Western Railroad Discussion > Bull...... Off the Rails

Watching a bit more TV than normal but nonetheless got fought up on one of my favorite shows...”Bull” and in particular the most recent recording titled “Off the Rails”, a story about an engineer being tried for falling asleep at the throttle. Take a look and would like to know thoughts on realism both “piloting” as well as the numerous mention of standard operating procedures by the railroad. Obvious Hollywood ploy of course but they did have some “expert” advisors helping with the production.

BB in Spokane (all snug, secure and saved)

Posted from iPhone

That was a great episode. At the end you know damned well the engineer was going to be pretty well off with a pending lawsuit against the RR Company. The actor who plays Bull is just awesome in general, carrying over his remarkable humor he demonstrated when he was on NCIS. 

I saw the show and thought that it was pretty lame.  Several of the railroad terms they used were of British origin, eg. Locomotive Driver.  The prosecuting attorney asked the engineer if he thought that he might have fallen asleep at the wheel!

I also watched this show. They mentioned several times that the NTSB had "inspected the signal system and found nothing wrong". Usually, they do a very thorough inspection and review any past reports of signal problems. Of course in this case if they had done that there won't have been a trial or TV show.

Posted from Android

You guys are putting way too much thought into this. It's a TV show not rail documentary.

PHall Wrote:
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> You guys are putting way too much thought into
> this. It's a TV show not rail documentary.

Thank you!
As I say to my partner whenever she starts complaining about the contrived situations in some shows .... "Relax ... it is only television..."

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

I enjoy watching trash like that.
Perhaps it is his first name that is Bull and his last name is ....
It reminds me that when I watch a show about doctors,
lawyers, police, firemen, etc. the accuracy will be at the 
same level.  Bull should hook up with Ziva and go back
to work for Gibbs.

When I want realism I watch Maury.

Englewood Wrote:
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>
> When I want realism I watch Maury.

When I want realism, I watch Nature, Nova, American Experience and Frontline on PBS.  Over the years, PBS also had railroad-specific programming such as shows about the Rio Grande Zephyr, Kinzua Viaduct and, last week, Swiss rail travel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/20 12:02 by RuleG.

watching this now. Too bad they didn't consult with anyone that knows something about Trains. The language
and choice of words totally fail. Typical of TV people. They really know little about anything and rarely admit
it or ask for help.  I abandon some shows; with some sharp words on twitter, when they are really bad or 
paint normally good people in a really bad light; for any number of reasons.Model RRs being one. TV and Movie
folk notoriously paint business or business people in a bad light; and it seems to slop over into everything. A shame really.

PHall Wrote:
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> You guys are putting way too much thought into
> this. It's a TV show not rail documentary.

I agree.  There were some inaccuracies, but the show was entertaining, and that is the main objective.