The things people say

Whilst sitting at Corfe waiting for a down train on Saturday evening, could not help but over hear a chap in his mid twenties telling his girlfriend that the Bluebell Railway was OK but the scenery was boring it was typical East Sussex countryside.

It reminded me of the classic Fawlty Towers sketch when the awkward customer complained to Basil Fawlty that see did not like the view from her hotel window. Herds of wildebeest etc.

Who else has overheard amusing conversations?

 

Bridgnorth circa 1974, "Ooh, Look, They have a Canadian Pacific Locomotive". He was looking at 70000 minus it's cab, running plate, boiler cladding etc and with the boiler and firebox bearing a nice coat of silver paint!

 

Reportedly heard on the West Somerset Railway, as the brakes went on at the approach to a station:

"Part of this line is broad-gauge, that noise is the sound of the wheels being wound out...."

 

Perhaps he lives in East Sussex and so simply doesn't notice how lovely it is? I lived in both Kent and East Sussex for 30 years and it's only since I left that I truly appreciated how gorgeous the countryside of both counties is.

When I was living down south I remember people going on about how gorgeous Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands were. Having subsequently lived in both places for a number of years, my attitude is that Cornwall's southern coastline is indeed lovely and that the Highlands is OK... but being deep in a Kent or Sussex wood is so much better than either.

I don't know about an amusing conversation, but a few years ago my wife and I were on a busy Swanage Railway train and this bloody woman's jaw was flapping away at top volume, talking at some poor person she'd only just met about the intimate details of her grandchildren's lives. The expressions all around told a story, all these poor people who just wanted to enjoy a ride on a steam train in peace and quiet.

In the end I stood up and asked her, loudly but politely, that if she was going to insist on her mouth being in constant motion, would she please go and do it in the vestibule so everybody else could enjoy the ride.

Cue round of applause...

 

I once overheard a father telling his kids that buffers were "big magnets that hold the coaches together"

 

Bridgnorth and 70000 again. First boy "Hey, that's wrong!" Second boy "Why?" First Boy "My Triang model is different just there!"

 

You mean they're not? Well, you learn something every day.

 

I've never known the buffers themselves to be magnetic, but some do use magnetic couplings, maybe magnetic couplings would be a good product to sell, both model wise (wouldn't be obtrusive) and on the full size things (no need to maintain Buckeyes and train people up)

 

hearing someone say that the engine had a steam genny fitted so that it could power the traction motors on the coaches but the best one, many years ago asked of me, whilst i was enjoying a breather at Alton on platform 2, with 701, does this train call at clapham junction if it did, i would say we have a bit of a problem .

 

I've heard you get some interesting questions regarding where the train stops on the GWSR after the races at Cheltenham - "Is this the train to London?" is apparently a common one!

 

The vac bags apparently transfer water from the tender to train toilets.

 

Between Rolvenden and Wittersham Road stations of the KESR there is a (now defunct) crayfish farm consisting of a large number of parallel water-filled trenches. A woman was heard to say "Isn't it wonderful how they have managed to bulldoze all the swamp into one small area"

 

Yes - Brio wooden toy trains

 

At Harbour Station, some years ago now, I remember overhearing a bloke telling his offspring that "Earl of Merioneth" was two engines welded back to back, and then getting quite cross when asked if he could point out the welding line ........ child A was looking at the double Fairlie diagram in the Ffestiniog guidebook at the time !

 

Ahh yes, happy memories

 

I've overheard an American visitor - aware that they are looking at something historic but with only a hazy notion of how old "old" really is - look at the cast cab side number on 1638 and comment "gee honey, this one is nearly 400 years old!" Actually, that system would have made most of the King Arthurs positively Anglo Saxon in age, though quite how it works with your typical GWR King, Castle or Hall I don't know...

Tom

 

Overheard by others on the SVR this summer was a loud conversation where the loudest guy was telling the rest how the braking system worked on 21" of hydrogen !!

 

During one episode of Channel 4's 'Treasure Hunt' the contestants were guiding Anneka Rice onto the footplate of the Chinese loco in the NRM. The clue was tucked away behind 'a red wheel'. The lady contestant suggested that it could be the steering wheel!

Scroll forward to 1:50............and as a bonus you can watch Anneka climb onto the footplate....from below