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Novelty ticket hole punchers

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crehld

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On my travels my tickets are often marked to indicate they've been used. The tools for the job vary. The biro is the most ubiquitous, followed by the fancy stamps which imprint the date and train number on the ticket. Then you get the hole punch, of which many variations exist. These range from basic circles, to 'squiggles', to stars and, my personal favourite, the apple (see attached).

So is there any meaning behind these varied hole punch markings? Is it some sort of secret code between railway staff? Is it totally meaningless? Or is it just a way for guards to inject a bit of personal style into their day to day work? Are these novelty hole punches standard TOC issue, or do staff have to scour the stationery shops looking for one at their own expense? And what's the strangest one you've come across (or even use if you're a guard)? Discuss!
 

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ainsworth74

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I've had Christmas trees, a witch and a train. There were probably others but those are the ones that stick with me.

As far as I'm aware novelty stampers have to be bought by the member of staff using them as TOCs will issue simple punch or Zifa stamps (the fancy one with date and headcode). That's if they give their staff any at all some I believe just expect staff to use pens rather than stamps.
 

Minilad

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In the good old days the mark left did actually mean something. There were various marks for each region. LM had a 3 ER had a 5. Each region had a different mark and there were different marks for TTIs and such like
 

ANorthernGuard

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I have quite a large collection of different Stamps I use. All they mean is the ticket has been checked but the Majority of Passengers and kids love it and it does absolutely no harm whatsoever. (and yes I bought them out of my own pocket)
 

Haydn1971

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I've seen a teddy bear and a love heart - the latter being on the 14th February.

What's annoying is that flipping ink that doesn't dry !
 

trentside

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I got a batman one the other day on a Northern Rail train

I see those a lot from passengers who's origin station is Hull, or other stations in that area.

Personally I just use a trusty Sharpie - the hole punch I was issued was messy and didn't work that well.
 

ainsworth74

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I see those a lot from passengers who's origin station is Hull, or other stations in that area.

There is a guard on the Yorkshire Coast Line which has all sorts of punches so that's not surprising. That's where I got both my train and witch punched tickets!
 

Starmill

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Zifa + Dolphin! Although spot the problem ;)

FB_IMG_1432325098125.jpg

Northern are great at novelty hole punchers, which the staff clearly go out of their way to get hold of for the benefit of their passengers. What a lovely thought :D
 
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AndyPJG

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Where do they even buy these from? I've searched the internet and had no luck!

Try 'craft paper punches' eg ebay.

I bought one with a steam loco silhouette a while back for use on a miniature railway.
 
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387star

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Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket they reckon they cant break their journey or it wont be Accepted :( takes a lot of explaining to convince them!

Still shocked how many cant tell the difference between a reservation and ticket
 

Flamingo

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Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket as it makes reusing it that much harder...
 

Starmill

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Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket as it makes reusing it that much harder...

A good moment to have people admit to ticket reuse then eh...

That said, not being allowed to make your future break(s) of journey with a marked ticket is a legitimate concern given there are some staff who think you have to make your entire return journey on the same day...
 
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Gemz91

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Any money that's Sammie Spad (@sammie_spad on Twitter) - she's mentioned before she has a collection of them she uses for kids. :D

I just searched for Sammie Spad on google and got a load of links to porn videos :roll: I hope there is some unfortunate coincidence here, which I'm sure there is (I have no clue who Sammie Spad is).
 

yorkie

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Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket they reckon they cant break their journey or it wont be Accepted :( takes a lot of explaining to convince them!
This is due to a minority of rail staff making up their own rules regarding break of journey restrictions and giving passengers hassle. Passengers who experience this need to write into the relevant Company to seek assurances that their staff will act correctly in future.

So I would assure passengers their tickets were still valid for break of journey, and say that if they had any problems later in the journey, to write to the Customer Services department of the relevant Train Company.
 
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Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket as it makes reusing it that much harder...

And if it is stamped with the date and train number they cant delay repay
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
This is due to a minority of rail staff making up their own rules regarding break of journey restrictions and giving passengers hassle. Passengers who experience this need to write into the relevant Company to seek assurances that their staff will act correctly in future.

So I would assure passengers their tickets were still valid for break of journey, and say that if they had any problems later in the journey, to write to the Customer Services department of the relevant Train Company.

Must say that I have often been nervous of this at the time I have had mine clipped, although I have never been challenged on the next train
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I just searched for Sammie Spad on google and got a load of links to porn videos :roll: I hope there is some unfortunate coincidence here, which I'm sure there is (I have no clue who Sammie Spad is).

Well its obvious then isn't it, this Sammy Spad done a video on some train lol, probably a pacer hahaha
 
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crehld

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Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket they reckon they cant break their journey or it wont be Accepted :( takes a lot of explaining to convince them!

Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket as it makes reusing it that much harder...

Well I personally don't mind getting it stamped as:

a) has no affect on the prevailing validity of the ticket; and
b) it's a nice souvenir of the journey, particularly if you get a wacky stamp :)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
That said, not being allowed to make your future break(s) of journey with a marked ticket is a legitimate concern given there are some staff who think you have to make your entire return journey on the same day...

Yes - the amount of times I've had to patiently explain these things to the florescent Northern army!
 
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Moonshark

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I think silly patterns like butterflies and steam trains on tickets is un-professional and rather tacky.
 
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