A tortoise, named Solomon, broke out from home and climbed onto railway lines, delaying train journeys. Engineers carried Solomon off the tracks and planned to leave him with a nearby vet.

A surprise event delayed some train journeys between Ascot and Bagshot. On Monday evening, a tortoise named Solomon somehow outdid his house enclosure to find his way onto the train tracks. Fortunately, the unusual situation resulted in delays but had a happy end.

The Great Escape

It all started when a South Western Railway train driver spotted Solomon on the tracks, inching toward Bagshot near Ascot station at around 6:05 p.m. The tortoise was crawling toward Bagshot and had turned into an unexpected obstacle for trains.

Train drivers have to keep their eyes peeled for anything on the tracks—even a little tortoise. Eyeing Solomon, he knew he had to bring the train to a halt to avoid hurting the tortoise. This brought the train to a stop, and other trains behind had to wait too.

A Slow-Moving Rescue

Engineers quickly stepped in to help. They gingerly picked Solomon off the track and delivered him to a safe spot on the platform at Ascot station. This involved a short ride on the train, thus making him one of few tortoises who ever traveled by rail!

The slow, steady walk along the tracks created a bit of a stir. People who were waiting for their trains to arrive looked on in curiosity and amusement as they witnessed a tortoise being carried off a train. It’s not every day you see a tortoise causing a delay on the railway.

Safe and Sound

The plan was to take Solomon to a vet in Staines to make sure he was OK. Before this could happen, however, Solomon’s owner identified him and came to pick him up at about 8 PM. Fortunately, Solomon was unharmed and returned home safely.

The owner was very pleased to have Solomon back. They had been looking all over for him all day, so knowing that he was safe took their burden off of them. Solomon was a bit of a celebrity for the day, and his little adventure turned out quite well.

Least Difficulty

South Western Railway has now confirmed that Solomon’s adventure caused only minor delays. It has also reassured everyone that the tortoise is fine after his ordeal. Staff are glad that delays were not too long and everybody got to where they needed to get to.

An Apology and an Explanation

Network Rail Wessex expressed apologies for the disruption and said that it was probable that Solomon was able to get onto the tracks due to the presence of a gap in the fence. They promised to fix the issue to prevent similar incidents in the future.

It was a good lesson learned for the railway team to keep scanning the area for holes or gaps from which the animal could have strayed onto the rail tracks. They will be more careful in the future to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.

It was an unusual event—Solomon’s adventure—that got the train tracks in a bit of chaos. Fortunately, the engines and staff reacted fast, and Solomon was saved with no disturbance to the train services, only for a little while. This is a story that reminds one that even the slowest of creatures are sometimes capable of creating the biggest of surprises.

This will certainly be one of those stories that these commuters will remember and continue to discuss for a while. After all, it’s not every day that the train gets delayed by a tortoise, and it put some form of unexpected excitement into everyone’s day.