Bandit Country

[Alway Swilby]

Errmm...... sorry to appear thick but what is a BB gun?

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Errmm...... sorry to appear thick but what is a BB gun?

Ball Bearing gun although it apparently refers to the size of the spheres (BB size)

Edited March 22, 2016 by Wanderer Vagabond

[Alway Swilby]

Thanks. I suspect ball bearings could hurt quite a lot.

[zenataomm]

Errmm...... sorry to appear thick but what is a BB gun?

 

So what number would you dial if somebody was pointing something like this at you?

[wrigglefingers]

From talking to drivers they now get excellent counselling services if they want it. Most will get taken off driving immediately and can take leave if they want it. Most do! I know of one driver in Yorkshire who had 3 in 6 months and reckons the next one will probably finish him.

 

The public also forget about the track workers who have to inspect the track after any "jumper" and recover as much body parts as possible. Luckily now the actual picking-up is generally done by a specialist company, but in the past the MOM (Mobile Operations Manager) had a big plastic bag! Even the signallers are offered counselling if it occurs in their section.

 

The MOM's I know say it is amazing how quickly the foxes emerge!!

 

I'm sorry to tell you this but in my experience, it now varies from train company to company. My cousin's husband, who is a senior driver, has had two. The first was well handled, the second less so, to the point that he was put on capability procedures only seven days after the incident; the company refused to give access to counselling as he'd had it before. Prior to that, he'd worked for 27 years with only one period of absence (caused by the first suicide) of over 3 days. He had a nervous breakdown and needed considerable support and some time to recover. He now trains new drivers for a different company, misses the driving but says he couldn't cope with another one.

[Wanted]

I get that these kids were being silly and that using a camera was probably the best thing, and that 999 may have been a good idea to keep them off of the tracks, but I can't help but feel a slight over reaction to their behaviour. It all seems quite 'Enid Blyton' in comparison to some of the stuff I see going on.

The BB gun wouldn't have been an illegal firearm because of its distinctive colour, as per the op, and if it were the 70s it would have been more like an air rifle anyway.

I don't know the stretch at all but wonder if the opportunity to engage them in a bit of boating may help in future? Non boaters seem to relish the opportunity to open loads of lock gates etc, I've had local yoot help me up the Hanwell flight a couple of times, one of which thanked me at the top!

[Emerald Fox]

I'm sorry to tell you this but in my experience, it now varies from train company to company. My cousin's husband, who is a senior driver, has had two. The first was well handled, the second less so, to the point that he was put on capability procedures only seven days after the incident; the company refused to give access to counselling as he'd had it before.

 

And that company would be..... ? Always good to know these things, and the reasons they behave like this.

[cuthound]

I took these photos just after passing Charity Dock on the Coventry Canal, heading towards Atherstone, in the days before mobile phones.

 

Luckily for me it turned out to be a gun that fired small rubber pellets, but I wasn't to know that at the time.

 

Proves the effectiveness of having a camera handy though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Victor Vectis]

I don't know the stretch at all but wonder if the opportunity to engage them in a bit of boating may help in future? Non boaters seem to relish the opportunity to open loads of lock gates etc, I've had local yoot help me up the Hanwell flight a couple of times, one of which thanked me at the top!

Generally I'd agreee about engaging 'yoof' at locksides etc but approaching the bridge I could see large splashes but not who was throwing the stuff in. Then I saw the kids running onto the railway bridge and thought 'this could be trouble' and got the camera out which seemed to put them off. (ETA Perhaps I should have said in the OP that the batteries were flat but the yoofs didn't know that of course.)

 

TBH I'm not sure what a BB gun looks like. The thing pointed at us looked like a pistol and had blue on it, just like one in that posted link. The things it was firing were quite slow moving, I could see them coming and dropping through the air as they travelled.

 

I phoned 101 yesterday morning and was put through to the Warks control room. The voice didn't seem that interested, in a 'if you had phoned at the time we could have sent a patrol out but it's a bit late now' way.

 

I thought at the time the kids could have been out on a graffiti spraying outing along the railway. Perhaps the BTP might have been more interested.

 

Changing the subject...................Good to see you back Wanted.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Victor Vectis

[Graham Davis]

I'm sorry to tell you this but in my experience, it now varies from train company to company. My cousin's husband, who is a senior driver, has had two. The first was well handled, the second less so, to the point that he was put on capability procedures only seven days after the incident; the company refused to give access to counselling as he'd had it before. Prior to that, he'd worked for 27 years with only one period of absence (caused by the first suicide) of over 3 days. He had a nervous breakdown and needed considerable support and some time to recover. He now trains new drivers for a different company, misses the driving but says he couldn't cope with another one.

 

I can only go on the drivers I know, from ATW, DBS and TPE. They all say they have had an excellent response from management.

 

I note you are just over the mountain from me!

[mayalld]

 

I can only go on the drivers I know, from ATW, DBS and TPE. They all say they have had an excellent response from management.

 

I note you are just over the mountain from me!

 

A friend of mine was a driver for Northern.

 

After his third suicide, and 12 months off sick, they have withdrawn him from driving duties, and found him a ticket office job on drivers pay, which seems to be an appropriate course of action to me.

[wrigglefingers]

I can only go on the drivers I know, from ATW, DBS and TPE. They all say they have had an excellent response from management.

 

I note you are just over the mountain from me!

I am ... Meet for beer some time at The Star or Angel?

 

I'm not sure who he drove for, he lives in Caterham and did trains to Brighton and South Coast cities. I know he reported that the company was in a lot of turmoil at the time, and his treatment by them resulted in a large compensation payout. I know he now trains (!) for London Midlands. He posted a picture from the cab on the line to Bedford on New Years Day, on a training run, and it was the first time he'd been able to get in a cab for well over two years.

 

He seems to be doing well, but like most drivers, it's all he ever wanted to do since he was a nipper and the thought of not being able to do it again was destroying him. He said he took the first one okay, he remembers being told on his first few weeks that it would happen and so, he said, he was prepared for it, in a way. The second one was hard though, he said the man left a baby in a pram on the platform and just stepped off. Ceri said he couldn't stop talking about the baby for months and months.

[thebfg]

. The second one was hard though, he said the man left a baby in a pram on the platform and just stepped off. Ceri said he couldn't stop talking about the baby for months and months.

 

 

That is horrific, it brought a small tear to my eye, I know people who are driven to suicide believe its their only action left, but that does sum up how selfish it is.

 

Its one thing to leave your family at home and do it, but to have a baby in a pram and leave them on the platform, there are no words to describe that.

 

I can fully understand the driver being totally traumatised.

 

Adi

[AMModels]

 

 

That is horrific, it brought a small tear to my eye, I know people who are driven to suicide believe its their only action left, but that does sum up how selfish it is.

 

Its one thing to leave your family at home and do it, but to have a baby in a pram and leave them on the platform, there are no words to describe that.

 

I can fully understand the driver being totally traumatised.

 

Adi

 

I feel sorry for the drivers but also for the person who felt there was no other option for them but to do what they did. To describe it as selfish shows an ignorance of the subject, too many people are so quick to jump on the 'oh they are so selfish' bandwagon without thinking of the circumstances that must have pertained to bring the person to such a point.

 

Selfish my rear end, absolute despair and horror yes.

[billS]

 

I feel sorry for the drivers but also for the person who felt there was no other option for them but to do what they did. To describe it as selfish shows an ignorance of the subject, too many people are so quick to jump on the 'oh they are so selfish' bandwagon without thinking of the circumstances that must have pertained to bring the person to such a point.

 

Selfish my rear end, absolute despair and horror yes.

To my thinking, they are selfish in the way that they choose to end their lives. Look at the effect it has on the driver and bystanders.

 

What about the guy who committed suicide by stopping on the Ufton Nevret level crossing, ending his life but also those of the train driver and many other passengers. Are you really trying to tell me that was not a selfish act? What about the German Wings crash?

Edited March 22, 2016 by billS

[wrigglefingers]

I feel sorry for the drivers but also for the person who felt there was no other option for them but to do what they did. To describe it as selfish shows an ignorance of the subject, too many people are so quick to jump on the 'oh they are so selfish' bandwagon without thinking of the circumstances that must have pertained to bring the person to such a point.

 

Selfish my rear end, absolute despair and horror yes.

Yes, absolutely everyone loses. You can't divide the despair and the act it causes, and the despair that is propagated by it.

[AMModels]

 

To my thinking, they are selfish in the way that they choose to end their lives. Look at the effect it has on the driver and bystanders.

 

Ahat about the guy who committed suicide by stopping on the Ufton Nevret level crossing, ending his life but also those of the train driver and many other passengers. Are you really trying to tell me that was not a selfish act? What about the German Wings crash?

 

I dont know the state of mind of the driver at Ufton Nevret so its very hard to say whether he intended to do what he did but if he did then both that and the german wings crash showed a desire to do more than commit suicide.

 

Of course it may be he didnt think it would derail the train as tv films warning about dangers never mention derailment as a possibility just death of the cars occupants, with the german wings pilot he may have been in a psychotic episode rather than a depressive one in which case his altered reality might have led to his actions.

 

Neither of them can be compared to or used to justify calling someone who puts themselves in front of a train in order to kill them self as selfish.

[zenataomm]

I wouldn't expect anyone who hasn't faced it to understand.

AMModels used to have a website of which I was an active member for a few years. It was very helpful .... thanks! (greenie)

 

Clinical Depression is awful, and despair caused by psychosis is urgent, it doesn't follow the path of reason or emotions.

Commenting that someone proposing suicide is selfish because their action is not always limited to themselves is as sensible as saying .....

 

Buildings abuse the ground when they are demolished.

 

And if you think my analogy is stupid because buildings can't think or make decisions then you're proving how little you understand on the subject.

I do sincerely hope that you and yours never have cause to try and understand it better.

 

Stay Safe.

[Wanted]

Generally I'd agreee about engaging 'yoof' at locksides etc but approaching the bridge I could see large splashes but not who was throwing the stuff in. Then I saw the kids running onto the railway bridge and thought 'this could be trouble' and got the camera out which seemed to put them off. (ETA Perhaps I should have said in the OP that the batteries were flat but the yoofs didn't know that of course.)

 

TBH I'm not sure what a BB gun looks like. The thing pointed at us looked like a pistol and had blue on it, just like one in that posted link. The things it was firing were quite slow moving, I could see them coming and dropping through the air as they travelled.

 

I phoned 101 yesterday morning and was put through to the Warks control room. The voice didn't seem that interested, in a 'if you had phoned at the time we could have sent a patrol out but it's a bit late now' way.

 

I thought at the time the kids could have been out on a graffiti spraying outing along the railway. Perhaps the BTP might have been more interested.

 

Changing the subject...................Good to see you back Wanted.

 

Cheers! good to be back, and of course, its very easy for me to sit here saying what I would do when I wasn't there! Glad all was OK.

 

Best

Rob

[Graham Davis]

I am ... Meet for beer some time at The Star or Angel?

 

I'm not sure who he drove for, he lives in Caterham and did trains to Brighton and South Coast cities. I know he reported that the company was in a lot of turmoil at the time, and his treatment by them resulted in a large compensation payout. I know he now trains (!) for London Midlands. He posted a picture from the cab on the line to Bedford on New Years Day, on a training run, and it was the first time he'd been able to get in a cab for well over two years.

 

He seems to be doing well, but like most drivers, it's all he ever wanted to do since he was a nipper and the thought of not being able to do it again was destroying him. He said he took the first one okay, he remembers being told on his first few weeks that it would happen and so, he said, he was prepared for it, in a way. The second one was hard though, he said the man left a baby in a pram on the platform and just stepped off. Ceri said he couldn't stop talking about the baby for months and months.

 

I've PM'ed you.

 

That really is horrifying!

I had a row with someone not long ago who said that jumping in front of a train only hurt the person doing it!

[stickleback]

 

It's actually one of the ugliest towns I have ever been to. Sorry, folks, but the Shakespeare nonsense is blinding you all.

Stratford-upon-Avon is an eyesore.

Whitby, Richmond (North Yorks), Tenby - try these instead.

Well, I know Whitby and Richmond. And I think Stratford on Avon is really lovely. Stayed there for 3 days and loved it.

[Jerra]

Well, I know Whitby and Richmond. And I think Stratford on Avon is really lovely. Stayed there for 3 days and loved it.

I would agree i have visited all three of Emerald Fox's examples and yes they are good but so is Stratford IMO (other opinions are available).

[dogless]

It's actually one of the ugliest towns I have ever been to. Sorry, folks, but the Shakespeare nonsense is blinding you all.

Stratford-upon-Avon is an eyesore.

Whitby, Richmond (North Yorks), Tenby - try these instead.

Actually I think the opposite is true. All the Shakespeare 'nonsense' (by which I mean the themed chippies etc not the theatre, New Place etc) actually can hide what a lovely place it is.

We particularly like visiting in winter when it is a little less bustling. Mind you, like the Llangollen canal, it's never quiet.

Rog

[Delta9]

Actually I think the opposite is true. All the Shakespeare 'nonsense' (by which I mean the themed chippies etc not the theatre, New Place etc) actually can hide what a lovely place it is.

We particularly like visiting in winter when it is a little less bustling. Mind you, like the Llangollen canal, it's never quiet.

Rog

There is a Shakespeare themed chippy?

[Wanted]

There is a Shakespeare themed chippy?

'valorous morning fishmonger, I would like to buyeth two portions of chips, one large cod and one of thy finest savaloys. within this wall of flesh, there is a soul that counts thee its creditor'