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East Kent Railway - Vandalism.

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Peter C

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The East Kent Railway are reported a case of arson and vandalism on their railway through Twitter 11 hours ago:
We are sorry to announce that we have been hit by vandals and arsonists. We have lost a lot of equipment, power tools, generator, recovered artifacts and more. If anyone has any information please email our General Manager on [email protected]
From https://twitter.com/EastKentRailway/status/1189815034425364480

I am putting this on there in the hope that people can come forward with information and help for the railway. I am not associated with the East Kent Railway but this should never happen to any group, let alone a heritage line.

They have also tweeted this:
Thank you all for your kind words and support. The extent of the damage is still being assessed but is thought to be £10k+. We are trying to raise money to replace tools so if you can spare anything, please head to http://facebook.com/theEastKentRailway … And find out post there. Thank you again.
From https://twitter.com/EastKentRailway/status/1189947649765625867

-Peter
 
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yorksrob

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Terrible, although all too common news these days.

Is there any news on whether any of their rolling stock has been affected ?
 

wagwan my g

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It is terrible that this has happened,

This article gives a fair bit of detail, it appears no rolling stock was damaged, but a storage building with artefacts and tools that are needed for track repairs were damaged/destroyed. At least they are able to keep on running.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canter...oss-weve-lost-inreplaceable-artefacts-215331/

Irreplaceable artefacts and £15,000 worth of equipment have been completely destroyed in a fire at a heritage railway.

The manager of the popular East Kent Railway is counting the devastating cost after a late-night blaze ripped through the station in Shepherdswell.

Matthew Plew, who took over the running of the historical railway four years ago, says the site's education and ranger station are now non-existent.

"This is a huge financial burden to bear," he said.

"We are a charity reinvesting all the money into the running of the railway - this loss is just horrific for us....
 
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Peter C

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Terrible, although all too common news these days.

Is there any news on whether any of their rolling stock has been affected ?
I think someone online mentioned that their rolling stock had been affected in some way, although this was on a Train Simulator livestream on Twitch after I mentioned the subject in the chat. If you want to look for the livestream, it's on Alan Thomson's Twitch channel, and it is his latest stream, around 1 hour in. I can't remember what he said exactly though, and he seems to know quite a bit as he knows people who are themselves "in-the-know". I can't confirm that the rolling stock has been affected.

-Peter
 

yorksrob

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I think someone online mentioned that their rolling stock had been affected in some way, although this was on a Train Simulator livestream on Twitch after I mentioned the subject in the chat. If you want to look for the livestream, it's on Alan Thomson's Twitch channel, and it is his latest stream, around 1 hour in. I can't remember what he said exactly though, and he seems to know quite a bit as he knows people who are themselves "in-the-know". I can't confirm that the rolling stock has been affected.

-Peter

That's a great shame. They have some very rare electric stock there.
 

paul1609

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Think it was their Ranger Station in Knees Wood that was destroyed and that it didn't affect the rolling stock. As it was there schools visitor centre I understand that some historic items were stored there and destroyed.
 

Bevan Price

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That's a real shame, I hope the Police find who did this

Even if they are found, the worst that will probably happen is that some do-gooders in the legal system will give them a very light punishment - quite possibly including waffle about deprived childhoods, and the real fault lay elsewhere.
 

Terry Tait

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If I had it my way, these vandals would be horse whipped.
We need to cut the soft options and actually punish society's scum.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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I am sorry to hear of this, yet another heritage line hit by vandals. So sad, especially for the hard working volunteers. (Something similar happened at a model railway exhibition in the Midlands I think, earlier in the year.)

I hope they do catch the culprits.
 

Alanko

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Excellent. Apparently they have lost valuable and irreplaceable items.

-Peter

Quite. Fundraising will go so far to remunerate them, but you can't replace the irreplaceable.


Who would you get to do the whipping or would you like the pleasure of doing it yourself ?

If Terry Tait relishes at the prospect of whipping some young lads then I'm a bit concerned!


Even if they are found, the worst that will probably happen is that some do-gooders in the legal system will give them a very light punishment - quite possibly including waffle about deprived childhoods, and the real fault lay elsewhere.

There is always at least one post of this ilk in any given thread involving vandalism and heritage railways. Do you have historic evidence that indicates that any of this might happen, or do you secretly enjoy the prospect of the injustice of it all? Step away from the Daily Mail.
 

Alanko

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Exactly. I don't understand why people want to destroy other groups' items like this.

Me neither to be honest. I felt the same about that model railway exhibition that got targeted. Money can't replace all the man-hours that went into scratch building the models and scenery. I guess some people enjoy the notoriety or sense of accomplishment they get from destroying something unique that they know somebody else poured their heart and soul into. I can't have it, so the next best option is to destroy it. Very faulty logic, but fairly prevalent in young males who lack clear guidance.
 

The_Train

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I genuinely despair at modern society and even more so at the fact that nothing will probably be done if the offenders are ever found. I say let the volunteers of the railway into the offenders houses and allow them to trash and destroy their belongings - might make them realise the pain of losing something they enjoy to have. Then again their parents would probably just replace their stuff with new things without a second thought
 

Peter C

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Me neither to be honest. I felt the same about that model railway exhibition that got targeted. Money can't replace all the man-hours that went into scratch building the models and scenery. I guess some people enjoy the notoriety or sense of accomplishment they get from destroying something unique that they know somebody else poured their heart and soul into. I can't have it, so the next best option is to destroy it. Very faulty logic, but fairly prevalent in young males who lack clear guidance.
I think that might be the reason, yes. But I can't say from experience as I have respect and don't go around ruining other groups' items and destroying irreplaceable items.

-Peter
 

Bevan Price

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Even if they are found, the worst that will probably happen is that some do-gooders in the legal system will give them a very light punishment - quite possibly including waffle about deprived childhoods, and the real fault lay elsewhere.

There is always at least one post of this ilk in any given thread involving vandalism and heritage railways. Do you have historic evidence that indicates that any of this might happen, or do you secretly enjoy the prospect of the injustice of it all? Step away from the Daily Mail.

See post 82 in the Model Railway Vandalism thread
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-in-at-welland-academy-stamford.182937/page-3

"Referral orders" , and parents having to pay £500 compensation for £30,000 worth of damage do not strike me as being stern punishment.
 

yorkie

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If Terry Tait relishes at the prospect of whipping some young lads then I'm a bit concerned!
Firstly I agree that violence isn't a good solution. Though I will point out they are probably not that young (incidentally I do think young people in general do get unjustified bad press; the vast majority of young people would be disgusted at such behaviour and would never commit such acts)

It reminds me of this incident: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-break-in-at-welland-academy-stamford.182937/ which led to a discussion about whether or not existing punishments for acts of vandalism are a sufficient deterrent: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...lism-sufficient-to-act-as-a-deterrent.186566/

If anyone wants to discuss that topic further it's probably best done in that thread.
 

Peter C

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Firstly I agree that violence isn't a good solution. Though I will point out they are probably not that young (incidentally I do think young people in general do get unjustified bad press; the vast majority of young people would be disgusted at such behaviour and would never commit such acts)

It reminds me of this incident: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-break-in-at-welland-academy-stamford.182937/ which led to a discussion about whether or not existing punishments for acts of vandalism are a sufficient deterrent: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...lism-sufficient-to-act-as-a-deterrent.186566/

If anyone wants to discuss that topic further it's probably best done in that thread.
Speaking as a young person, I can say that I am in the group of those who are appalled at what these people do for fun. No-one I know would do such a thing and I think they are a bit weird, so these people must be lunatics!

-Peter
 

R G NOW.

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Speaking as a young person, I can say that I am in the group of those who are appalled at what these people do for fun. No-one I know would do such a thing and I think they are a bit weird, so these people must be lunatics!

-Peter
Perhaps they suffer with mental problems or are high on drugs. Just a thought.
 

furnessvale

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Perhaps they suffer with mental problems or are high on drugs. Just a thought.

The second point, as with alcohol, should be treated as an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing, not used in mitigation.
 
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