Rail-related spoofs

[AndrewE]

I was looking online for some details of the TPE timetables coming in May, and read a web page from SMART (Slaithwaite and Marsden Action on Rail Transport) and noticed this on their next page (http://www.smart-rail.co.uk/?p=1394) which I thought was quite good:

“Hornby Rail Replacement Bus Set”

Posted on August 8, 2017 by admin
Hornby celebrates Greater Anglia franchise with Rail Replacement Bus Set

From the Suffolk Gazette, October 18, 2016
EXCLUSIVE
By Casey Jones, Railways Correspondent
Model railway giant Hornby has celebrated Greater Anglia’s franchise win with a special Rail Replacement Bus Set.

The limited edition double-decker bus can be placed next to any Greater Anglia station – providing hours of playtime fun as you imagine frustrated travellers cramming on board for a trip to London.
Each set comes with two buses, a hate mob of passengers, harassed staff, a section of broken track – and even a tannoy so the mob can be controlled.

 

[OneOffDave]

IIRC Virgin Active/Virgin Trains did an April Fools joke about gym coaches on trains

 

[satisnek]

Surely the best April Fool jokes were those in Rail Enthusiast magazine during the 1980s? There was one about a new batch of locomotive names (I think Boy George was one), but the one I remember best was the news that BR was going to replace numbers on rolling stock with barcodes, which wound the spotters up big time! There must have been others.

 

[Cowley]

Surely the best April Fool jokes were those in Rail Enthusiast magazine during the 1980s? There was one about a new batch of locomotive names (I think Boy George was one), but the one I remember best was the news that BR was going to replace numbers on rolling stock with barcodes, which wound the spotters up big time! There must have been others.

Do you remember the infamous Steam Railway wind up of having City of Truro repainted into BR 1950s black? It took some effort but it caught a few out.
It looked good too.
Has anyone got a copy of this book by Patrick Wright?

I bought it for my dad for Christmas one year and it had some pretty good (and fairly funny) drawings in it.

 

[341o2]

I was looking online for some details of the TPE timetables coming in May, and read a web page from SMART (Slaithwaite and Marsden Action on Rail Transport) and noticed this on their next page (http://www.smart-rail.co.uk/?p=1394) which I thought was quite good:

Had me laughing. I like "Casey Jones Railway Correspondent"
A while back, someone did an April Fools by photoshopping a shot of Tangmere on a main line railtour with the name and number of Manston, while my contribution was to post on this forum
"This Thursday, the 11.22 from Brockenhurst will not now stop at Lymington Pier

 

[AndrewE]

I've been trying to think of others. I can only offer
The Westminster Government said they were going to support investment to electrify the railway from Liverpool to York... and I was completely taken in!

 

[eastdyke]

Probably not one of the better ones (!!) but The Ipswich Underground Railway comes to mind:
http://www.simonknott.co.uk/ipswichunderground.htm

A brief history of the Ipswich Underground Railway
In 1920, the first post-war Conservative Government proposed a network of Underground Railways in British towns and cities, to be operated locally but managed centrally from Whitehall. Work went ahead on a number of pilot projects, among them Ipswich, under the auspices of the Eastern Underground Railway, a semi-autonomous company set up by central government.

The collosal cost of the project soon became clear, and the Government, now heading onto rocks under the failing command of the ageing Prime Minister Bonar Law, decided to abandon the project. Local authorities were given the opportunity to take it over, and much to the surprise of Whitehall, Ipswich accepted, one of only three local authorities to do so.
..............

 

[pdeaves]

After 'that' incident with Tangmere and the non-functioning TPWS, someone came up with this: https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aS2syFKm...45_1692544524345865_5144727756574877011_n.png

"set contains:
stationary Tangmere
storage shed
red lights x3
ORR office building

not included:
TPWS"


Also amusing: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Crskf9yWAAUJeqk.jpg
"Cheestrings proud to be cabling the East Coast Main Line"

 

[satisnek]

Do you remember the infamous Steam Railway wind up of having City of Truro repainted into BR 1950s black? It took some effort but it caught a few out.

Oh yes, this was at Bridgnorth and they painted just one side of it didn't they?

I thought the SVR missed a trick a few years ago when they had the two Class 73s resident. Install a short length of dummy conductor rail (say on the oft-photographed western approach to Bewdley Tunnel, during the winter) and take a picture of one of those locos with its shoes down, perhaps hauling a short test train. Then issue a press release detailing the trial 750V DC electrification of the Kidderminster-Bewdley section, with plans to do the whole line. And sit back and wait...

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Oh yes, this was at Bridgnorth and they painted just one side of it didn't they?

I thought the SVR missed a trick a few years ago when they had the two Class 73s resident. Install a short length of dummy conductor rail (say on the oft-photographed western approach to Bewdley Tunnel, during the winter) and take a picture of one of those locos with its shoes down, perhaps hauling a short test train. Then issue a press release detailing the trial 750V DC electrification of the Kidderminster-Bewdley section, with plans to do the whole line. And sit back and wait...

I remember this. And the frothing from those taken in regarding the "travesty of vandalising a work of art", etc. However, the funniest of all was the reply from someone who clearly wasn't taken in complaining about putting "good LNWR paint on an oddly-shaped engine"...

 

[Taunton]

A long-ago classic was in Railway World, I am guessing for April 1967, with their "Focus on the Ruritanian State Railway", supposedly in middle-Europe, with a range of photographs, some incredibly muddy, and actually some extraordinary rolling stock. The "Imperial State Coach" only had two wheels. As common, the letters page the next month had a mixture of those taken in, and those extending the joke - though you have to wonder whether the editor had written the lot.

Surely the best April Fool jokes were those in Rail Enthusiast magazine during the 1980s?

Probably by their witty correspondent of the time, David Maxey. One was a naming ceremony of a loco, with photographs. It was just as Ian Allan were going to press with their annual Combined Volume of locos. Scurrilous rumour is they put it in as a late change, then when the joke was realised the whole print run had been done, they all had to be scrapped, done again, and were published late.

 

[341o2]

Youtube video parodying new look British Rail

 

[341o2]

A long-ago classic was in Railway World, I am guessing for April 1967, with their "Focus on the Ruritanian State Railway", supposedly in middle-Europe, with a range of photographs, some incredibly muddy, and actually some extraordinary rolling stock. The "Imperial State Coach" only had two wheels. As common, the letters page the next month had a mixture of those taken in, and those extending the joke - though you have to wonder whether the editor had written the lot..

Ruritania was the fictional country where the Prisoner of Zenda took place, mention of a single axle carriage reminds me of the Far Tottering and Oystercreek railway created by Rowland Emmett. His cartoons greatly exaggerated the vertical plane, and the railway was so remote, in 1948 when nationalisation of the nations' railways took place, it couldn't be found, and one source mentions the unique 0-2-0 locomotive - albeit with tender. When it was delivered in kit form, the pony truck was missing and those who assembled it didn't notice. A replica of the FT&O was built for the festival of Britain 1951

https://realsteampunk.wordpress.com/category/gadgets-and-gewgaws/

 

[Raedwald]

Someone made a hoax website for a fictional metro in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) - I think it's been taken down now. They're actually going to build a metro there now though apparently, so maybe it wasn't a very good spoof after all https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulaanbaatar_Metro

 

[12CSVT]

There was an occasion when I mistook a genuine news item for an April Fool when I first saw it, as the sale of several class 87s to Bulgaria was reported in the April edition of at least one magazine.

Surely the best April Fool jokes were those in Rail Enthusiast magazine during the 1980s? There was one about a new batch of locomotive names (I think Boy George was one), but the one I remember best was the news that BR was going to replace numbers on rolling stock with barcodes, which wound the spotters up big time! There must have been others.

Wasn't that when they said that 31200 was going to be named 'Railtour Enterprise' ? And a rival magazine fell for it by listing it in their stock changes (the following month's stock changes showed 31200 as being de-named !)

Probably the worst 'spoof' which I knew was fake before I even finished reading it was an item (I think in Rail Express) about EWS fitting ETH to some of their 66s (with a poorly photoshopped picture of 66074 with an ETH box and 'renumbered' as 66474)

 

[Cowley]

There was an occasion when I mistook a genuine news item for an April Fool when I first saw it, as the sale of several class 87s to Bulgaria was reported in the April edition of at least one magazine.


Wasn't that when they said that 31200 was going to be named 'Railtour Enterprise' ? And a rival magazine fell for it by listing it in their stock changes (the following month's stock changes showed 31200 as being de-named !)

Probably the worst 'spoof' which I knew was fake before I even finished reading it was an item (I think in Rail Express) about EWS fitting ETH to some of their 66s (with a poorly photoshopped picture of 66074 with an ETH box and 'renumbered' as 66474)

The Railtour Enterprise one was funny. I think it was Ian Allen - ABC/Motive Power Monthly that fell for it, as mentioned by Taunton also.
This appeared in RE the month after...

 

[Ash Bridge]

Anyone remember the British Rail flying Saucer during the early 1970s? Actually I don't think it was a spoof as apparently I believe they applied for a patent on it!

 

[Cowley]

Anyone remember the British Rail flying Saucer during the early 1970s? Actually I don't think it was a spoof as apparently I believe they applied for a patent on it!

I remember reading that somewhere.
Always wondered if it would have been English Electric powered?

 

[Ash Bridge]

I remember reading that somewhere.
Always wondered if it would have been English Electric powered?

Yep! And Blue/Grey livery, yellow panels absent as nowhere to apply them!

 

[Cowley]

Yep! And Blue/Grey livery, yellow panels absent as nowhere to apply them!

By the time you see the yellow panel at warp speed it’s a lifetime too late...

 

[GusB]

By the time you see the yellow panel at warp speed it’s a lifetime too late...

Warp speed isn't possible when you're running constantly on double-yellows

 

[Cowley]

Warp speed isn't possible when you're running constantly on double-yellows

Absolutely. You’re pretty rural up there Gus.
You must’ve seen the odd flying saucer on the way home from the pub?

 

[GusB]

Absolutely. You’re pretty rural up there Gus.
You must’ve seen the odd flying saucer on the way home from the pub?

I did see some very weird orange lights in formation in the sky one Hogmanay, and at that point I hadn't actually had that much to drink. Of course, no-one believed me and most people suggested they were Chinese lanterns. Fair enough, but in formation?
I won't mention my 22nd birthday when what we thought was an overly bright star suddenly zoomed off to the left and back to its original position at incredibly high-speed. The the local RAF control tower said it was a probably a helicopter (entirely plausible as 202 Sqn were stationed just along the road), but this thing was silent. Then they sent up a helicopter to throw us off the scent.

 

[Cowley]

I did see some very weird orange lights in formation in the sky one Hogmanay, and at that point I hadn't actually had that much to drink. Of course, no-one believed me and most people suggested they were Chinese lanterns. Fair enough, but in formation?
I won't mention my 22nd birthday when what we thought was an overly bright star suddenly zoomed off to the left and back to its original position at incredibly high-speed. The the local RAF control tower said it was a probably a helicopter (entirely plausible as 202 Sqn were stationed just along the road), but this thing was silent. Then they sent up a helicopter to throw us off the scent.

Hmm. It maybe time to start a new thread on this because I’ve seen a few odd things over the years.
Perhaps 03:09 on a Saturday night might not be the time to do it though..?
We wouldn’t want people to think that alcohol had played a part.

 

[GusB]

The fact that alcohol was involved was pure coincidence.

Desperately trying to drag the thread back on topic, I do remember an April spoof in the Railway Modeller some years ago. It involved building a modular layout across the Nullarbor Plain in Australia. I toddled off to my local model railway club thinking this was amazing, only to have my enthusiasm popped when a wiser member pointed out the date.

 

[pdeaves]

Anyone remember the British Rail flying Saucer during the early 1970s? Actually I don't think it was a spoof as apparently I believe they applied for a patent on it!

It was essentially an employee's idea but terms of employment contract stated that any patents would belong to the company. Hence, if you have a brilliant idea that could make you a mint from licencing the patent, resign first!

 

[Ash Bridge]

It was essentially an employee's idea but terms of employment contract stated that any patents would belong to the company. Hence, if you have a brilliant idea that could make you a mint from licencing the patent, resign first!

Ah so that's how it came about, many thanks for shedding some more light on it.

 

[Busaholic]

It was essentially an employee's idea but terms of employment contract stated that any patents would belong to the company. Hence, if you have a brilliant idea that could make you a mint from licencing the patent, resign first!

Yes, Harry Beck only ever earned a pittance from his iconic Underground map.

 

[AlexNL]

A group called "Facientes" made a couple of spoofs about the Dutch Railways:

Stay fit as you go, and never miss your train as it's already there...

(video about NS's new 26 kilometre long train)

NS are investigating ways to reduce delays caused by trap-and-drag accidents...

(video showing teeth on train doors)

As NS have found a solution to capacity issues with bicycle storage at their stations:

(video showing a massive bike parking facility in the middle of the country)