Where is the scariest place you've ever visited?

[Komata]

The scariest place I've ever visited?

Although only 200 yards distant from where I was working, one comes readily to mind  The following will be somewhat long, but I can assure you it was very, very real:

I was on duty at a junction signalbox in the centre of a large city, and a train had just brought in a rake of some 40 fully-loaded high-capacity petrol tank wagons. It had left them in the yard and departed for another destination. The tanks were to be uplifted by a local service and taken to a bulk fuel depot elsewhere in the city for unloading.

The time: Around 0230 and no other trains were expected for another hour or so. As one did, I was casually looking out the signalbox window, checking that everything was secure.  A glance at the tankers and lo and behold, and at the far end of the rake, a light appeared, then died away. very quickly and darkness returned

Imagination?  Nah, a reflection. Ignore it, but then again??? 

A second look - and there it was again. Oh H_!!

Now bear in mind that I was on my own, nothing around except empty commercial buildings and no nearby houses. Absolutely NO people.

So what to do?? The obvious - go and have a look.

Picking up my torch I went to see what I could find. It was a LONG walk, past a great many tank cars - all far towering far above me above me and potentially all very deadly.

I eventually reached the place where the light had been, to discover a somewhat disconcerting scene

One of the tank cars had developed a hot box (the axle bearing had become overheated at some point on the journey and had set fire to the oil-laden packing which surrounded it. This had been contained within the box itself, but the heat generated had turned the axle box cherry red. It was glowing nicely.

The 'tank' component of the wagon was of rivited construction, and one of the seams was immediately above the axle box. There was evidently a minute fault in the seal and it was weeping petrol - down its side and onto the top of the very hot axle box! 

When it reached the axle box the petrol ignited and burnt off, causing the light I had seen from the signal box.

It was quite rythmical really: Weep, run down the side, ignite, burn-off, repeat the cycle etc. etc.

BUT, in addition, there was another difficulty. Due to yard geometry, the tank car had come to rest over the top of a hand-operated point set. These points were lubricated with waste oil and over time this oil had dried-out and accumulated into a type of sludge; sludge which was potentially somewhat volatile, a fact not helped by the presence of numerous dried-out leaves.

I noticed that, every so often, the petrol would NOT burn off, but rather take another path and drop down onto the dried oil. It was forming a nice little puddle!

So what to do? Obviously extinguish the fire, but there were no fire-hoses or water taps any where in the vicinity. No 'local' means of solving the problem at all!

Meanwhile the 'flaring' continued and it could only be a matter of time until...

A long walk back to the 'box gave me time to consider the options; I had to extinguish the fire but what could I use,  and where to get the water?

I was aware that some Guards advocated urinating on hotboxes to put them out; but that really didn't seem appropriate in the circumstances - besides which i had relieved myself before walking out of the box 'just in case'  No solution there!!

To cut a long a (and terrifying) story very short, The only water available was the slow flow from the tap over the domestic-type sink in  Signalbox, while the only water container I could find (also in the 'box)  was a small green-enamelled electric jug with a capacity of two litres! With no other option available I used it to carry the water to the fire - 2 litres at a time over a distance of some 200 yards! With such minute weapons does one fight a war...!

Before departing with the first jug full, I wrote some notes detailing what was happening ( I still have them) and started back, the water-filled little green jug in my hand.   I now knew how David felt against Goliath...!

Being very aware of the contents of the wagons I was walking past and that there was a distinct chance that I could literally not come back alive should the fire actually became 'serious', I eventually arrived at the site and poured the water over the axle box. It hissed nicely when the first jug of water was poured onto it and gave off lots of steam. One down... The axle box was now slightly less red, but only slightly. back to the 'box for more water and 'repeat until everything was 'out'. It took four very long round trips between the box and the fire to finally put everything out. The 'sludge' in the point was also dampened so that there was no possibility of ignition.

The last walk back to the 'box was done with a slight spring in the step.

And that was that; the problem (literally) extinguished.  The tank still wept, but at least the petrol couldn't ignite; 

I had survived!

With everything now over, the usual reports were made. The wagon's hot-box was  was subsequently repaired and it went on its way.  Typically, a 'grateful' management made absolutely no comment about what had occurred.

Although I have had other, somewhat similar experiences over the years, it must be said that, in respect of the 'scariest' place I have ever been, what occurred in that railway yard in the wee small hours of a May  morning would have to be high on my list of 'the most scary'. They were the longest two hundred yards I have so far had to walk....

Thank you for taking the time to read this. As I said, it is all true.


 

[port perran]

I'm a driving instructor which many people feel is a scary job but is actually nothing of the sort.
Nonetheless, when I was a rookie, I had a youngster stall in the fast lane of a dual carriageway whilst overtaking. Long story and not  really her fault (the problem was caused by a lorry swerving)and these days I'd be far too experienced to let such a thing happen.
I held my nerve, said "Ok , start us up , into gear and let's move" very calmly as peolple hurtled around us.
Nothing happened and we escaped unharmed but it was pretty scary for a bit.

[Mr Sprue]

In a bar in Brighton ordering a round drinks!

In 2015 my oppo's and me had just completed the London to Brighton bike ride for the Heart Foundation. After all the paraphernalia at the finish line we all decide to find a bar and get a beer. I can't remember the name but this particular bar but it overlooked the seafront near the wheel up by the road, it was my round so whilst leaning on the bar waiting to get served I looked around and noticed this big guy standing near me wearing a T shirt with "I LIKE BEARS" printed on it. I didn't twig at first but the penny dropped noticing there were no gals in this packed out bar!

Anyway when the round was eventually served and placed on a tray the bar tender hurriedly placed the change in my palm, of which a couple of coins fell out of my palm and dropped on the floor. To my recollection I am certain to this day one of them was a £2 coin but there was no way I was going to pick it up!   

   

[jpendle]

Our house, when SWMBO has a strop on!!!!

Or the driveway to the Norton House Hotel, where it passes under the railway, not far from Ratho station.

Let me explain.

While returning to said hotel after midnight, I headed up the drive from the A8. It's narrow and tree lined, it's not lit either except for a very few lamps here and there.

Just as I got to the railway bridge, I saw a dark van with no lights on just under the bridge blocking the road. I slowed down and stopped just before the bridge.
As soon as I stopped another car with no lights on drove out of it's hiding place and blocked me from the back.

Then a dark figure got out of the car and walked towards my car. I locked all my doors and tried hard not to embarrass myself.

As this guy got closer he switched on a torch so I could see even less, except of course for the 2 people who had got out of the van in front and were headed my way..............

To be continued

John P

[Ditape]

In the manoeuvring room of a nuclear hunter killer submarine dived in the Med. When the reactor compartment bilge alarm goes off followed by the reactor compartment flood alarm, then the reactor went into auto-shutdown mode  (SCRAM) causing loss of main engines  and the need for a emergency surface on the emergency propulsion motor. Needless to say there were a lot of happy faces when we got to the surface.

[Bealman]

Wigan on the saturday night after the 2014 model railway exhibition 

Ooops, sorry Davieb!! 

Actually, I had quite a good night.

[REGP]

When I was first married I had take an extra job as a mobile security guard, the scariest assignment I had was to check on certain parts of London Zoo.

Obviously this was at night, you couldn't drive round and had to patrol on foot and of course there were no lights.

Luckily I didn't have to face an escaped animal as a colleague did, but it was always a possibility and I can still remember some of the eerie noises and the smells.

Ray

[kiwi1941]

the scariest assignment I had was to check on certain parts of London Zoo.

Me too; I often worked late at a facility next to the wolf's enclosure. Leaving on a winter's night with them howling at me was most disconcerting!! Brian

[Komata]

Kiwi

It seems to me that the wolves were either (1) Singing to you a fond farewell to send you on your way; or having a very vocal discussion as to your worth as the main course at the next meal... (What you can't understand, you can't worry about).

That you are able to post here would indicate that the latter wan't necessarily the case...

Rudyard Kipling has a LOT to answer for...

[Zogbert Splod]

Iraq. It was great, right up until I got a call saying,"Get out, there is something about to happen." I can't say who the call came from but it was an official one. It was difficult coz I had not been the only one to get the warning and flights were packed. I did get out, three days before the Kuwait thing started that led to Desert Storm. Two of my colleagues didn't make it and were held there for 18 months.

[Byegad]

As part of a qualification I had the 'joy' of visiting HMP Frankland. We specifically were looking at their education block.

The Deputy Governor did an introductory piece to our small group in which he mentioned the kind of people we'd meet. (This was the 1980s.) Gaddafi terrorists, Irish terrorists, murders and rapist would all be in the group we spoke to. 

Funnily enough when we spoke to these guys, none of them had ever broken the law! All were locked up unjustly and the very thought of the staff having to use to panic buttons prominent mounted around the teaching areas was plain silly.

The whole experience was very sobering and the relief in our group at the end of the visit when we were outside in the visitors car park was palpable. I've never been so pleased to leave anywhere since.

[Mike Hamilton]

Hitch hiking from Egypt through Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to get the ferry from Cyprus to Haifa in Israel to get back to the Kibbutz I was working on on the Golan Heights (right on the Syrian / Lebanese border) at the time of the Camp David talks in the mid 80's.  It took me three months and I was scared less pretty much all the time.  Lots of volatile people with guns and not particularly friendly towards Westerners.

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[Malc]

180 ft up a transmitter mast at Tacolneston. Sleet coming upwards at you. Hands frozen, gloves soaking and trying to climb down. Took me longer to climb down than it did in the calm before the storm. All for the sake of a Noel Edmond's Swap shop TV programme.

[Newportnobby]

I'm surprised no one has pinpointed the NGF meet up at TINGS yet

[Claude Dreyfus]

Two of the scariest places on the planet - Lennon's Bar in Liverpool and San Bernardino CA.

I visited the former back in about 1997, whilst a few of us were visiting a friend at Liverpool Uni. I wasn't too sure when we went in, a gut feeling multiplied a thousand-fold when I saw a mural of St John and Yoko; with a fist-sized hole where her head should have been. Being Sussex born and bred (and the most southern of the lot), I had the wherewithal to let one of my colleagues do the ordering (which itself was barely above an audible mutter), and keep my trap shut. The menacing glares from some of the locals at four not-from-around-here lads, started to build to open hostility when one member of our party opened their mouths to confirm the suspicion that we were not Merseysiders. Those were the days I could neck a pint in a few seconds and I was out of there; reckoning I would be safer on the street than in there.

I mentioned this to Mrs Dreyfus (who had also been a student in Liverpool) a year or so later, who marvelled how I managed to get out in one piece.

The former was last year, when driving across the US. For the most-part it was an adventure - only rough planning to get use a couple of thousand of miles across the country. Our last night on the road was in San Bernardino. Problem 1 was finding accommodation - which we finally managed at a Rodeway Inn, problem two was finding food. Dinner was solved by Arby's, but we decided to take it back to the hotel as the atmosphere in the fast-food joint wasn't great. Getting back to the hotel, it was clear that the majority of the guests were nothing of the sort - they were residents; a few of them gathering around the soda machine at the end of the balcony walkway (clearly the only thing of interest in the whole area). As dusk turned to night, there were shouts from across the complex. Then came the sirens, then came the gunfire, probably only a couple of blocks away 

we thought - for I was there with my wife, whilst our travelling companion was next door. Are we going to be murdered in our beds? I don't know if the police helicopters which were now sweeping overhead added to the anxiety or gave us reassurance.

Needless to say, it was not a restful night - and the three of us were out of there like a scalded cat before 6am.

I am not sure if San Bernardino has a tourist board, but based on my experience unless the are encouraging SAS training, they have their work cut out. To misquote Bob Troup:

Don't forget Winona (nothing there anyway), Kingman, Barstow and San Barnadino (certainly don't forget it; avoid it like the seven plagues of Egypt (you may have a better chance of surviving them)).

Mrs Dreyfus summed it up perfectly in her review of the hotel in question - 'I give it one star, because at least we got out alive'.

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