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Weird Things You See People Do on the Railway

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Pigeon

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"On court après le train qui est déjà parti", as a French textbook at school memorably put it.
 
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AlastairFraser

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"I come first because my job is obviously more important to get to than yours"

or

"Beating this random other person in an arbitrary race to nowhere is so vitally important to me that I can't lose"

:)
Argh, why is there no like button? You nailed their mindset right on.
A last point though, if their job is so important, then why are they on the trains and not a helicopter or chauffeur-driven limo? :D :D :D
 

IceAgeComing

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I once saw a man do an exercise routine in the vestibule between Euston and Harrow and Wealdstone on a Tring service. This was full stand up and squat and so on workout. The kind you'd do in a gym not on a train!.

I admit to having done this once before - it was a London-Inverness (I *think*; definately stopped in Stirling) train where we got stuck mid route for a long time and I felt incredibly tight so to loosen off a little in the empty carriage I stretched and did some lunges and stuff. Its incredibly strange but in a long distance trip doing something like that is very healthy; as is going for walks just to get some basic exercise in.
 

03_179

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I used to laugh at the morning London Bridge commuters who would run down the ramp at East Croydon and miss the train ... you'd think it was the last train EVER to go to London Bridge ... then in would pull another one about 3 minutes later and they still moaned they missed the previous one.
 

pdeaves

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I used to laugh at the morning London Bridge commuters who would run down the ramp at East Croydon and miss the train ... you'd think it was the last train EVER to go to London Bridge ... then in would pull another one about 3 minutes later and they still moaned they missed the previous one.
In regular 'slam door' commuter stock days, it was always amusing to see the doors fly open and people leaping out onto the platform, rushing to be first onto the Underground. After they jumped, the train continued past them to its regular stopping point, leaving them way up the platform and overtaken by all those they were trying to beat. Aside from the obvious safety benefit, that's one of the good things about central door locking; it put an end to this ridiculousness and made people calm down a little (only a little!).
 
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I've seen people flag down trains like you do when a bus approaches. Like, for real??
There's a photo of me doing precisely that at Berney Arms, acting on the sign that said if you wanted the train to stop, give the driver a clear indication.

It was that, a long wait or a long walk. I know which I preferred. So yes, like, for real. :rolleyes:
 

kristiang85

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I've seen people flag down trains like you do when a bus approaches. Like, for real??

In Canada on some of the more remote lines the train will stop pretty much anywhere you want to pick you up / drop you off.
 

Socanxdis

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There's a photo of me doing precisely that at Berney Arms, acting on the sign that said if you wanted the train to stop, give the driver a clear indication.

It was that, a long wait or a long walk. I know which I preferred. So yes, like, for real. :rolleyes:
I've seen people do this in London
 

Bletchleyite

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In regular 'slam door' commuter stock days, it was always amusing to see the doors fly open and people leaping out onto the platform, rushing to be first onto the Underground. After they jumped, the train continued past them to its regular stopping point, leaving them way up the platform and overtaken by all those they were trying to beat. Aside from the obvious safety benefit, that's one of the good things about central door locking; it put an end to this ridiculousness and made people calm down a little (only a little!).

Jumping off a moving train/bus was fun. While modern day is no doubt much safer, it's a much less fun place than it was.
 

High Dyke

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Jumping off a moving train/bus was fun. While modern day is no doubt much safer, it's a much less fun place than it was.
In my youthful stupidity I did the opposite at East Croydon...and jumped onto a departing train. It was during one of the Network South East days. Having been abandoned by friends on a Gatwick Express I panicked as we passed through Clapham Jn heading the wrong way. The guard on the train back into London gave me a piece of his mind for my foolishness.
 

S16

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Earlier today I witnessed a young girl, 12-13 yrs old, drop something into the track at Hamilton Central station and without batting an eyelid jump down onto the line to retrieve whatever it was. I shouted at her and then alerted staff who also swiftly gave her a right rollicking.

I honestly don't know what goes through folks heads sometimes
 

_toommm_

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Earlier today I witnessed a young girl, 12-13 yrs old, drop something into the track at Hamilton Central station and without batting an eyelid jump down onto the line to retrieve whatever it was. I shouted at her and then alerted staff who also swiftly gave her a right rollicking.

I honestly don't know what goes through folks heads sometimes

Was it electrified? Heaven forbid if it was
 

S16

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Overheads only thank god, we don't have 3rd rail up here
 

NoOnesFool

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Some more examples: Sitting on flip-down seats in the vestibules when there are plenty of vacant, un-reserved seats in the carriage; Standing by a door that says 'this is not a passenger door' in bold writing, thinking it will open for them; ignoring announcements to stow luggage out of the aisles and insisting on having their suitcase in the aisle, right in the middle of the coach; thinking a train from Derby to London goes to Plymouth; trying to open the driver's cab door in the last coach to 'get to the next carriage ', I could go on and on...
 

bastien

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Some more examples: Sitting on flip-down seats in the vestibules when there are plenty of vacant, un-reserved seats in the carriage; Standing by a door that says 'this is not a passenger door' in bold writing, thinking it will open for them; ignoring announcements to stow luggage out of the aisles and insisting on having their suitcase in the aisle, right in the middle of the coach; thinking a train from Derby to London goes to Plymouth; trying to open the driver's cab door in the last coach to 'get to the next carriage ', I could go on and on...
The trying to open the cab door thing is best when it's a 2 (or 1!) car train. I do wonder if they noticed when they got on - front of train, back of train.
 

fishquinn

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Sitting on flip-down seats in the vestibules when there are plenty of vacant, un-reserved seats in the carriage
I wouldn't call this weird and I have done this myself in the past on Chiltern's MK3 stock for numerous reasons. If you have a connection, for example, then you're already at the door ready to get off, and with few other people going for the vestibule it can also give more space. If you're not travelling a long distance then it makes sense too. I frequently take a flip-down seat, as do others I know on some Birmingham-London trains when boarding at Moor Street. The front coach may not look busy on departure from Moor Street but it starts filling up at Solihull, Warwick Parkway and Leamington, by which point you may well have someone sat next to you. I don't have a problem with that a lot of the time but if you want your own space then the vestibule can be a good way to secure that.
 

43055

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Some more examples: Sitting on flip-down seats in the vestibules when there are plenty of vacant, un-reserved seats in the carriage; Standing by a door that says 'this is not a passenger door' in bold writing, thinking it will open for them; ignoring announcements to stow luggage out of the aisles and insisting on having their suitcase in the aisle, right in the middle of the coach; thinking a train from Derby to London goes to Plymouth; trying to open the driver's cab door in the last coach to 'get to the next carriage ', I could go on and on...
I've even see someone try to press the non existent button next to the door which will only open if you have a T key on a 222!
 

HH

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Does, "Try to catch a Northern Train on a Saturday" count?
 

Killingworth

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Does, "Try to catch a Northern Train on a Saturday" count?

It may seem weird to us on here, but people are still turning up at stations relying on either memory, printed or displayed timetables and unaware that trains aren't running on Saturdays.

They think it's more than weird and have been known to use other descriptions. These occasional travellers are the ones the railway needs to win for the future.
 

pdeaves

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Sitting on flip-down seats in the vestibules
A little anecdote that's not really a 'weird thing'.
When mark 4 stock was new I travelled on one of the flip down seats in a vestibule [1]. We approached a station, possibly Peterborough. Being short, I stood up to see out of the window at the sidings or something and people started to queue to leave the train. I then sat down again, unaware that the flip down seat had automatically flipped up again into the stowed position. If you have to make a fool of yourself, do it properly in front of a load of strangers!

[1] have they been removed now?
 

Kite159

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A little anecdote that's not really a 'weird thing'.
When mark 4 stock was new I travelled on one of the flip down seats in a vestibule [1]. We approached a station, possibly Peterborough. Being short, I stood up to see out of the window at the sidings or something and people started to queue to leave the train. I then sat down again, unaware that the flip down seat had automatically flipped up again into the stowed position. If you have to make a fool of yourself, do it properly in front of a load of strangers!

[1] have they been removed now?

Yes, there is little perch seats in some of the MK4 vestibule areas.

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I've sat in the little seats by the doors before when I'm only on the train for a short hop and don't want to take up a seat for someone going long distance. For example an EMT service from Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly (or even Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road).
 

sheff1

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ignoring announcements to stow luggage out of the aisles and insisting on having their suitcase in the aisle,

Surely they are only following the instructions in the announcement "keep your luggage with you and in sight at all times". The weird thing is having two announcements telling people to do things which are mutually incompatible (on Voyagers, at least0
 

fairysdad

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A little anecdote that's not really a 'weird thing'.
When mark 4 stock was new I travelled on one of the flip down seats in a vestibule [1]. We approached a station, possibly Peterborough. Being short, I stood up to see out of the window at the sidings or something and people started to queue to leave the train. I then sat down again, unaware that the flip down seat had automatically flipped up again into the stowed position. If you have to make a fool of yourself, do it properly in front of a load of strangers!
Many years ago when I was a wee lad, my Mum used to travel a lot by train, and usually took me along too. There was one occasion where the train we were on (retrospectively, I think it would have been a 158 or 159, it would also have been in BR/NSE days) was somewhat full, so we were sat on the flip-down seats in the vestibule, eating our packed lunch. Mum finished a banana, reached forward to put the peel into the bin, and sat back down again... onto the seat which had returned to its upright position. If you have to make a fool of yourself, do it properly in front of a load of strangers and your impressionable 7-year-old son!
 
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