• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Seeing forum members unexpectedly

yorkie

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
6 Jun 2005
Messages
67,732
Location
Yorkshire
This thread is for when you see a forum member unexpectedly and randomly.

It doesn't necessarily have to be an unexpected place, but the encounter should be unexpected. However please be reasonably sure the person is actually a forum member!

For example, a couple of weeks ago I was just about to text Yorksrob to confirm what time we'd be meeting the next day, but was rushing to get my train first. On my way towards the gateline at Leeds station, I saw him right in front of me going the other way!
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

90019

Established Member
Joined
29 May 2008
Messages
6,824
Location
Featherstone, West Yorkshire
I spotted DaveNewcastle on his bike on Princes Street yesterday afternoon while I was at work.
We had a brief chat before the lights changed. He appeared down at Silverknowes just as I got to the terminus, but as I was running late (thanks, trams), I didn't have time to stop.
 

Blindtraveler

Established Member
Joined
28 Feb 2011
Messages
9,638
Location
Nowhere near enough to a Pacer :(
Well if we'd gone Yes today, it would have been amazing if at least one member of this forum hadn't observed me fleeing over the border to escape another half brained ill considered SNP White Elephant idea!

As luck would have it I'm still here, eager to be bumped into by fellow Rail UK'ers, unexpectedly or otherwise
 

185143

Established Member
Joined
3 Mar 2013
Messages
4,506
Every time I've met a member, with the exception of one, it was unexpected! Not all in unusual places though! One was on the Stockport to Stalybridge parliamentary, one was the guard on my train, one I actually knew, but didn't know he was on here!
 

fishquinn

Established Member
Associate Staff
Quizmaster
Joined
4 Oct 2013
Messages
6,643
Location
Warwickshire
Does seeing Nat67 at Rugby one evening a while back count, as neither of us knew the other would be there. (I was down there for the Northern Belle and he was there for the evening).
 

ATW Alex 101

Established Member
Joined
28 Dec 2010
Messages
2,083
Location
Ellesmere port
Good god, met quite a few, most of which are in the old thread, but will list them here for the reference.

In September 2013, I met Sprinterman without knowing who was, by simply having a conversation with him as he happened to be getting the same train as me (which was the WAG, which got cancelled) on Chester Station. I think I just asked him if he happened to be on RailUk to which he said yes and he was Sprinterman.

In February earlier this year, I was in Birmingham on the day of a forum meet with Class 92 (I don't know why I didn't put myself down for attending the meet to this day!) and happened to notice Yorkie and Mojo on the platform at Coleshill Parkway so we went down to see them and there were a load of members (Fahad, Crossover, SS4) and probably a few more. It was certainly unexpected, as I hadn't planned to meet them, but was aware there was a meet in Birmingham that day.

Around April-ish I bumped into ex-member, the right-honourable IanPooleTrains at Stockport bashing the 222 into Liverpool. He was with member Elarchibaldo and a load of others who could possibly be on this forum. Strangely enough I have not met Simon Poole. Around the same time, I took a picture of a unit at Crewe and turned around to see Class 92 behind me taking a picture of the same unit.

Moving forwards to May, me and my dad caught the same train as a load of members down to London on the Pretendolino. It was only when Mojo mentioned in conversation on a meet beforehand that I found out we were all on the same booked train. This was not really unexpected upon finding out, but had I had not been told, I would have boarded the train not knowing that all the forum members were on and it would have been a surprise! To the best of my knowledge it was; Yorkie, Mojo, theblackwatch, Max, Matt, BB21, IanXC, Trentside and Phillip Brown.

On the day of the TdF loco hauled trains, I saw theblackwatch photting from across the platforms at Leeds but didn't shout across as I wasn't too sure at the time who it was because I wasn't wearing my specs. Upon logging on here later that day I had a PM from him saying that he saw me but thought I might not recognize him. I felt a bit bad afterwards for not giving a wave though!

Later that month whilst in London, I boarded a DLR train at Poplar and MidnightFlyer sat in the seats next to me. Again, I had only met him once before so wasn't too sure at the time so I didn't say anything but when I saw he was wearing an Eagles T-shirt I knew it was him, but by the time I approached him, he briskly walked off to get to the other end of the train in order to nick the front seat! We confirmed later on that day that it was him via PM.

(nearly there!)

I found out that there was a member from my school on this forum (who has now gone to uni) and that member is ProfXavier who I used to talk to a bit in school. Also later on I found out another member, AndyMcl74 who goes attends the same school as me. Admittedly, I did have suspicion as I knew he was an enthusiast, and used to sit together on the train on the way to school. I bumped into him on Little Sutton station not long ago unexpectedly. There was also a case where I had played rugby against a member of this forum before he became a member here, and that guy was MiloNoblet, but I only think he joined here to ask something because I haven't seen him on here since.

And finally, I was at Manchester Picc with a load of other members when starmill pointed out someone working on the platform who was a member here, but don't ask me who it was, I can't remember!

Phew!
 

DaveNewcastle

Established Member
Joined
21 Dec 2007
Messages
7,387
Location
Newcastle (unless I'm out)
I spotted DaveNewcastle on his bike on Princes Street yesterday afternoon while I was at work.
Yes, nice to see you, but it probably shouldn't be that surprising,. However, a conversation in the middle of Princes Street can be a tad hazardous!
I'm sure I've seen you out on the roads previously - and probably will do again.


I am also fairly sure DaveNewcastle and I passed each other in opposite directions in Glasgow Queen Street some time ago, but we were both in a bit of a hurry so I can't confirm this. Not an unusual place however.
Agreed. Only unusual if neither of us were actually in the city at the time! (and I have been through Q.St. a few time this year). But I must warn you that I do have 'a double'. The passenger sitting opposite me on EC on Thursday night thought I was that other person., not just based on my appearance but also my mannerisms. It is an error which happens to ne quite frequently, and that can be very surprising.
 
Last edited:

90019

Established Member
Joined
29 May 2008
Messages
6,824
Location
Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Yes, nice to see you, but it probably shouldn't be that surprising,. However, a conversation in the middle of Princes Street can be a tad hazardous!
I didn't want to open the doors because the self loading freight have a habit of walking through them regardless of where the bus is stopped.

I'm sure I've seen you out on the roads previously - and probably will do again.
I wouldn't be surprised - I am out on them quite a lot, after all.
 

bb21

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
4 Feb 2010
Messages
24,151
Sounds like you have met more forum members than I have. ;)
 

Hyphen

Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
504
Location
Swansea (previously Nottingham/Sheffield)
I wouldn't be surprised if Flamingo had been my guard on a Swansea HST at some point - but I'm afraid I'm not brave enough to ask every guard I come across if they're a flamingo!! ;)

Not a forum member, but what looked like Jodie from the Channel 5 FGW documentary was my guard coming back into Swansea on Wednesday. I only caught sight of her once, and she'd gone before I'd worked out why I recognised her, so I didn't bother her ;)
 
Last edited:

CC 72100

Established Member
Joined
23 Jan 2012
Messages
3,777
I wouldn't be surprised if Flamingo had been my guard on a Swansea HST at some point - but I'm afraid I'm not brave enough to every guard I come across if they're a flamingo!! ;)

I've never seen a flamingo as my TM so I therefore conclude that the forum member in question has never worked one of my trains ;)

(To be fair, I'm not sure he does work as far down as Devon where most of my HST journeys are!)
 

LowLevel

Established Member
Joined
26 Oct 2013
Messages
7,583
I've met loads of people, whether they know it was me is another matter :D
 

Crossover

Established Member
Joined
4 Jun 2009
Messages
9,253
Location
Yorkshire
Although I was unaware of who they were until after exchanging PM's, myself and a couple of other members were travelling on a late service from Kings Cross last night and leedslad82 had made a reference in a thread (related to some disruption at The Cross) that they were on the same service. Coincidence enough, but only today have I found the member was actually sat on the table opposite ours without either of us knowing who each other was! Maybe we will meet again in slightly less chaotic circumstances!
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,226
Location
Liskeard
I've caught a bus and had SWTH driving. I was on an unplanned ride Cornwall ticket. Only found he was the driver after posting some comments on here later in the day about my trip.
 

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
I have stood right next to some members of the forum without realising it at major railway events (eg. open days/exhibitions), but since I didn't know if they'd be there, I wasn't expecting it and wasn't vigilant enough to immediately notice and say hello! I won't say which ones, but suffice to say that they were in the South of England over the last year or so.

As far as I know, there are no forum members who know for definite that I have met them, though some have almost certainly guessed that I am an as-yet anonymous member by now. The same cannot be said for certain readers who haven't yet got accounts! I can sound really secretive by saying this, but unfortunately (until very recently) it has not been especially practical for me to reveal my identity even if I have had an inkling that someone is a member.

I can assure you I am much more open and friendly in real life than this post implies! ;)
 

londiscape

Member
Joined
1 Oct 2013
Messages
292
Location
SW London
I wouldn't be surprised if Flamingo had been my guard on a Swansea HST at some point - but I'm afraid I'm not brave enough to ask every guard I come across if they're a flamingo!! ;)

Likewise I have often wondered, on boarding yet another SWT Class 455 at Clapham Junction, whether it's 455driver in the front seat :)
 

CC 72100

Established Member
Joined
23 Jan 2012
Messages
3,777
I did have somebody doing exactly the same trains as me yesterday on my Devon Day Ranger, (and also seemed to sit in the same part of the train as me on every occasion!) who looked like an identical twin of forum member Matt Taylor (judging by his picture on Twitter).
 

ATW Alex 101

Established Member
Joined
28 Dec 2010
Messages
2,083
Location
Ellesmere port
Stepped off a HST at Carlisle to see ex-member IanPooleTrains in front of me, who when he saw my face, immediately turned away :lol: I made my presence very well known to him. :D
 
Last edited:
Joined
5 Feb 2009
Messages
1,012
Location
Milton Keynes
I believe I saw MK Tom taking photographs of the train at a footpath crossing by pages park in Leighton Buzzard on Sunday, I've only just realised as I've just seen the photos on flickr (in case you're wondering I was guard on the train).

(as a somewhat anonymous member I've probably bumped into a fair few forum members without realising at the time, and if anyone has visited the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway since about mid June, chances are you might have bumped into me at some point)
 

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,388
Location
0035
A forum member was working on a TPx train yesterday afternoon that forum members on the Lancashire Day Ranger meet observed at Lancaster station yesterday afternoon. Sadly he only popped his head out of the doors just before they were closing, so none of us had a chance to say "hi."
 

High Dyke

Established Member
Joined
1 Jan 2013
Messages
4,276
Location
Yellabelly Country
Not so much meeting other forums members, i probably wouldn't recognise most of you (sorry!)

However a few years ago i was at Clacton photting the signals when i got talking to a chap doing exactly the same. It transpired he was a colleague of mine from North Wales whom i had spent time conversing with on our employers intranet forum.
 

Starmill

Veteran Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
18 May 2012
Messages
23,351
Location
Bolton
I've met loads of people, whether they know it was me is another matter :D

We can do that too! ;)

I've done a reasonably good job recently of narrowing down who people are whom I've seen more than once, of course only a few are also on here.

In case you're interested, I think there is still a fairly large number of people whom you could be, plus the fairly slim (and shrinking!) chance that you're none of them.
 
Last edited:

LowLevel

Established Member
Joined
26 Oct 2013
Messages
7,583
A few people do certainly know who I am (including my manager!), however I do drop the odd red herring and I'm by no means the only crank in my grade and depot! You could probably narrow it down eventually but to be fair to my employer's social media policy I don't identify myself and them directly at the same time online. It allows me a certain freedom of expression and them less worry.

I also don't crank at work to complicate matters :lol:

The wife wouldn't approve!
 

Crossover

Established Member
Joined
4 Jun 2009
Messages
9,253
Location
Yorkshire
Yesterday turned out to be a little odd in terms of coming across people who I knew

The first one, though not a direct meet, was whilst I was on an ATW from Piccadilly to Crewe - I was on Facebook on my phone and noticed a previous member IanPooleTrains had just tagged at Handforth station - 175109, which I was on, was his next spot. I didn't quite manage to see him as we went past as we went past at a fair speed, but I'm sure a photo/video or two will appear in due course

On my way back from Crewe, having avoided the front coach of the 175 as it looked like a mobile bar, I was again on Facebook and noted JackClare had tagged on a service about an hour earlier, surrounded by drunk Leeds fans (turns out they had played, and lost to, Cardiff earlier) which seemed to tie in with the service I was on. Indeed it was (he had been in the front coach that I had avoided) and I was joined for the remainder of the journey to Manchester.

Having headed over the Pennines, I was off at Huddersfield and just after alighting, noticed yorksrob boarding, though with the doors just closing, I wasn't able to say anything

Slightly weird day in that respect, all in all!
 

MidnightFlyer

Veteran Member
Joined
16 May 2010
Messages
12,857
(Sorry for the moderate bump, I've meant to post this for ages.)

I'm 99% sure I passed Ascot in a subway in Birmingham a couple of months ago. Took me a while to work out where I recognised him from so I never got a chance to acknowledge him.
 

Crossover

Established Member
Joined
4 Jun 2009
Messages
9,253
Location
Yorkshire
In Selby this morning, heading to Wetherspoons with a couple of other members prior to going on a Hull Trains Divert, we met (so I am advised) TUC

Whilst on the divert, we were joined by Galvanize - the second time we have met unexpectedly, the first being on a Northern Loco Hauled service at the start of the month.

After leaving the train at St Pancras we then bumped into Muzer as well
 

Flamingo

Established Member
Joined
26 Apr 2010
Messages
6,810
I've never seen a flamingo as my TM so I therefore conclude that the forum member in question has never worked one of my trains ;)

(To be fair, I'm not sure he does work as far down as Devon where most of my HST journeys are!)

No, never been there :lol:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I wouldn't be surprised if Flamingo had been my guard on a Swansea HST at some point - but I'm afraid I'm not brave enough to ask every guard I come across if they're a flamingo!! ;)

Not a forum member, but what looked like Jodie from the Channel 5 FGW documentary was my guard coming back into Swansea on Wednesday. I only caught sight of her once, and she'd gone before I'd worked out why I recognised her, so I didn't bother her ;)

Distinctly possible you have seen me. I'm the one pulling out the seat reservations and putting the fear of God into passengers with suitcases on seats and those with split tickets! <D
 

Muzer

Established Member
Joined
3 Feb 2012
Messages
2,773
In Selby this morning, heading to Wetherspoons with a couple of other members prior to going on a Hull Trains Divert, we met (so I am advised) TUC

Whilst on the divert, we were joined by Galvanize - the second time we have met unexpectedly, the first being on a Northern Loco Hauled service at the start of the month.

After leaving the train at St Pancras we then bumped into Muzer as well
Indeed, that was nice.

I've knowingly met ANorthernGuard, unsurprisingly in his line of work! (NSEFAN and I were on a trip to the Greater Manchester area to get the old Oldham Mumps route — post-Metrolink, I mean, but pre-street-running-through-Oldham — the weekend before it closed permanently. We spent one of the days going around the lines in the Guide Bridge area, and met him there)



I expect some people were in the same (front) coach as me on the last down run of the Pretendolino in regular service? I didn't recognise anyone and I didn't fancy wandering around to lose my seat.
 
Last edited:

Hyphen

Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
504
Location
Swansea (previously Nottingham/Sheffield)
putting the fear of God into passengers with suitcases on seats and those with split tickets! <D

Will have to keep an eye out for the seat reservations at least - I don't put suitcases on seats (my rucksack maybe, but only as long as there are plenty of other seats free), and I have a policy of only showing guards the relevant piece of split I'm on for the current location of the train ;)
 

Top