BBC 40' container

[Yank 119]

While not techinically an NR topic, I thought I'd post this here for all who are interested:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/thebox

Saw on the "modelintermodal" yahoogroup that the box has recently arrived at Crewe Basford Hall yard on 4M50 and awaiting a connecting train to the North.

Be sure to let us know if you see it en route!

 

[jacknottm]

Seen at Nuneaton today on 4M50

 

[Ben]

Currently in me123 land. (Coatbridge)

 

[P156KWJ]

hmm, will provide a bit more of an eye-catching sight should I see it instead of the usual rusty P&O and Maersk ones I see.

 

[me123]

Hmm... wondered how long it would be before it visited here... But yes it was here this morning (unfortunately, as I was asleep I missed it!) and it's now in a Whisky bottling plant in Abbotsinch (near Paisley).

Probably been down the Whifflet line as well, then.

 

[Ben]

Hmm... wondered how long it would be before it visited here... But yes it was here this morning (unfortunately, as I was asleep I missed it!) and it's now in a Whisky bottling plant in Abbotsinch (near Paisley).

Probably been down the Whifflet line as well, then.

It was inCoatbridge til about 3PM. Lazy.

 

[me123]

According to that map, it arrived in Paisley at 15:35ish. So it should have left... about half 2 give or take? Well, i certainly shouldn't have missed that then!

 

[Guinness]

Is the box always empty? Everytime I go onto the Website it says "Contents: Empty"

 

[andylloyd]

Hopefully this time round maybe it will get filled

Regards

Andy

 

[Daniel]

The Box contents: Whisky

 

[me123]

Didn't know there was a big market in Asia for Whisky :?

 

[andylloyd]

Didn't know there was a big market in Asia for Whisky :?

Certain places abroad do have a market for our lovely malt whiskey 8)

Cheers

Andy

 

[djw1981]

Didn't know there was a big market in Asia for Whisky :?

China and India are our largest markets.....larger than the UK even.

 

[will1337]

China and India are our largest markets.....larger than the UK even.

And yet my local shop sells Indian whisky. Haven't been terribly tempted to try it though.

 

[djw1981]

And yet my local shop sells Indian whisky. Haven't been terribly tempted to try it though.

Hmm...maybe it is exported to India, bottled as indian and re-imported to the UK.????????? Ok probably not.

AIUI Indian whiskey is their standard tipple, but the Scotch Whiskey is seen as a class above - a bit like we are about continental lagers and beers.

 

[Gizmogle]

It would seem that the box is on the move again from Paisley.

 

[Mintona]

Here it is the other day:
http://www.mintona.fotopic.net/p53446842.html

 

[Death]

Hail All!

Here it is the other day:
http://www.mintona.fotopic.net/p53446842.html

Nice photo of it there mate, although I must admit that the following photo made me take a little more notice...It would appear that the driver of this 47 has forgotton to couple his train to the loco and has set off completely unawares!

Anyhow...Last reported position of the box - As of 13:35 today - Is still near Glasgow...Although it's possible that the OHLE could be playing havoc with the GPS device (Or it's failed) so it could already be on it's way back south for all we know. 8)
__________________________________________________

Incidentally, does anyone else think that this project from the BBC could reduce the security of the box's contents in several ways? Given that the project shows projected points of origin, destination, and what the box is carrying for that particular leg of it's journey - To say nothing of how easily identifiable the container itself actually is - I would've imagined that it would've been used for very low value cargo only, such as cheap toys, devices and base materials intended for manufacturing or processing!

Considering a current hypothetical scenario:
The box is currently full of Scotch Whisky, and I would estimate a container's worth of that to easily be worth a good £10,000+ in value. Now could ye imagine if a criminal gang saw that on the BBCi website, decided to get a gang and an HGV together, and stop or derail the train carrying the container back south with the intention of stealing it's load, and then managed to walk away with ten grands worth of Whisky? The liability for that would go to the BBC no doubt...And guess whose licence fees would go up to cover the costs?... hock::roll:

Normally, the security of containers is in obscurity; Ye could crack-open a random container to find several million worth of Gold bullion inside (Though highly unlikely!) or just a load of scrap plastic being shipped to a recycling plant. The only register of a container's contents is normally the shipping manifest (And that's often as vague as possible) and such paperwork is always stored securely away from the container for a good reason...
In the case of this one container, the BBC project removes that security through obscurity...

Thoughts on this, anyone?
>> Death <<

 

[me123]

On a boat now, bound for China. Probably coming back with some plastic rulers or something in it.

Because it's at sea, Death, I find it highly unlikely that anyone's gonna jack the boat for all that Whisky Besides, BBC are closely monitoring it and the feed doesn't give too much of a prediction as to where the box is. That said, I see your point. If it were to get Diamonds, then you have a million dollar GPS system.

 

[P156KWJ]

might come back with next year's christmas stock for ASDA

 

[Gizmogle]

The container is now in the sea? hock:

 

[laseandre]

It's on a wonderful thing called a container ship from Greenock to China.

 

[andylloyd]

mmmmmmmmmmm sail away sail away sail away

Regards
Andy

 

[Meld]

The Box has received its first cargo, in Scotland. It will be taken to Southampton, in southern England, and then on to Asia.

PMSL :grin::grin::grin:

 

[Thewanderer]

At 2225 the box has now arrived into Belfast Port.

 

[TheSlash]

Death has raised a point that had me thinking.
As he rightly says, millions of containers move around everyday, so nobody considers what might be in them.
When the BBC start advertising the contents and location of an easily recognisable box, then some opportunist or semi skilled crook can plan a raid with the help of the BBC website. Maybe not derail a train or similar, but perhaps just break into the box whilst it's stopped on the back of a lorry somewhere?

 

[Metroland]

I suspect it's being watched a fair bit and of course ship and rail have excellent load security. The same can't be said about road, have you ever considered why trucks don't travel about with 'Currys' on the side?

Trucks drivers are always weary about talking about what they are carrying. You don't mention you are carrying a truck load of TVs, you certainly don't advertise it on the side.

Several thousand trucks are stolen every year and there are around 80-330 hijackings. One of the worst roads is from Tilbury docks.

http://www.truckpol.com/downloads/2005vehicletheftreport.pdf

Most thieves use deception. Common tricks are:

* Flagging the driver down pretending there is a problem with the load, the trailer or the vehicle.
* Staging an accident.
* Pretending to work at the delivery depot and redirecting the load, either in person or by phone. This is known as ‘round the corner’ theft.
* Impersonating police or traffic officers.

Of course it's not just trucks:

Carjacking is stealing a car while its owner is present. This can be done using threats or violence to secure the car keys from the car's owner or, in some cases, opportunistically taking advantage of the driver having left the keys in the vehicle while popping off somewhere temporarily. A broad definition of the term car-jacking would also include the phenomenon of thieves breaking into a person's house just to steal the car keys. Police estimate that 8% of all burglaries in Britain are undertaken for this reason. Altogether, there were over 11,000 cases of car-jacking recorded in Britain last year.

http://www.safermotoring.co.uk/Carjacking.html

Rail generally has few incidents, and certainly not many hijacks. The last significant one was the great train robbery in the 1960s. But accidents have been caused if thefts have tampered with loads. A particularly nasty accident occurred in the 1970s, when pallets fell out of a wagon derailing an express near Watford.

http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DoE_Watford1975.pdf

 

[djw1981]

I think that from now on it will tell you what it was carrying retrospectively. They did say the contents would be given 'where available' and I predict that the shipping line will make certain content unavailable. Also Diamonds don't travel by container normally.

 

[P156KWJ]

The container is now in the sea? hock:

the docks' poor handling of special goods such as alcohol