Trivia; meeting the station's "pets"

[D6130]

Purely fiction of course, but in the musical 'Cats' there was MacCavity the railway cat, who used to ride up and down on the Night Mail trains between Glasgow Central and London Euston.

 

[Whisky Papa]

There used to be a very friendly ginger and white tom cat called Dinky at Todmorden station. He had his own bed and food/water bowls on the very wide window ledge in the booking office/waiting room on the Up platform and was a great favourite of regular commuters. On sunny days he often used to lounge on the platform - often dangerously close to the edge - but I never saw him actually cross the tracks. Unfortunately he departed for the great cattery in the sky sometime in 2016. Somewhere, I some photos and will post them on here if and when I find them.

Actually, he was originally "adopted" by the proprietor of the taxi firm located downstairs in the original ticket office. One member of the station staff was a big fan, and did provide him with treats in addition to the food provided by the taxi boss. The rest of us were slightly more reserved - I'd have him in the office on occasion, but he shed fur like mad, and it showed up badly against the Northern navy blue trousers.

He certainly did go on the tracks at times but without incident that I am aware of. However, one morning I came in to find him skulking around and generally ignoring me. One or two commuters had asked if he was okay, and then somebody eventually got a good look and berated me for not having taken him to the vets immediately. It turned out he had been attacked by a fox or dog and had a nasty gash to his head. This obviously was where the "ownership" issue came to the fore - in the end the taxi boss took him to the vets and a couple of us on the station staff contributed to the bill.

It's also worth mentioning that while generally popular, his presence in the booking hall / waiting room was not universally welcomed by passengers, either through allergies, phobias or (almost certainly misplaced) worries about hygiene.

 

[Calthrop]

Purely fiction of course, but in the musical 'Cats' there was MacCavity the railway cat, who used to ride up and down on the Night Mail trains between Glasgow Central and London Euston.

I acknowledge self to be a dreadful and annoying pedant; but in "Cats" (the musical; and the comic poems by T.S. Eliot on which it was based): Macavity is a criminal-mastermind cat, not rail-associated. The Railway Cat -- playing an obscure but vital role in LMS main-line management -- is Skimbleshanks.

 

[D6130]

I acknowledge self to be a dreadful and annoying pedant; but in "Cats" (the musical; and the comic poems by T.S. Eliot on which it was based): Macavity is a criminal-mastermind cat, not rail-associated. The Railway Cat -- playing an obscure but vital role in LMS main-line management -- is Skimbleshanks.

Of course....I stand corrected. Many years since I saw the musical and the old memory is playing tricks again!

 

[Cletus]

I saw that cat at Digby & Sowton asleep on top of the bin lid.

 

[Stuart-h]

When i was working out of the db shenker yard at warrington a few years back they had a friendly cat and some gold fish.

 

[Howardh]

Actually, he was originally "adopted" by the proprietor of the taxi firm located downstairs in the original ticket office. One member of the station staff was a big fan, and did provide him with treats in addition to the food provided by the taxi boss. The rest of us were slightly more reserved - I'd have him in the office on occasion, but he shed fur like mad, and it showed up badly against the Northern navy blue trousers.

He certainly did go on the tracks at times but without incident that I am aware of. However, one morning I came in to find him skulking around and generally ignoring me. One or two commuters had asked if he was okay, and then somebody eventually got a good look and berated me for not having taken him to the vets immediately. It turned out he had been attacked by a fox or dog and had a nasty gash to his head. This obviously was where the "ownership" issue came to the fore - in the end the taxi boss took him to the vets and a couple of us on the station staff contributed to the bill.

It's also worth mentioning that while generally popular, his presence in the booking hall / waiting room was not universally welcomed by passengers, either through allergies, phobias or (almost certainly misplaced) worries about hygiene.

Yes, this is a good point when workplaces "adopt" cats etc. Not sure what the answer is, it's certainly not good to adopt and then leave it in pain in such a situation. Maybe, and I accept it's hard if a worker hates cats (!) everyone should chip in a weekly fund so there's some money there should it be needed (insurance??), but in the case of an injured cat who is effectively wild, surely the RSPCA or a local cat's charity would be involved, if only to put an animal down if there's no funds available?

Glad that particular cat got looked after by you all!

My old man's works had a resident guard dog, and to get around this they had a weekly lottery where workers bought a ticket, the winner got half the funds and the other half went into the "pot" for the dog's food and wellbeing. It also got a fortnight's break when Bury Holidays came along - supposed to go into a kennels but I know where it ended up!!

 

[zwk500]

Yes, this is a good point when workplaces "adopt" cats etc. Not sure what the answer is, it's certainly not good to adopt and then leave it in pain in such a situation. Maybe, and I accept it's hard if a worker hates cats (!) everyone should chip in a weekly fund so there's some money there should it be needed (insurance??), but in the case of an injured cat who is effectively wild, surely the RSPCA or a local cat's charity would be involved, if only to put an animal down if there's no funds available?

There was a story about the Gipsy Hill cat in the website linked to above, where it needed surgery and the owners (who were known, and from a house down the road) weren't sure they had the money to pay for it. Somebody at the station set up a fundraising page and the total had been raised within an hour or so.

 

[Howardh]

There was a story about the Gipsy Hill cat in the website linked to above, where it needed surgery and the owners (who were known, and from a house down the road) weren't sure they had the money to pay for it. Somebody at the station set up a fundraising page and the total had been raised within an hour or so.

Good stuff. I suppose the plus these days is funding is only a tweet away, in the old days the cat would have required local press coverage, then folks would have to find a way to donate; and by then it may be too late...much easier now of course!

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Angus the dalmally station dog has passed over the rainbow bridge as per scotrail Twitter https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1561311728767574017?t=js68lA89cZxxXRVZ7UnqXQ&s=19

Thought I'd do my usual checks on different station animals across the network today. Never news I want to see, but I'm particularly saddened to hear this wee chap Angus, the much loved station dog at Dalmally station, is no longer with us. Dogs are just too good to us humans.

 

[randyrippley]

Haverthwaite station has common lizards, sometimes on the platform

 

[LowLevel]

Yes, this is a good point when workplaces "adopt" cats etc. Not sure what the answer is, it's certainly not good to adopt and then leave it in pain in such a situation. Maybe, and I accept it's hard if a worker hates cats (!) everyone should chip in a weekly fund so there's some money there should it be needed (insurance??), but in the case of an injured cat who is effectively wild, surely the RSPCA or a local cat's charity would be involved, if only to put an animal down if there's no funds available?

Glad that particular cat got looked after by you all!

My old man's works had a resident guard dog, and to get around this they had a weekly lottery where workers bought a ticket, the winner got half the funds and the other half went into the "pot" for the dog's food and wellbeing. It also got a fortnight's break when Bury Holidays came along - supposed to go into a kennels but I know where it ended up!!

We have cats on our heritage railway and always have done - a mix of strays and tamed ferals (in the sense that they happily sleep in offices, mess rooms, sheds or other nooks and can come and go as they please, as well as generally appreciating human company and fuss on their own terms), as well as at least one colony of fully feral cats.

The former two we feed, have whip rounds for vet bills, worming and fleaing etc, and folk generally provide retirement homes if they're not up to the railway environment any more. They are basically pets. We managed to adopt one fully feral tom when he was attacked by a larger animal and having had his tail amputated and been castrated his temperament changed completely, he now lives with an older female colleague in one of the offices and bar his stocky build and lack of meow, he is little different to any other cat - he moved in of his own accord when the door was left open!

The colony is kept an eye on, they're fed if food is scarce and periodically with the local Cats Protection as many as possible are caught, castrated and rehomed or released as appropriate. If any need medical attention we try and catch them to sort it though it can be easier said than done. They live under a grounded wagon body.

 

[Eyersey468]

In the first lockdown there were two geese that took over York Station and used it as a home for them and their goslings, we nicknamed them Boris and Doris.

 

[Skytower]

Although I didn’t manage to find out more about it, this cat was certainly very comfy when I arrived at Redruth station recently, before doing ticket inspection duties…

 

[D6975]

When I was in Dewsbury last month, there was a small deer wandering around the east car park.

ps lots of depots had cats too, Ripple Lane, Tyseley and Grangemouth plus lots more I'm sure.

 

[davidknibb]

A barn owl at Ribblehead who ruled the place after dark.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Although I didn’t manage to find out more about it, this cat was certainly very comfy when I arrived at Redruth station recently, before doing ticket inspection duties…

You, or the cat?

 

[Skytower]

The cat would definitely have been more effective