From Newsgroup: uk.railway

Shippea Hill smash, Railway Scrapbook, 1987 09 10

A train smashed through level-crossing barriers at Shippea Hill after a policeman ordered the gates to be opened to let his car through. No one
was hurt in the accident but both sets of crossing gates were
demolished.

BR said the barriers were closed and warning lights flashing for a train travelling from Norwich to Cambridge when a policeman drove up and asked
the signalman to open the gates.

He refused but then the plain-clothed officer produced a warrant card
and ordered him to do so. The police car sped across the rails but the
train could not stop in time.
--
Roland Perry
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 17/08/2025 18:52, Roland Perry wrote:

Shippea Hill smash, Railway Scrapbook, 1987 09 10

A train smashed through level-crossing barriers at Shippea Hill after a policeman ordered the gates to be opened to let his car through. No one
was hurt in the accident but both sets of crossing gates were demolished.

BR said the barriers were closed and warning lights flashing for a train travelling from Norwich to Cambridge when a policeman drove up and asked
the signalman to open the gates.

He refused but then the plain-clothed officer produced a warrant card
and ordered him to do so. The police car sped across the rails but the
train could not stop in time.

I wonder what happened to Plod's career.
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:

On 17/08/2025 18:52, Roland Perry wrote:

Shippea Hill smash, Railway Scrapbook, 1987 09 10

A train smashed through level-crossing barriers at Shippea Hill after a
policeman ordered the gates to be opened to let his car through. No one
was hurt in the accident but both sets of crossing gates were demolished.

BR said the barriers were closed and warning lights flashing for a train
travelling from Norwich to Cambridge when a policeman drove up and asked
the signalman to open the gates.

He refused but then the plain-clothed officer produced a warrant card
and ordered him to do so. The police car sped across the rails but the
train could not stop in time.

I wonder what happened to Plod's career.

Cheered on by his colleagues and promoted.

But it is quite obvious that it was an open and shut case about a shut and
open incident.

GH

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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 17/08/2025 18:52, Roland Perry wrote:

Shippea Hill smash, Railway Scrapbook, 1987 09 10

Cambridge Daily News - Thursday 10 September 1987
It was the front page story with picture showing debris of the car.



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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 17/08/2025 23:16, JMB99 wrote:

-aCambridge Daily News - Thursday 10 September 1987
It was the front page story with picture showing debris of the car.

The line was closed for thirty minutes, nowadays it would be closed at
least all day!


----


Cambridge Daily News - Thursday 10 September 1987
TRAIN HITS BARRIERS Railway By Tim Verney and David Cook chiefs rCyamazedrCO at action
A TRAIN smashed through level-crossing barriers near Ely today after a policeman ordered the gates to be opened to let his car through says
British Rail
Furious rail chiefs condemned the action as rCLdangerousrCY and rCLamazingrCY They say they will be holding urgent talks with senior police officers
about the incident No-one was hurt in the accident
which took place at at Shippea Hill station shortly after 930 this
morning but both sets of crossing gates were demolished
Firemen from Littleport, Mildenhall, Cambridge and Ely went to the scene
and traffic on the A 1101 Littleport to Mildenhall Road was held up for
more than 30 minutes.
A BR spokesman in London said the barriers were closed across the road
and warning lights were flashing for a train travelling from Norwich to Cambridge when a policeman drove up and asked the signalman to open the
gates
The signalman refused he said but the officer then ordered him to open
the gates. The police car sped across the rails safely but the train rCo a diesel locomotive and brake van rCo could not stop in time and smashed
through the barriers.

Rush hour

BR Manager at Cambridge Mr David Athey said: rCLA man in plain clothes
asked our signalman to open the gate and he refused. He then produced a
police warrant card and ordered him to do so. The train then went into
the gate
rCLIt was lucky no one was hurt It happened just after the rush hourrCY
The London spokesman added they were trying to discover which force
was involved
rCLIt was a very dangerous manoeuvre For a police officer to demand that
the signalman open up the gates is to us frankly quite amazingrCY he said British Transport Police which is handling all inquiries said senior
officers were investigating at the scene Cambridgeshire Police refused
to comment
The only damage to the train itself was scratched paintwork: it later continued its journey on to Cambridge but other services were held up
and hand signals are now in use
Shippea Hill station level-crossing is a notorious blackspot: five
people have died in accidents there in the past
In 1976 a Cherry Hinton train driver was killed and three passengers
injured when a locomotive ploughed into a lorry




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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On Sun, 17 Aug 2025 18:52:07 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk>
wrote:

Shippea Hill smash, Railway Scrapbook, 1987 09 10

A train smashed through level-crossing barriers at Shippea Hill after a >policeman ordered the gates to be opened to let his car through. No one
was hurt in the accident but both sets of crossing gates were
demolished.

BR said the barriers were closed and warning lights flashing for a train >travelling from Norwich to Cambridge when a policeman drove up and asked
the signalman to open the gates.

He refused but then the plain-clothed officer produced a warrant card
and ordered him to do so. The police car sped across the rails but the
train could not stop in time.

My suspicion would be that the policeman was fake.
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 18/08/2025 08:37, Trolleybus wrote:

My suspicion would be that the policeman was fake.

No suggestion of that in any of the newspaper coverage.

It seems quite plausible with many police officers.


MB
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025 09:04:49 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:

On 18/08/2025 08:37, Trolleybus wrote:

My suspicion would be that the policeman was fake.

No suggestion of that in any of the newspaper coverage.

It seems quite plausible with many police officers.

Most could possibly name a colleague even if they weren't daft enough
to do such a thing themselves.
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:37:28 +0100, Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com>
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2025 18:52:07 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk>
wrote:

Shippea Hill smash, Railway Scrapbook, 1987 09 10

A train smashed through level-crossing barriers at Shippea Hill after a >>policeman ordered the gates to be opened to let his car through. No one >>was hurt in the accident but both sets of crossing gates were
demolished.

BR said the barriers were closed and warning lights flashing for a train >>travelling from Norwich to Cambridge when a policeman drove up and asked >>the signalman to open the gates.

He refused but then the plain-clothed officer produced a warrant card
and ordered him to do so. The police car sped across the rails but the >>train could not stop in time.

My suspicion would be that the policeman was fake.

Well, he was plain clothes, nobody knew which force he was from and he
was acting like an entitled prick. There have been cases of Walter
Mitty characters that go around pretending to be police and this may
have been one of them.
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 19/08/2025 07:19, Trolleybus wrote:

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:37:28 +0100, Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com>
wrote:

It was a Cambridgeshire Police vehicle on an undercover operation so presumably unmarked car.


Appears to have been three unmarked cars chasing a car with four burglars.

The report says the signalman changed the signals back to danger and
opened the gates.


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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 19/08/2025 08:24, JMB99 wrote:

On 19/08/2025 07:19, Trolleybus wrote:

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:37:28 +0100, Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com>
wrote:

It was a Cambridgeshire Police vehicle on an undercover operation so presumably unmarked car.

Appears to have been three unmarked cars chasing a car with four burglars.

The report says the signalman changed the signals back to danger and
opened the gates.

In which case the signaller shouldn't have set the signal to red with a
train approaching it on the grounds that the train would probably SPAD
if it was too close. And having set the signal to danger he should have
waited until the train was proved to be stationary before opening the gates/barriers.
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway

On 19/08/2025 20:47, NY wrote:

On 19/08/2025 08:24, JMB99 wrote:

On 19/08/2025 07:19, Trolleybus wrote:

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:37:28 +0100, Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com>
wrote:

It was a Cambridgeshire Police vehicle on an undercover operation so
presumably unmarked car.

Appears to have been three unmarked cars chasing a car with four
burglars.

The report says the signalman changed the signals back to danger and
opened the gates.

In which case the signaller shouldn't have set the signal to red with a train approaching it on the grounds that the train would probably SPAD
if it was too close. And having set the signal to danger he should have waited until the train was proved to be stationary before opening the gates/barriers.

Then Mr Plod would probably have arrested him, though hopefully the
relevant union would help the signalman to sue Mr Plod for every penny.
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From Newsgroup: uk.railway


Certes <Certes@example.org> posted:

On 19/08/2025 20:47, NY wrote:

On 19/08/2025 08:24, JMB99 wrote:

On 19/08/2025 07:19, Trolleybus wrote:

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:37:28 +0100, Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com>
wrote:

It was a Cambridgeshire Police vehicle on an undercover operation so
presumably unmarked car.

Appears to have been three unmarked cars chasing a car with four
burglars.

The report says the signalman changed the signals back to danger and
opened the gates.

In which case the signaller shouldn't have set the signal to red with a train approaching it on the grounds that the train would probably SPAD
if it was too close. And having set the signal to danger he should have waited until the train was proved to be stationary before opening the gates/barriers.

Then Mr Plod would probably have arrested him

Or worse?
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