Acton Bridge: A Station with Local Strange Neighbours

bionic · 11 Jul 2019

HST125Scorton said:
While these two people are causing themselves issues with spotters, the male was actually seen on the platforms filming 70000 'Britannia' on the Fellsman Saphos Charter yesterday..., Up till the last few days the two people have been rather quiet and not bothering spotters. My question is what was his original problem then? If he didn't like spotters or loud talking, why was he spotting/filming himself? Maybe they have given up?

If you can't beat them, join them!

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bramling · 11 Jul 2019

frodshamfella said:
But they aren't buying a ticket, and if a fare paying passenger needs to park ( and this.is a small car park which is the big issue ) then the rail passenger surely should come first.

If its a weekend there is normally space, but mid week when people are trying to get a train to work or where ever, parking is a big issue at Acton Bridge, ive experienced it many a time when there is no space, then im panicking to find somewhere on the road nearby which is safe to park.

That’s fine, however there’s ways of going about dealing with that issue. The correct thing to do is to take it up with the TOC, to see if they will either carry out some enforcement, or better still extend the car park.

Descending to the basic caveman instinct of being aggressive and abusive isn’t the solution. Ironically this individual has no greater “right” to be on the station than the spotters if only rail users should be there as he asserts!

Perhaps one way of providing extra parking would be to demolish the railway cottages?!

Bertie the bus · 11 Jul 2019

HST125Scorton said:
Up till the last few days the two people have been rather quiet and not bothering spotters. My question is what was his original problem then?

If you look at Google Street View their house has been on the market since at least March. They’ve possibly had some feedback from estate agents or viewers of the house that rail enthusiasts turning up or being on the station could affect the sale so they’ve taken it upon themselves to eradicate the problem so they can pocket a bit more cash.

frodshamfella · 11 Jul 2019

bramling said:
That’s fine, however there’s ways of going about dealing with that issue. The correct thing to do is to take it up with the TOC, to see if they will either carry out some enforcement, or better still extend the car park.

Descending to the basic caveman instinct of being aggressive and abusive isn’t the solution. Ironically this individual has no greater “right” to be on the station than the spotters if only rail users should be there as he asserts!

Perhaps one way of providing extra parking would be to demolish the railway cottages?!

The big problem is the size of the car park, and I've wrote to the TOC and Network Rail, as I believe the users group and parish council have. Wheels move slowly.

John Luxton · 11 Jul 2019

This thread caught my eye the other day. I must admit I am not a spotter. I do indulge in rail photography but my preference is heritage lines and photographing network lines is fairly rare for me. However, as well as being interested in railways my interest extends to shipping and this weekend I will be travelling on the Steam Tug-Tender Daniel Adamson on the River Weaver with around 40 other members and friends of the World Ship Society.

After our sailing we are due to have a get together at the Hazel Pear. It had occurred to me to suggest that given the pubs proximity to the station members might like to indulge in some railway photography. Might be interesting to see this guy's response to 40 people with cameras turning up.

John

TheSel · 11 Jul 2019

John Luxton said:
This thread caught my eye the other day. I must admit I am not a spotter. I do indulge in rail photography but my preference is heritage lines and photographing network lines is fairly rare for me. However, as well as being interested in railways my interest extends to shipping and this weekend I will be travelling on the Steam Tug-Tender Daniel Adamson on the River Weaver with around 40 other members and friends of the World Ship Society.

After our sailing we are due to have a get together at the Hazel Pear. It had occurred to me to suggest that given the pubs proximity to the station members might like to indulge in some railway photography. Might be interesting to see this guy's response to 40 people with cameras turning up.

John

Perhaps a few of you could make an appointment through the Estate Agent, and view the property while you're there?

bramling · 11 Jul 2019

frodshamfella said:
The big problem is the size of the car park, and I've wrote to the TOC and Network Rail, as I believe the users group and parish council have. Wheels move slowly.

Fine, but in the meantime they just need to suck it up as one of those little facts of life.

Pete_uk · 12 Jul 2019

Covertly recording the confrontation on a phone would be great evidence. There's no need to shove it in his face.

M60lad · 12 Jul 2019

Something I've been thinking while reading this thread is what's going to happen in a couple of weeks when Acton Bridge is shut for enginering works? Certainly he'll have something to moan about then as they'll be constant noise from the vehicles being used for the works unless the planned works aren't near the station, will he be out complaining to the workers that their making too much noise.

whhistle · 12 Jul 2019

frodshamfella said:
But they aren't buying a ticket, and if a fare paying passenger needs to park ( and this.is a small car park which is the big issue ) then the rail passenger surely should come first.

I understand that but I ask again, define "user".
Are you saying a station user has to be someone who buys a ticket or catches the train?

What if someone uses the station to garner information (like train times) - surely they're a user?
Or someone who uses the station to collect someone off the train?
Perhaps someone using the station in their lunch break to get away from the office could be considered a user too?

Not splitting hairs here but this is exactly the world we live in these days - users can be nearly anyone, not just people catching trains.

nedchester · 12 Jul 2019

M60lad said:
Something I've been thinking while reading this thread is what's going to happen in a couple of weeks when Acton Bridge is shut for enginering works? Certainly he'll have something to moan about then as they'll be constant noise from the vehicles being used for the works unless the planned works aren't near the station, will he be out complaining to the workers that their making too much noise.

That's Acton Grange Jn not Acton Bridge

frodshamfella · 12 Jul 2019

whhistle said:
I understand that but I ask again, define "user".
Are you saying a station user has to be someone who buys a ticket or catches the train?

What if someone uses the station to garner information (like train times) - surely they're a user?
Or someone who uses the station to collect someone off the train?
Perhaps someone using the station in their lunch break to get away from the office could be considered a user too?

Not splitting hairs here but this is exactly the world we live in these days - users can be nearly anyone, not just people catching trains.

I think you should put your question to London Northwestern not me.

frodshamfella · 12 Jul 2019

bramling said:
Fine, but in the meantime they just need to suck it up as one of those little facts of life.

The passengers have been for years.

childwallblues · 13 Jul 2019

nedchester said:
That's Acton Grange Jn not Acton Bridge

Correct. Acton Grange Junction is 7.82 miles to the north of Acton Bridge. It will not affect trains that stop at Acton Bridge as these are Liverpool to Birmingham trains.

driver_m · 14 Jul 2019

mmh said:
Intimidation or aggression is wrong, but there are two sides to every story.

If I lived next to a sleepy station I think groups of 20 plus at the station could cause me concern. As would two people there for 7 hours into the small hours of the night - I'd be concerned for their safety and the safety of myself and others.

It's possible that the residents feel intimidated themselves by people.

I'd advise against the suggestions of involving the police. The most likely outcome there is being told to leave because you're causing a nuisance, rightly or wrongly.

I go through Acton Bridge most days and I don’t think any of the people standing on there are intimidating. Standing a little bit too close to the edge at times? Definitely, but upsetting locals? I very much doubt that. The old adage of the railway being there longer than those 2 people most definitely applies, they should stay well away if they don’t like it. Maybe someone should put up a whistle board nearby and really annoy them!

sprunt · 14 Jul 2019

What is it that makes Acton Bridge a popular location for enthusiasts? From just looking at a map there doesn't seem to be anything notable about it.

Southern Dvr · 14 Jul 2019

West Coast Main Line, between Crewe and Weaver Jnc so you get plenty of freight on the WCML and the stuff coming off the Northwich route.

sprunt · 14 Jul 2019

Thanks.

RichT54 · 14 Jul 2019

sprunt said:
What is it that makes Acton Bridge a popular location for enthusiasts? From just looking at a map there doesn't seem to be anything notable about it.

I was wondering that, so I had a search on YouTube and saw there are quite a lot of interesting videos posted from there.

There was also this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX8HhpCWKpE

the local strange neighbour perhaps?

Realfish · 14 Jul 2019

RichT54 said:
I was wondering that, so I had a search on YouTube and saw there are quite a lot of interesting videos posted from there.

There was also this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX8HhpCWKpE

the local strange neighbour perhaps?

Is it Chad? (Those with senior railcards might recognise the likeness)

whhistle · 15 Jul 2019

frodshamfella said:
I think you should put your question to London Northwestern not me.

But you were the one questioning the definition...

HST125Scorton · 15 Jul 2019

RichT54 said:
I was wondering that, so I had a search on YouTube and saw there are quite a lot of interesting videos posted from there.

There was also this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX8HhpCWKpE

the local strange neighbour perhaps?

That's one of them, in that house is what seems to be mother/father/son.. Son & Mother [Motor Gobs!] are the ones who keep coming onto the station.. never actually seen the father come out the actual house apart from taking photos from the fence.

frodshamfella · 15 Jul 2019

whhistle said:
But you were the one questioning the definition...

No I wasn't you were.

Acton Bridge: A Station with Local Strange Neighbours

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