Haze

It would have been a very different story with a flat-fronted loco I'm sure!

 

Hmmm... Dunno!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCrHwqGf ... ed&search=

 

I remember linesiding - having paid money - at the GCR many moons ago (1989 or so? Deltic 9019 and D306 were the locos operating). My colleague and I came across a badger scuttling away from the four foot, it had been trying to revive its mate that had been very neatly decapitated by the last train that passed. All in bright daylight too, I thought they were noctural!

 

That happened to a badger at the Winter Gala '08 as well, in Kinchley Lane cutting, a very nice slice across the upper neck by 44422.

 

It is normally the railway's responsibility to fence out farm animals & indeed the farmer will send the railway a bill for the value of any animals killed by trains. I have heard that a full grown ewe will fit through a 9F firehole door - What sheep was that farmer ?
Another time 2 of us had to go along the track to bury a sheep which had been hit & decapitated . It was a hot day & we disposed of it by other means. A couple of weeks later I was approached by the Chairman -"Bob, what do you know about a dead sheep?" .I replied "It won't bother anybody any more!" Chairman then walks away looking puzzled.
A non-fatal incident was quite amusing when we were building the extension from Deeside to Glyndyfrdwy. Farmer P. who owns the land around the Deeside/Garth-y-Dwr area had a habit of leaving old tractors, rollers etc. on the trackbed with the intent of stopping us from working. One Saturday morning we turned up & saw 4 of farmer P's cows on the track.When they saw us approach they started to trot off towards the crossing at Glyn. Idea formed - farmer D at Glyn hated farmer P due to a scandal which I won't go into here,but anyway the 4 cows ended up safely penned in one of farmer D's fields. When farmer P finally tracked his animals down he got a bill from farmer D for feeding them. They were both puzzled as to how the cows got there.Great sport !.

Bob.

 

In the 1970's some of train crew at Eastleigh and Bournemouth had the phone number of the venison butcher in Lyndhurst. The idea was if a driver ran down a deer in the New Forest and could put it over the fence where it could be collected he would be entitled to a pound of venison sausages.

There was a degree of urgency as venison has to be gutted as soon as possible.

Cheers, Neil

 

I had to chase 4 cows off the track at Deeside halt a few years back. Luckily it was still daylight....

 

One saturday whilst on pway on the east lancs railway we were told by the gaffer that there had been a dog sliced in two on the way up to summerseat then on the way back down the dog had dissapeared.....must of pulled itself together \/

 

About 1992 I was driving an electric into Aldershot Station. I was a couple of hundred yards away from the station when a dog belonging to a passenger jumped off the platform, in to the four foot. Running about between the rails it's tail touched the third rail. Thinking it was being attacked from behind, the stupid mutt turned and BIT THE LIVE LINE! You should have heard it howl! I have no idea how it survived, but it managed to jump up on to the platform before I pulled the train in. I changed ends to take the train out to Ascot, and spoke to the owner, mildly informing him that it would be wise to keep his bl**dy animal on a lead in future!!

 

I have seen a badger do this. However it didn't survive.