Novelty ticket hole punchers

[Flamingo]

I think silly patterns like butterflies and steam trains on tickets is un-professional and rather tacky.

I bet you're a real laugh in the pub...

 

[edwin_m]

Some customers go mad if you stamp their ticket they reckon they cant break their journey or it wont be Accepted takes a lot of explaining to convince them!

Still shocked how many cant tell the difference between a reservation and ticket

If I'm breaking my journey, I always mention this politely to the person checking as I hand them the ticket on the first leg of the journey. Each time they have then inspected but not stamped/marked the ticket.

 

[Flamingo]

If I'm breaking my journey, I always mention this politely to the person checking as I hand them the ticket on the first leg of the journey. Each time they have then inspected but not stamped/marked the ticket.

I'll always endorse the ticket with my headcode, date, and "BOJ @ XXX", and advise the passenger to go to the manned barrier to exit.

Most people say thanks. Some look annoyed.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

I think silly patterns like butterflies and steam trains on tickets is un-professional and rather tacky.

In my experience you are in an absolute tiny minority (Luckily)

 

[Starmill]

For the avoidance of any doubt, the correct and SFW link is: https://twitter.com/sammie_spad

Although would Sammie appreciate being described as SFW?

 

[crehld]

I think silly patterns like butterflies and steam trains on tickets is un-professional and rather tacky.

Booooooo

 

[DaleCooper]

I think silly patterns like butterflies and steam trains on tickets is un-professional and rather tacky.

Would a crescent moon or a shark's fin be acceptable or are they too silly?

 

[Altnabreac]

I travel a lot with my wee (3 year old) boy and he always loves it when the Guard/TI has a special steam train or other novelty stamp just for his ticket.

Other thing I really appreciate is when folk (especially Strathclyde Ticket Inspectors) issue an extra blank receipt or test ticket for him to hold even if I'm paying cash on board. He really appreciates being able to hold his own ticket but I don't have to worry about him losing his actual ticket (we usually travel on a family railcard so I do buy a ticket for him even though he's 3).

 

[ainsworth74]

Other thing I really appreciate is when folk (especially Strathclyde Ticket Inspectors) issue an extra blank receipt or test ticket for him to hold even if I'm paying cash on board.

I've seen a fair few Northern Rail guards do that as well.

 

[D6975]

In the good old days the mark left did actually mean something. There were various marks for each region. LM had a 3 ER had a 5. Each region had a different mark and there were different marks for TTIs and such like

Yes, I remember LM being 3. Despite living on the WR I can't remember what my local number was.
I think the plain circle indicated a barrier check rather than on-train.
There was another common one that took a M shaped chunk out of the edge of the ticket, not sure what that meant.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

I've seen a fair few Northern Rail guards do that as well.

Thats what I do

 

[Pinza-C55]

I was at Kings Cross 1983 - 1989 and was given a 3 leaf clover nipper which I think was standard for the Cross. We were given those big blue date stampers about 88 I think but they never worked properly.
When the clover nippers stopped working I bought a pair of North Eastern Railway nippers and used those.

 

[TheEdge]

Other thing I really appreciate is when folk (especially Strathclyde Ticket Inspectors) issue an extra blank receipt or test ticket for him to hold even if I'm paying cash on board.

That's awful. If the child wants a ticket I make sure I charge them the full child fare as appropriate.










Just kidding, I give them a special receipt!

 

[ANorthernGuard]

That's awful. If the child wants a ticket I make sure I charge them the full child fare as appropriate.










Just kidding, I give them a special receipt!

You got me for a second lol

 

[PaulHarding150]

Just kidding, I give them a special receipt!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRzNmNqQ7cI

 

[Crossover]

The most unusual I have seen was a Christmas tree back in December - otherwise mostly circles and Ziffa's.

I have no issue with the different shapes as long as the end result is the magstripe remains intact - had a guard on Anglia grip bang smack in the middle of the magstripe of a ticket earlier this year and it made negotiating the Underground a damn sight harder than it should have been!

You can get into trouble punching other people's kids.

I almost choked on my apple reading that! Thanks for raising a smile on what has been a dull morning!

 

[crispy1978]

I think the giving the special receipt to the children, the special stamps for the kids, or at particular times of the year is a sign of staff going the extra mile, and a sign they enjoy their jobs. I don't see a problem with it myself.

You get the enthusiast staff as well who love their jobs and that's their way of demonstrating their love of trains - again, no problem with that either.

Personally I'm not a fan of the stamped head code thing as it doesn't dry and just smudges. But it shows uniqueness of journey which is a good thing as I've seen people challenged with that before.

The sharpie circling the date often bemuses me on open returns with BoJ rules.

At the end of the day it doesn't massively bother me what they do re: the tickets so long as it doesn't damage/invalidate the ticket, but the methodology from different staff I do find strange occasionally.

 

[150219]

On my travels my tickets are often marked to indicate they've been used. The tools for the job vary. The biro is the most ubiquitous, followed by the fancy stamps which imprint the date and train number on the ticket. Then you get the hole punch, of which many variations exist. These range from basic circles, to 'squiggles', to stars and, my personal favourite, the apple (see attached).

So is there any meaning behind these varied hole punch markings? Is it some sort of secret code between railway staff? Is it totally meaningless? Or is it just a way for guards to inject a bit of personal style into they're day to day work? Are these novelty hole punches standard TOC issue, or do staff have to scour the stationery shops looking for one at their own expense? And what's the strangest one you've come across (or even use if you're a guard)? Discuss!

As alluded to in the thread, there is (or at least there was) a meaning behind each symbol.

I have somewhere at home, although it would require a lot of digging, a full list as contained in one of the numerous appendices from a big BR binder dating from the mid-80's.

From memory 'Y' and a 'Four battlements' shape were both from York based guards, but differentiating between barrier line staff and on train staff; and there were a hefty amount of different shapes across the infrastructure.

If I get a chance, I'll see if I can find the manual and scan a brief selection.

The Dormy (Blue stampers) with BR Double Arrows symbol being stamped on the tickets were initially introduced to in the mid-80's, before wholesale introduction without the BR Double Arrows symbols in the late-80's.

Simply put these days, I doubt that there are hard and fast rules about the different shapes.

 

[TheEdge]

Simply put these days, I doubt that there are hard and fast rules about the different shapes.

There are absolutely no special meanings anymore to any of the stamping patterns or practices, except one (unwritten) one;

The magstrip is the passive aggressive WMD of the conducting world...

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Without wanting to be a killjoy (no, really!), I've never seen the point in punching holes in tickets because of the litter that it generates.

Yes, I know, one or two tickets won't generate much, but on a full train, it all mounts up. If trains can't be cleaned fully (as opposed to loose rubbish being collected from tables and seats and bins being emptied), then this will create a visual problem and probably make it harder to clean the stock later.

I think that it's much better to stamp the ticket with the ink stamp. This is, of course, provided that it dries at the same time - I understand the problem with non-drying stamps.

 

[150219]

Here's a scan of a portion of one of the pages from that BR manual. In a correction to my post above, the 'Four battlements' shape is from the Manchester Division station barriers.

 

[DaleCooper]

Without wanting to be a killjoy (no, really!), I've never seen the point in punching holes in tickets because of the litter that it generates.

Yes, I know, one or two tickets won't generate much, but on a full train, it all mounts up. If trains can't be cleaned fully (as opposed to loose rubbish being collected from tables and seats and bins being emptied), then this will create a visual problem and probably make it harder to clean the stock later.

I think that it's much better to stamp the ticket with the ink stamp. This is, of course, provided that it dries at the same time - I understand the problem with non-drying stamps.

Has anyone ever got on a train and thought "Look at all the litter from ticket punching, what a mess"?

 

[jon0844]

I travel a lot with my wee (3 year old) boy and he always loves it when the Guard/TI has a special steam train or other novelty stamp just for his ticket.

Other thing I really appreciate is when folk (especially Strathclyde Ticket Inspectors) issue an extra blank receipt or test ticket for him to hold even if I'm paying cash on board. He really appreciates being able to hold his own ticket but I don't have to worry about him losing his actual ticket (we usually travel on a family railcard so I do buy a ticket for him even though he's 3).

Mine loves holding a ticket too. He holds it the whole journey too! I've modified a few collection receipts to say All Line Rover too! So far he's not been arrested.
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Has anyone ever got on a train and thought "Look at all the litter from ticket punching, what a mess"?

@Delayed_Again ?

 

[ComUtoR]

Why are tickets punched ?

 

[DaleCooper]

Why are tickets punched ?

Because guards aren't allowed to punch the passenger.

 

[button_boxer]

Without wanting to be a killjoy (no, really!), I've never seen the point in punching holes in tickets because of the litter that it generates.

Yes, I know, one or two tickets won't generate much, but on a full train, it all mounts up. If trains can't be cleaned fully (as opposed to loose rubbish being collected from tables and seats and bins being emptied), then this will create a visual problem and probably make it harder to clean the stock later.

I think that it's much better to stamp the ticket with the ink stamp. This is, of course, provided that it dries at the same time - I understand the problem with non-drying stamps.

So the best of both worlds would be a hole punch with a box to collect the chads. No ink and no litter.

 

[DarloRich]

I think silly patterns like butterflies and steam trains on tickets is un-professional and rather tacky.

WOWSERS there are some spectacularly humorless people on this board at times - I must assume you dont have any kids as they always seem to love the different hole punchers guards use.

I will also assume you think that a guard giving a pretend ticket (AKA receipt slip/blank ticket) to a small child is is un-professional, rather tacky and a flagrant misuse of precious company materials :roll:

 

[yorksrob]

I seem to recall the stamp around Ashford (Kent) being an oblong with a little triangle out of the side years ago.

 

[jon0844]

Is it true SET uses stamps on HS1 with an outline of a fat cat upon a pile of money?

 

[CockneySparrow]

Personally I'm not a fan of the stamped head code thing as it doesn't dry and just smudges. But it shows uniqueness of journey which is a good thing as I've seen people challenged with that before.

Only smudges on the front (orange side) due to the surface, if you stamp it on the back on the white bit it doesn't smudge
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There is a knack to it, look at the ticket on the front to check its valid then flick it over with your fingers then stamp it
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