sinminman

Hello all, I've been a long time lurker, and I thought you might all enjoy the below photographs. I can't take credit for them (apart from scanning the slides and negs). They were all taken by my father. The first six he confirms were taken on Feb 1st 1975 at Sheffield Victoria. He won't say how he gained access to the station... The second batch were taken at Penistone on a rail tour during the summer of 1974. Hope you enjoy them!

After reading other posts about people musing whether they should report something to Network Rail about a criminal issue, it reminded me of a time when I contacted Network Rail about a theft. A couple of years ago I was walking in Sherwood Pines Forest Park just south of Clipstone in Nottinghamshire. I got a bit distracted by the disused colliery line to Bilsthorpe and started walking along the track (now before anyone has a go, there are 2 inch thick trees growing between the rails - it's VERY disused). When I came to this junction here, I found that the entire set of points and all large amount of the rail, cabling and other assorted metalwork had been crudely hacked out and carted away. The following weekend I came back again to find even more rail missing. This was definitely not a professional job, and what raised my suspicions further was the fact that next to the trackbed was a huge black scorched area and the remains of several lorry tyres (someone had been burning them for the steel inside). So I decided to call Network Rail and report the theft. After faffing around for several hours I finally spoke to a lady who apparently dealt with calls from the public. Her reaction? "Oh, thanks. I'll let my manager know." Guess what? Nothing happened. Last time I saw the place there were still chunks of rail regularly going missing. Has anyone else come across whole pieces of railway line going missing?