Trivia: Common railway related fallacies

[LSWR Cavalier]

Many children think steam trains are still ubiquitous, they have been on Thomas and Santa trips only, getting there by car of course.

 

[Dai Corner]

Flying Scotsman (the loco) and the Flying Scotsman (the service)

 

[6Gman]

Multiple units are like locomotives and you can simply add more carriages for busy services.

Or that any stationary rolling stock you see out of the carriage window could clearly be coupled to the train you're on to provide extra seating.

 

[75A]

That HS2 is being built simply to allow Brummies to get to London quicker.

That HS2 is being built because it's actually needed!

 

[6Gman]

• Electric Class 323 units at Manchester Piccadilly will form a TPE service to Huddersfield or beyond

Many years ago a railway cricket team from Crewe had a fixture at Buxton.

The Deputy Chief Controller (no less) led his team across to the appropriate platform at Piccadilly and was just boarding the Buxton train when one of his colleagues pointed out the pantograph on the roof . . .

"This never happens in other countries"

I once spent an entire journey from Newton Abbot to Birmingham listening to the elderly couple sitting opposite us alternating between:

"It never used to be like this."

and

"It's always been the same."

 

[John Luxton]

The repetitive "See it, Say it, Sorted" would surely never irritate anyone.

Yes I agree. Why not "Please report anything suspicious to the British Transport Police". I hate three bit slogans - we have experienced too much of them in relation to C19 in the past 18 months. I have a nasty feeling the three bit slogan dates back to European totalitarian regimes of the 1930s. "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" comes to mind. There is something about it which I am sure Dr Goebbels realised and probably a lot of behavioural psychologists since including the UK Government's Behavioural Insights Team.

What annoys be about transport fallacies, and they are not just confined to rail but also include shipping and buses are that they are usually spouted by a loudmouthed person who thinks they know everything to gain attention when all they are doing is annoying others who know the truth and object to them being loud! I am sure we have all come across these.

 

[6Gman]

Yes I agree. Why not "Please report anything suspicious to the British Transport Police". I hate three bit slogans - we have experienced too much of them in relation to C19 in the past 18 months. I have a nasty feeling the three bit slogan dates back to European totalitarian regimes of the 1930s. "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" comes to mind. There is something about it which I am sure Dr Goebbels realised and probably a lot of behavioural psychologists since including the UK Government's Behavioural Insights Team.

I think it's older than that. Pretty sure Lloyd George was fond of using it pre-WWI.

(Not that I'm old enough to have heard him say it . . . though he was the MP for 6G [7A in those days of course].)

 

[D6130]

"Look at all those workmen just standing at the side of the track leaning on their shovels!"

 

[Wyrleybart]

Passengers always fell out of doors on sleeping cars at Tamworth on the WCML

 

[Ediswan]

I think it's older than that. Pretty sure Lloyd George was fond of using it pre-WWI.

Veni, vidi, vici - approx 47 BC.

 

[QSK19]

Two union-related fallacies:

- That whenever the RMT go on strike, every single driver and guard across the network will join them in solidarity.

- That every single railway worker without fail is a member of a union and wants to go on strike at the drop of a hat.

 

[75A]

Two union-related fallacies:

- That whenever the RMT go on strike, every single driver and guard across the network will join them in solidarity.

- That every single railway worker without fail is a member of a union and wants to go on strike at the drop of a hat.

RMT & Drivers?

 

[John Luxton]

Veni, vidi, vici - approx 47 BC.

Yes very true come to thing about it! But whether it was the Romans, British or Germans who came up with it what is it about three bit slogans?

Frankly I have a great dislike of them, probably for the same reason psychologists like them!

 

[6Gman]

Yes very true come to thing about it! But whether it was the Romans, British or Germans who came up with it what is it about three bit slogans?

Frankly I have a great dislike of them, probably for the same reason psychologists like them!

You may be an exception - or have simply spotted the technique. But I think "the rule of three" is generally recognised to be effective.

Recorded as early as Greek rhetoric. Seems to be based on humans liking patterns but also liking brevity. And three is the least number that can form a pattern.

I note that them Swindon lot were known as the GWR (so including the Railway bit) but the LMS were known by those three letters, without the fourth. (Yes, I know that falls down on the LNER ...)

 

[neilmc]

If your train breaks down, there'll be a spare "engine" somewhere in the vicinity which can be coupled on to the front.

 

[John Luxton]

You may be an exception - or have simply spotted the technique. But I think "the rule of three" is generally recognised to be effective.

Recorded as early as Greek rhetoric. Seems to be based on humans liking patterns but also liking brevity. And three is the least number that can form a pattern.

I note that them Swindon lot were known as the GWR (so including the Railway bit) but the LMS were known by those three letters, without the fourth. (Yes, I know that falls down on the LNER ...)

Yes - interesting. Being a bit of a GWR fan I would never think of them as being "three bit"

 

[d9016]

"Look at all those workmen just standing at the side of the track leaning on their shovels!"

I'd hope they were, if they carried on working they would be dead!

 

[Pseudonym]

My mother for one who queries why you have to pay for a train fare if the service is replaced by a bus

To be fair I'd be pretty p*ss*d off if I paid for a rail journey and got a replacement bus - no catering/no bikes/no loo/even worse leg room etc etc - as the equivalent bus journey is usually cheaper.

That bottles of yellow liquid found on or near the line contain Lucozade.

What?
I always thought it was apple juice

 

[Western Sunset]

George Stephenson built "The Rocket" and Brunel built the whole of the Great Western Railway.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Many years ago a railway cricket team from Crewe had a fixture at Buxton.

The Deputy Chief Controller (no less) led his team across to the appropriate platform at Piccadilly and was just boarding the Buxton train when one of his colleagues pointed out the pantograph on the roof . . .


I once spent an entire journey from Newton Abbot to Birmingham listening to the elderly couple sitting opposite us alternating between:

"It never used to be like this."

and

"It's always been the same."

769 on a test run?

 

[Llandudno]

A group of stags/hens will be able to get a seat on board a 2 car Class 158 EMR service on a Saturday between Sheffield and Manchester

Surely there is space for two non folding pushchairs, 4 suitcases and 2 life size stuffed elephant cuddly toys on a summer Saturday morning returning from Rhyl to Manchester on a 2 car class 150…

 

[Facing Back]

A group of stags/hens will be able to get a seat on board a 2 car Class 158 EMR service on a Saturday between Sheffield and Manchester

Surely there is space for two non folding pushchairs, 4 suitcases and 2 life size stuffed elephant cuddly toys on a summer Saturday morning returning from Rhyl to Manchester on a 2 car class 150…

You can get a life-sized stuffed cuddly elephant in Rhyl? Brilliant, I know what my grand-kids are getting for Christmas!

 

[Dr Hoo]

Yes very true come to thing about it! But whether it was the Romans, British or Germans who came up with it what is it about three bit slogans?

Frankly I have a great dislike of them, probably for the same reason psychologists like them!

In a railway context I've heard it claimed that "Stop, Look, Listen" signs at level crossings worldwide have saved more lives than any other three-word slogan.

(Obviously there's no way of proving this but it is a powerful endorsement of the concept. Many RAIB reports into level crossing incidents seem to comment about users becoming "confused" by about 23 different coloured and multiply-worded signs.)

 

[philthetube]

That all drivers are happy to talk about any one unders they may or may not have had.

 

[O L Leigh]

That, just because I wear railway uniform, I must know how long this disruption will last.

That, just because I wear railway uniform, I must know the times and connections to any place anywhere else on the network.

 

[DazrahT]

"You work for the railway, you must get free travel"

"You work for the railway, how much is a ticket to X"

 

[Mcr Warrior]

"You work for the railway, how much is a ticket to X"

Such as when asking a ticket office clerk for the price of a "West Midlands/London NW Railway only" ticket between Euston and Crewe?

 

[Bluejays]

That the hundred year old semaphore signalling in railway museums is completely a relic of history. That there's no way that some of the most modern trains in the country would still be running under this kit.

 

[miklcct]

My mother for one who queries why you have to pay for a train fare if the service is replaced by a bus

In Hong Kong, you never need to pay for a train fare if the service is replaced by a bus.

 

[MargaretNoodle]

Off Peak (SVS/SVR) fares outside the London area can be restricted during the evening peak

So is that to say that travel that doesn't involve London in the evening will be fine on an off-peak ticket?

It appears I've definitely fallen for this one then! Feel very stupid now as I've always been a bit wary of using an off peak ticket on evening services.