Photo: NewsFlare / DailyMail.co.uk
If there was ever a class in master trolling, two adults swans from Norfolk, U.K., could teach it. They were able to delay an actual train and hold up car traffic for 30 minutes.
The incident happened near a level crossing at Stowbridge and was only over when people came out of their cars and, with help from the RSPCA, helped the swans back in the River Great Ouse, the Daily Mail reports. Of course, there’s video of it – and you will find it at the bottom of the page.
Paul McCaffrey tells the Mail that he was on his way to local pub when he saw cars waiting at the barriers, but no train was coming. Not far in the distance, he made out two adult swans on the tracks and the train right behind them.
“They had two cygnets with them and didn't have a care in the world about standing in front of this train,” McCaffrey says. “After about 15 minutes the driver got out of his cab but I think he was a bit scared because he got out their green umbrella and was trying to shoo it away from about six feet away. He wasn't having much luck.”
So the engine driver went back inside and continued operating the train, at a very slow speed. If he was hoping this would scare the swans away, he was wrong again: they continued waddling on the tracks until more people came to shoo them away.
McCaffrey says that the swans stood as tall as a man when approached, but they eventually agreed to be on their way. The video below shows them and their chicks back on the river, but it was a long – and very fun – half an hour until this happened.
“We received a report of swans on the line between Downham Market and Watlington just after 15:30 yesterday,” Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) confirms in a statement. “The line was clear by about 16:00. A King's Cross to King's Lynn service was delayed by about half an hour as a result.”
Paul McCaffrey tells the Mail that he was on his way to local pub when he saw cars waiting at the barriers, but no train was coming. Not far in the distance, he made out two adult swans on the tracks and the train right behind them.
“They had two cygnets with them and didn't have a care in the world about standing in front of this train,” McCaffrey says. “After about 15 minutes the driver got out of his cab but I think he was a bit scared because he got out their green umbrella and was trying to shoo it away from about six feet away. He wasn't having much luck.”
So the engine driver went back inside and continued operating the train, at a very slow speed. If he was hoping this would scare the swans away, he was wrong again: they continued waddling on the tracks until more people came to shoo them away.
McCaffrey says that the swans stood as tall as a man when approached, but they eventually agreed to be on their way. The video below shows them and their chicks back on the river, but it was a long – and very fun – half an hour until this happened.
“We received a report of swans on the line between Downham Market and Watlington just after 15:30 yesterday,” Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) confirms in a statement. “The line was clear by about 16:00. A King's Cross to King's Lynn service was delayed by about half an hour as a result.”
Google News