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Train stopped by emergency dangerous goods call to signaller to get a second photo 9th April 21

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172007

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I have read on Facebook that it is alleged a railway employee made a railway dangerous goods emergency call to stop a Grain to Colnbrook aviation tanks train on the 9th April. It is alleged this was so a photographer could take a second picture of the train. There is a copy of the log from Network Rail and also a Flikr page with a photo of the train and a rather brazen boast as to what was done to get the picture going about.

Is this true, embellished or just made up? Struggling to believe it somewhat.
 
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172007

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Thanks for your replies. Wonder what BTP could charge the individual with? It's not a malicious call as their is no intent to harm etc I guess.
 

Peter Mugridge

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What sort of complete lunacy...?!?!?!?

Apart from the obvious disruption and wasted time such actions could cause, there's also a clear risk of "crying wolf" - I imagine this person will very soon be an ex-employee of the railway?

It's also likely to result in some rather bad publicity which will tar a lot of people with the same brush.
 

172007

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Rather depends on the weight of the carpet and the size of the brush.
Well, a person has been named on FB and the name ties up with the Flikr page. So if it is correct and it is the individual then nope it can't.

Also it appears friends of the individual have also name dropped them on FB.
 

gimmea50anyday

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well that being the case it is a very foolish action of the railway employee in question. I am more inclined to believe some krank bigging themselves up and made up the story tying in with a genuine REC who just happened to be there. I would rather believe that than find a member of staff has resorted to such idiotic behaviour just for a photo opportunity....
 

TheEdge

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well that being the case it is a very foolish action of the railway employee in question. I am more inclined to believe some krank bigging themselves up and made up the story tying in with a genuine REC who just happened to be there. I would rather believe that than find a member of staff has resorted to such idiotic behaviour just for a photo opportunity....

A copy of the control log is floating around. It really is true...
 

GB

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Do we know if this person is actually a railway employee or just pretending? Its not hard to get phone numbers for signal boxes in the right circles.
 

JammyJames08

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Do we know if this person is actually a railway employee or just pretending? Its not hard to get phone numbers for signal boxes in the right circles.
Yes he is employed by a TOC , I've heard the call to the signaller and it sounds very rushed to me, having read the log also, 3 members of staff gave the train a full inspection before it set off. "sparks from under one of the rear 5 wagons" was quoted. Just enough time for the driver to go all the way to the back and check, less than a mile into the journey. A cheap trick IMO, he might as well have said my name is joe bloggs and i'm out walking my dogs...using any position in the railway to pull a stunt like this is just wrong.

As it is nothing to do with the TOC he works for, he might get a warning, I can't see it amounting to much...just his word really...
 

GB

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Thanks, having just listened to it yes the call was very rushed and pretty unprofessional, pretty much why I asked if he was actually a member of staff as I'd expect an emergency call to be a lot better than that. But as you say its pretty much his word against anything else. If he says he saw sparks then that is difficult to disprove even if you do have your suspicions.
 

pdeaves

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Let's understand this correctly. As I read the discussion I am unsure whether:
  1. The train's driver found an excuse to stop the train and 'happened' to find time to get out and take photos, or
  2. An enthusiast-cum-employee outside the train made a bogus call to stop the train that 'happened' to be a good place for their photos.
Is the situation number 2?

Either way someone is a numpty...
 

Shwam3

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Do we know if this person is actually a railway employee or just pretending? Its not hard to get phone numbers for signal boxes in the right circles.
The phone numbers are published on the NR website, not private at all.
 

DorkingMain

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Yes he is employed by a TOC , I've heard the call to the signaller and it sounds very rushed to me, having read the log also, 3 members of staff gave the train a full inspection before it set off. "sparks from under one of the rear 5 wagons" was quoted. Just enough time for the driver to go all the way to the back and check, less than a mile into the journey. A cheap trick IMO, he might as well have said my name is joe bloggs and i'm out walking my dogs...using any position in the railway to pull a stunt like this is just wrong.

As it is nothing to do with the TOC he works for, he might get a warning, I can't see it amounting to much...just his word really...
I can't see any TOC wanting to continue employing someone that would do that, whatever grade they're in.
 
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Just my 2 cents on the matter but this seems so bizarre are we sure the employee doesnt have a disability of some sort, possibly a form of autism? It just seems a little odd but maybe theres nothing to see here and it was just an idiotic decision
 

221129

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Just my 2 cents on the matter but this seems so bizarre are we sure the employee doesnt have a disability of some sort, possibly a form of autism? It just seems a little odd but maybe theres nothing to see here and it was just an idiotic decision
Irrelevant really.
 

221129

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Not really though is it.
It is irrelevant. Any safety critical member of staff (which these individuals are) knows that making an emergency call is a big deal and would know never to do it as a hoax. The fact that they have shows that they are not suitable to be in a safety critical post. Autistic or not.
 

zwk500

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It is irrelevant. Any safety critical member of staff (which these individuals are) knows that making an emergency call is a big deal and would know never to do it as a hoax. The fact that they have shows that they are not suitable to be in a safety critical post. Autistic or not.
100%
 

4F89

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Not the first insane incident I've heard of recently. Schoolboy errors that have costs jobs in the past.
 

richw

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Just my 2 cents on the matter but this seems so bizarre are we sure the employee doesnt have a disability of some sort, possibly a form of autism? It just seems a little odd but maybe theres nothing to see here and it was just an idiotic decision
An autistic person would follow rules in the book to the letter, so easily discounted that side of it.
 

NorthernUser

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Sounds crazy! Can't believe an employee of all people would endanger the safety of the railway for the sake of a photo opportunity! I couldn't find any links on facebook, so perhaps they have been taken down.
 
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