Train delay bingo

[robert thomas]

Got into traction motors as was so fine.

And when that was offered as an explanation during an interview the interviewer said "so your saying that it was the wrong sort of snow" which has passed into folklore

 

[Railcar]

"A fault on a train" rather than "the train" seems to mean that the train in front of the one that you want has a fault (door not closing, etc). Later, the faulty train rushes through the platform with the train that you want not far behind.

 

[306024]

Cockle Shed on track at Leigh-on-Sea during the 1987 storm remains a favourite.

 

[DMckduck97]

Going to try to find 25 cancellation/delay messages and make an actual bingo card (the 5 by 5 version) for it (Feel free to offer suggestions)

A late running train in front	Flooding	Trespass/"Emergency Services Dealing With an incident"	planned train being replaced with a slower train	A problem with the track
Planning Error	Fault/A problem with the train	Vehicle hit a bridge	Delay not investigated	Points Failure
Train Crew	Level Crossing Failure	(Free Space)	Strong Winds	Late arrival of an inbound service
A problem with the electrified line/3rd rail	Lineside Vegetation	Problem at the depot	Fault on a train in front of this one	Delayed due to a unit swap
An unknown reason or An excluded reason	Disorder	problem with the on-board safety systems	Overrunning engineering works	Animals on the line

Delayed due to a problem when attaching/detaching this train is a common one aswell

 

[Skiddaw]

I'm loving some of these (particularly the monkey and the cockle shed)

 

[TheTallOne]

One I have heard a few times

“Due to abnormally large passenger flow”

Not sure if they’re large passengers or just a lot of them.


One from the London Midland era, “due to management incompetence” - fair play to the guard for saying it how it is, although not sure how long he remained employed

 

[sh24]

Two personal favourites

Brighton: Endangered gull causes train disruption

The gull was confirmed safe after being removed from the train tracks, Southern Railway says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Cat-astrophe avoided as feline rescued from roof of Avanti West Coast train

Curious cat sat on roof of Avanti West Coast train escapes danger by a whisker.

newsdesk.avantiwestcoast.co.uk

 

[Deepgreen]

Badger ate a junction box at New Malden

"Thank you, Reggie!".

 

[AndrewP]

My all time favourite from many years ago "Glue sniffers on the line at Chester-le-Street"

Couldn't make it up!

 

[43096]

Back in BR days I seem to recall delays on a particularly fraught evening peak were explained by one guard as being “due to a giraffe becoming entangled in the overhead wires”.

 

[scottishtrain7]

Going to try to find 25 cancellation/delay messages and make an actual bingo card (the 5 by 5 version) for it (Feel free to offer suggestions)

A late running train in front	Flooding	Trespass/"Emergency Services Dealing With an incident"	planned train being replaced with a slower train	A problem with the track
Planning Error	Fault/A problem with the train	Vehicle hit a bridge	Delay not investigated	Points Failure
Train Crew	Level Crossing Failure	(Free Space)	Strong Winds	Late arrival of an inbound service
A problem with the electrified line/3rd rail	Lineside Vegetation	Problem at the depot	Fault on a train in front of this one	Delayed due to a unit swap
An unknown reason or An excluded reason	Disorder	problem with the on-board safety systems	Overrunning engineering works	Animals on the line

I remember my train was cancelled due to Overhead Line Damage

 

[DerekC]

Best one I remember is "Train delayed due to trespassers on the line" (station announcement); Train delayed due to lineside fire (on-train announcement from the conductor); "train being delayed by signalling failure" (on train announcement by driver). All relating to the same train and all true. Inside info said that a tramp had climbed over the fence, lit a fire to keep himself warm which got out of control and burned through some lineside cables.

 

[Spartacus]

This one is still my favourite train delay: "Monkey Loose On Train 23/06/01

View attachment 157609

I suppose the coding would depend on how the monkey got on the train! Shame it wasn't Hartlepool!

A couple of years ago there was the report of a number of eels (not the jellied kind) loose on a train at Kings Cross. We were praying they'd turn out to be snakes for a Samuel L Jackson inspired incident, but Eels on a train was as close is it got.

A few years before that there was the beaver that was killed trying to cross the line, I think in Kent, making it no further than the juice rail. Smoking hot beaver anyone?

Birds flying through open doors then the train being delayed while it's removed aren't exactly unusual.

 

[MotCO]

Birds flying through open doors then the train being delayed while it's removed aren't exactly unusual.

I was waiting on a train at Charing Cross when a pigeon hopped on and the doors shut automatically. I had to get up and open the doors, whereupon it happily hopped off. Otherwise a slam dunk 'entering a train without a ticket' !

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm loving some of these (particularly the monkey and the cockle shed)

The monkey and the cockle shed sounds like one of Aesop's fables.

 

[Topological]

I suppose the coding would depend on how the monkey got on the train! Shame it wasn't Hartlepool!

A couple of years ago there was the report of a number of eels (not the jellied kind) loose on a train at Kings Cross. We were praying they'd turn out to be snakes for a Samuel L Jackson inspired incident, but Eels on a train was as close is it got.

A few years before that there was the beaver that was killed trying to cross the line, I think in Kent, making it no further than the juice rail. Smoking hot beaver anyone?

Birds flying through open doors then the train being delayed while it's removed aren't exactly unusual.

There was a snake on a train: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-66287434 - Not sure if there is a delay code though.

Train passengers switched carriages after a 1.5m (5ft) snake was spotted slithering on a service in Yorkshire.
Northern said the brightly-coloured but harmless corn snake was found on a Skipton to Leeds train.
Photos and video of the non-venomous commuter were shared on social media before it was removed in Leeds.

 

[PyrahnaRanger]

Some other real life examples:

- Nesting goose on the roof of a train blocking the platform ahead

- burning bush wrapped around the pantograph

- this train has run out of fuel

- the train in front of this one has divided unexpectedly

- exploding pigeon on the overhead wires causing an interruption to the electricity supply

- swan in the 4 foot

- protesters occupying the tracks

And there's loads more.... It's a rich and varied tapestry

I had “the train in front has pulled the overheads down onto itself after a polytunnel from a garden blew onto the railway and became entangled in its pantograph. The fire brigade are in attendance as this has started a fire, and are currently removing combustible materials from the train involved”

Turns out it was a container train carrying a large amount of whisky…

 

[Skiddaw]

The monkey and the cockle shed sounds like one of Aesop's fables.

 

[sir_gummerz]

Personal favourite of mine that exists as an automated message "due to unexploded ww2 ordnance being discovered on or near the railway" heard it when they found that bomb in Plymouth a few months ago