UK: vandalism on the railways

[John Ashworth]

Taken from The Railway Magazine, November 2010, pp87-89

Concrete blocks placed on the track as Salthouse on August 18 damaged the unit forming the 13.57 Cromer-Norwich. A man was subsequently arrested and charged with endangering lives

The 17.31 Sudbury-Marks Tey service, formed by Class 156 No. 156417, hit a sewage tanker on an unmanned lavel crossing at Little Cornard on August 17. The leading vehicle, No. 52417, was derailed and sustained substantial damage around the cab with the driver suffering a broken collar bone and ribs. Twenty-one people were injured in the incident... The tanker driver was arrested and appeared in court.

Services between Leeds and York were diverted through Castleford on August 10 due to signalling problems caused by vandalism in the Cross Gates area of Leeds... Further problems followed on August 12 following more theft of cables near Darlington... Problems continued on August 21 when vandalism in the Altofts area of West Yorkshire resulted in early-evening Leeds-Nottingham services being diverted through Wakefield Westgate...

Services on the West Coastway were subjected to delays and cancellations on the afternoon of September 3 due to a vehicle crashing through a level crossing gate in the Ford area. For a time, a replacement bus service was in operation.

[John Ashworth]

Another round, this time from The Railway Magazine of December 2010. Instructive for South Africans who think they have the monopoly on rail crime - UK even had whole locomotives stolen and cut up!

Ticket machine vandals jailed

Two brothers aged 42 and 43 have been jailed after using a car to wrench the fronts off ticket vending machines at 21 rural stations in the northern Home Counties and stealing GBP 16,000

Railway thieves fined

Thieves who stole rail chairs from the Aln Valley Railway's storage yard at Longhoughton in August have been sentenced to 200 hours community work and made to pay GBP 1,000 and GBP 600 respectively.

Moreover, the magistrates ordered that the car they used to carry the chairs away (an licensed [sic] and untaxed Vauxhall Astra) be destroyed.

The chairs were identified as belonging to the railway as they were security-marked.

GWR bench stolen

Cast iron GWR pattern bench seat-ends stolen from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Cheltenham Race Course station during the night of September 16-17 were recovered the following week.

A Gloucester reclaim business was offered 16 of the 19 stolen castings.

Police were notified and the seat-ends were donated back to the G-WR.

K&ESR trespassers

A Kent & East Sussex Railway steam-hauled train encountered three youths riding a quad bike and a scrambling bike along the railway towards it.

The railway is not releasing details as the trespass is likely to result in prosecution.

Loco theft hits Ayrshire Group plans for Dunaskin

The Ayrshire Railway Group's plan for a narrow gauge line at the Scottish Industrial Railway Centre at Dunaskin has been scuppered by thieves.

The thieves took an entirel ocomotive - 3ft gauge ex-Killoch Colliery Ruston & Hornby 48DL 4wDM 256273/1948 [see also next story] - along with equipment stored at the ARPG's old Minnivey base at Dalmellington, three miles from Dunaskin.

Other items stolen included three mine cars, four turnouts and a large quantity of track.

The ARPG is a small organisation and the thefts are a major blow since the narrow gauge equipment was to form the core of a demonstration line at Dunaskin.

Thieves wreck an entire locomotive

Irreplaceable locos and stick have been lost and destroyed at the Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group's old site at Minnivey, Dalmellington.

The ARPG moved most of its stock to the Scottish Industrial Railway Centre, at Dunaskin, three miles away, in 2002, but items in less good condition remained at Minnivey, a former colliery in open countryside, with the intention of moving them to Dunaskin this year.

The thieves got there first, however, cutting metal into manageable-sized pieces for removal, and it is estimated that 15 lorry loads of historic material has been reduced to scrap and taken. The value of the losses is said to be between GBP 25,000 and GBP 45,000.

Among the losses are 153hp Barclay 0-4-0DM No. 366 of 1943, which had been obtained by preservationists as a vital source of spare parts for sister No. 347/1941 at Dunaskin, and the frame and wheels of 0-4-0DM Fowler 4200028 of 1948, which was also a source of spares for a sister loco.

A number of rare and unique wagons have also been lost, along with a complete 3ft gauge 'train set' [see story above].

Level crossing smash

the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway's Beyer Peacock 0-6-0T No. 1 the Earl was struck by a car at New drive level crossing on September 16.

There were no injuries and minimal damage to the locomotive, enabling the train to continue to Llanfair after details were provided to the Police.

'Abject stupidity' of ladder-strike gricer

Network Rail has severely criticised a steam train photographer after his ladder was hit by London-bound Grand Central Class 180, leading to an emergency stop for damage inspection with a consequent disruption to service on the east Coast Main Line.

The incident took place near Claypole, Lincs, on August 16 while the photographer was waiting for A1 No. 60163 Tornado running from King's Cross to York.

It's not the first time that Tornado has caused trespass incidents on the main lines and... there is concern that NR could pull the plug on steam charters because of safety concerns.

The majority of modern trains now have forward-facing CCTV and NR is examining the footage from the train in question, a spokesman adding that in future it is prepared to use CCTV in evidence against trespassers.

NR described the incident as "abject stupidity that tarnishes the railway fraternity".