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Footballs on the line

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Cletus

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Almost every time I travel by train, I see footballs that have ended up on the railways.

Today between Sydenham and Penge West there was over 20!

What happens to them? Do track workers keep their kids in footballs throughout their childhoods?
 
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Trog

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I usually throw them back over the nearest fence myself.

With golf balls throwing an extra ball onto the greens can be amusing, and I have known the length men to be tasked with collecting stray balls for the use of their golf playing colleagues to the extent that patrolling day was the day after ladies day at the local course.
 

SPADTrap

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Almost every time I travel by train, I see footballs that have ended up on the railways.

Today between Sydenham and Penge West there was over 20!

What happens to them? Do track workers keep their kids in footballs throughout their childhoods?

I've noticed this a lot ever since one flew over a fence ahead of me and was perfectly timed to be sent into orbit after finding the perfect spot on my unit!

I notice a new lot almost daily, I guess kids on their way to school lose them into the tracks but most often seems to be from neighbouring gardens. I guess the fact that they stay there is a positive, the last thing we want is kids trying to retrieve them and getting hurt.

From what I can tell track workers will move them if in the area but I've never heard of them being called out specifically for that, unless of course there was a risk of kids trying to get it back themselves.

While sitting at a red during a points failure I opened my cab door cess side for some air and to enjoy the sun and noticed there was a drone sitting on the embankment..no prizes for guessing where that ended up! :D
 

306024

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For years West Ham's training ground has been next to the GEML between Chadwell Heath and Romford. One day they made the Liverpool St Control log by managing to trespass on the line while getting their ball back. :oops:
 

hounddog

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I've been to plenty of lower-league football grounds where a no-nonsense clearance (or a badly misplaced shot) has a good chance of landing on the adjacent railway. Particularly as the netting supposed to prevent it is not always in the best of repair.
 

Jona26

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From the BBC on 19th May...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-36336850

A train was forced to make an emergency stop after a golfer went to retrieve his £2 golf ball on a track in Denbighshire.

The near miss happened close to Prestatyn railway station just after 14:30 BST on Wednesday.

The train driver was "in such distress" he was unable to continue his duties, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

It warned people to stay safe and stay off thetracks.

Sgt Gemma Jones said: "Sadly, time after time, we receive reports of people trespassing on the railway, whether to takeshortcut or just out of curiosity.

"However, for someone to go on to the tracksjust to retrieve a £2 golf ball is beyond comprehension."

It was "incredibly fortunate" that no one was injured, she added.
 
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Saint66

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My local side St Albans City play right next to the MML just north of the station, and you'll often have balls cleared over the main stand which head in the direction of the line. Always seem to get a lot of horns from drivers on match day, maybe they're letting us know they've found the ball? :D
 

Drogba11CFC

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Back when Winchester City were a Wessex League side, one of their league opponents were Moneyfields. Moneyfields FC's pitch backs onto the Portsmouth Direct Line, which passes behind one of the goals. A net (with holes in it) keeps errant shots from ending up on the railway.

Apparently, ballboys have, in the past, gone onto the track to retrieve stray balls...
 

HSTEd

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When I was in my first year at University at Manchester I was in a hall directly adjacent to the line between Picadilly and Oxford Road. We were playing with the football on the green and it ended up on the viaduct.

Luckily some men in Orange were up there and kindly dropped it back to us.
 

SpacePhoenix

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Does it occur very often that golf balls interfere with the track, by for example landing in points in between the point blades and the running rail?
 

Sapphire Blue

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I am in no way condoning what went on in the past in a "helf n' safetys gone mad" way, in fact I shudder when remembering that:-

In the late sixties/early seventies when watching Paddock Cricket club adjacent to the, then four tracked, line out of Huddersfield it was not uncommon for a well hit six to clear the fencing and land on the railway.
As young boys we were actively encouraged to scramble down the cutting side and rewarded with 6d if we retrieved the ball.
Insanity! Not on our part, we were 8 - 12 years old, but on the part of the club officials who allowed this to go on.
 

DarloRich

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I've noticed this a lot ever since one flew over a fence ahead of me and was perfectly timed to be sent into orbit after finding the perfect spot on my unit!

he arrived like a train at the far post to power home the winner. Superb cross there Gary. Gave the keeper no chance. ;)

I notice a new lot almost daily, I guess kids on their way to school lose them into the tracks but most often seems to be from neighbouring gardens. I guess the fact that they stay there is a positive, the last thing we want is kids trying to retrieve them and getting hurt.

At least no one is going on to the track to get them back. The track workers tend to chuck them over the nearest fence.
 

47271

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St Michaels golf course is by the railway on the Dundee side of Leuchars. My uncle, who is a very good golfer, claims to have hit a duff shot there once in the 1970s which landed in an open goods wagon which was passing at the time.

I'm not sure that I've ever believed him, I think that he's good enough that he could've done it deliberately!
 

BestWestern

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Back when Winchester City were a Wessex League side, one of their league opponents were Moneyfields. Moneyfields FC's pitch backs onto the Portsmouth Direct Line, which passes behind one of the goals. A net (with holes in it) keeps errant shots from ending up on the railway.

Apparently, ballboys have, in the past, gone onto the track to retrieve stray balls...

I hope they're told to avoid the juice rail!
 

ChiefPlanner

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Back in the day when Wimbledon -West Croydon was a poorly used 2 car railway - certain crews used to stop in section around Mitcham Junction and collected golf balls in a bucket which was handily placed in the brake van - and then go hell for leather to make up time. Presumably there was a Selhurst depot golf club which appreciated these finds.
 

Loop & Link

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Does it occur very often that golf balls interfere with the track, by for example landing in points in between the point blades and the running rail?

Footballs can be a potential tripping hazard(not in the falling over sense!) causing the unit to be front/back of middle tripped.
 

61653 HTAFC

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St Michaels golf course is by the railway on the Dundee side of Leuchars. My uncle, who is a very good golfer, claims to have hit a duff shot there once in the 1970s which landed in an open goods wagon which was passing at the time.

I'm not sure that I've ever believed him, I think that he's good enough that he could've done it deliberately!

Your uncle isn't Marty Feldman by any chance...? ;)
 

gsnedders

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St Michaels golf course is by the railway on the Dundee side of Leuchars. My uncle, who is a very good golfer, claims to have hit a duff shot there once in the 1970s which landed in an open goods wagon which was passing at the time.

I'm not sure that I've ever believed him, I think that he's good enough that he could've done it deliberately!

Is the line not on an embankment through the golf course? (It might only be at the St Michaels end of it; I rarely take the train on that stretch of line!)
 

EbbwJunction1

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There used to be a (trick) quiz question which went something like:

Q: "What's the longest six every struck?"

A: "By (name) at (ground), who hit a ball into a coal truck which travelled (xx) miles before they could get it back!"

And yes, I know the flaws in the answer .... that's why it's a trick question.
 

silverfoxcc

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SpadTrap said

'While sitting at a red during a points failure I opened my cab door cess side for some air and to enjoy the sun'

Never heard a swift pee out of the cab called that before!!!
 

NI 271

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I am in no way condoning what went on in the past in a "helf n' safetys gone mad" way, in fact I shudder when remembering that:-

In the late sixties/early seventies when watching Paddock Cricket club adjacent to the, then four tracked, line out of Huddersfield it was not uncommon for a well hit six to clear the fencing and land on the railway.
As young boys we were actively encouraged to scramble down the cutting side and rewarded with 6d if we retrieved the ball.
Insanity! Not on our part, we were 8 - 12 years old, but on the part of the club officials who allowed this to go on.

Small world. I used to do the exact same in the eighties, although I never got paid for it.
 

47271

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Is the line not on an embankment through the golf course? (It might only be at the St Michaels end of it; I rarely take the train on that stretch of line!)
The line may well be well out of normal golf shot reach, but I've always suspected that the 'hole in one' was no accident but a jolly competition they'd invented the first time they'd seen a train of open wagons trundle by. A tenner behind the clubhouse bar, or however much it would've been in those days, from the loser. You'd be hard pressed to play the game nowadays clearly, maybe see if you can hit the middle of the 'O' in 'LESS CO2'?

I'll quiz him on it when I see him next, St Michaels isn't the only Scottish course by a railway and he's played them all!
 

physics34

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I drive to and from London bridge most days and was wondering the same thing.
 

hounddog

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Trains between Radlett and Elstree & Borehamwood are in danger right now as Brendon McCullum is batting for Middlesex at Radlett CC. I've seen lesser batsmen than him put the ball on the railway in previous years. Although putting that has probably jinxed him.
 

Pakenhamtrain

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There's a story down here from one of our former Aussie rules grounds called Glenferrie oval. Supposedly the ball was kicked out of bounds on the full and into a passing red rattler.
Richmond captain Jack Dyer also claimed he kicked a ball out on the full onto a passing goods train that ended up a couple hundred kilometers away.
 

Deepgreen

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Back in the day when Wimbledon -West Croydon was a poorly used 2 car railway - certain crews used to stop in section around Mitcham Junction and collected golf balls in a bucket which was handily placed in the brake van - and then go hell for leather to make up time. Presumably there was a Selhurst depot golf club which appreciated these finds.

Difficult to go "hell for leather" in a 2EPB, though!
 

61653 HTAFC

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There's always loads of footballs on the Doncaster to Leeds branch of the ECML, just up from the former junction of the Holbeck viaduct line. Apparently there's a club based nearby that's responsible for them, they're not very good. Can't remember their name though... <D
 
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