieces of the jigsaw have their use at some time, even if it is not obvious at the time.