SVR coaches vandalised

To be honest the SVR seems to have been very, very lucky that the damage was not more extensive. Appears to be no windows broken or internal damage, no fire etc. It could have been much much worse. They can probably repair the damage very quickly. A quick rub down and repaint/re varnish the affected parts. As they have the carriage shed they should keep the vehicles in there even if it means additional hassle.

I also think the Christmas/New Year period is a very dangerous period for heritage railways in that there are few people about as everyone is at home and thieves/vandals know this.
My own railway, when we have had theft/vandals etc it has often been at this time of year.

 

As for removal, would rubbing compound and an electric polisher, as used on cars not do? On the glass, 1000 grade wet and dry with plenty of water

 

If you were going to remove the paint, I would try with white spirit and a cloth, especially on the glass. Try also Cellulose thinners depending on what paint they used. If that doesn't work then get the heat gun out. I personally don't like using stuff like Nitromors as it isn't that effective and makes a hell of a mess plus I don't want it accidentally on my hands etc. For serious paint removal doing it with heat is best as it oozes out of the grain of the wood.

 

If it’s aerosol spray, suspect it will be acrylic so white spirit wouldn’t work. Paint doesn’t adhere to glass very well so it can be scraped off, i have done this with overspray when working on cars. Agree Nitromors is messy.

 

Glass shouldn't be too difficult, we scrape our own paint off the windows all the time! A simple Stanley blade in a holder usually does the job followed by a quick clean. I just hope it's not too big a job getting it off the teak, that might not be so easy...

 

A lot of the newer paint strippers aren't particularly effective (i.e. the ones without dichloromthane in them) and the ones with DCM in can only be used outdoors.

 

And quite right too, DCM is nasty stuff. We use it in the lab but only in fumehoods and the boss would like us to cut down on it.

 

Agreed, it is very nasty and has led to more than one death with its use in confined situations - amazingly, it isn't outlawed in the litigation-crazy US.

However, it is very good at paint removal when handled properly. I was amazed to read that it has been used for decaffeinating tea and coffee in the past; also as a plastic cement.

 

Just as amazing as people washing their hands in benzene or carbon tetrachloride.
I think for decaf most have moved to using supercritical CO2 which is very clean.

 

If we're moving on to anecdotes about how things were better in the good old days, can I add this one from a 1962 Evening Standard article on a "Plan to revive a railway".

"The station was damaged by vandals soon after the line closed last year... We are hoping that the vandalism will stop once the station is occupied and made secure"

https://www.meccanoindex.co.uk/MMpage.php?MID=34386&id=1514495434

 

Kidderminster is a huge site to keep secure, and one of its best security features dissapeared a few years ago when Kiddy Junction box dissapeared from the map.

 

In all the debate about what to do with the miscreants, why has nobody come up with a solution supported by evidence.

I dont care if we are proposing to tickle them with feather dusters or flog them round the fleet so long as the evidence suggests that it is likley to put them back on the straight and narrow

 

Because as with so much in life, there isn't a one size fits all solution, despite what some on here will tell you.

 

I think some people seem to have misinterpreted what the justice system is about. It's not just about punishing people for what they have done wrong, it is about changing them and making them a better person so that they will not do it again. With that in mind, consider this. I remember being told by a bishop who works regularly and closely with prison staff and chaplains that prison sentences (which are on the rise) have actually been proven to increase the chance of reoffending, for various reasons, whereas community service (which is decreasing in usage) is better at reducing reoffending rates, and is also less costly to the taxpayer. Therefore, if we're debating about what should be done to the perpetrators, how about require them to do community service on the SVR, providing manpower either to directly rectify the damage they have caused, or else help some aspect of restoration elsewhere in the C&W department or in another department on the railway. Hopefully that way they will also be educated about the SVR and not have the desire to damage the railway's property (or property in general) again, and it directly benefits the organisation their initial actions have harmed?

 

Its a pity that we dont demand the imposition of sentences proved to reduce reoffending rates in the same way that we seem to demand the latest medical treatments.........................

I am sure that privatisation of both prisons and probation have nothiung to do with this at all................

 

As a member of carriage and wagon, I can confidently say there is a plan in place to remove the graffiti. The GWR coach will probably have a repaint on that one sie but the GN coach will take more work to bring back as the graffiti has covered some of the lettering which is gold leaf. We will endeavour to get these coaches back into service. We are looking at ways of improving/ preventing something like this happen again. If some scrote is hell bent causing damage. They will.

 

What is so annoying about this sort of vandalism is the rapidly cleaning off or otherwise obliterating it and seemingly ignoring the "provocation" (as discouragement to further episodes) actually means diverting scarce resources away from other deserving work projects and normal maintenance tasks.
And seeing your very hard work treated with such contempt can be most demoralising to both staff and volunteers.

 

Clean up work has begun. https://www.shropshirestar.com/ente...8/01/04/dozens-of-workers-start-svr-clean-up/

 

Here's another historic item which has been transformed by street artists. Views?
https://www.boredpanda.com/street-a...dium=Branded+Content&utm_campaign=ScienceDump