The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Vandals strike at rail club
Vandals have struck at a model railway club in the heart of Aberdeen.
Cabins owned by Aberdeen Model Railway Club – based at the former Ferryhill Locomotive Depot, next to Duthie Park – were targeted between Friday and Sunday.
The culprits used a metal rod to break in and then rampaged around inside breaking equipment and pulling pictures off the walls.
Gary Thorley-Smith, of Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust, which shares the site, described the damage as “mindless”.
He said: “They used some old railway equipment to make a hole in the side of the cabin.
“Then they rampaged around and knocked all the pictures off the walls.
“It will probably take a couple of days’ work to get everything tidied up.”
“Then they knocked all the pictures off the walls”
The vandals also removed a model railway engine, probably worth about £100, and chucked it against a wall outside before abandoning it.
A computer monitor was also taken outside and stamped on, and a second one is missing.
One of the railway trust’s sheds also had a drainpipe pulled off the wall.
Earlier this year, vandals caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage at the same site, smashing windows of storage cabins and vintage machines.
Mr Thorley-Smith said the trust had reported several incidents to police this year.
The trust has decided to invest £2,000 in CCTV equipment which is being installed this week.
A police spokeswoman confirmed a complaint had been received and inquiries were ongoing. An Aberdeen man has collected more than 400 football shirts from across the globe – including one owned by a pope.
Joe Johnston first started collecting the shirts in 2010, and has amassed those belonging to all 211 Fifa teams. The 35-year-old, from Woodside, started his “bizarre” hobby by buying an Argentina away shirt following the South Africa World Cup.
He went on to buy a Scotland and Slovenia shirt for only £1 each from a charity shop, and decided to keep going.
He said: “I thought ‘I wonder if I can collect all the shirts from around the world’ – but I thought, that’s expensive and a lot of countries do not have replica shirts, I thought it’s a silly thing, there’s no point.”
In spite of this, he could not help buying more.
He said: “It’s taken seven years – but I have managed to do it.”
Some of his best-buys include a Vatican City top and an Azerbaijan under 17s shirt that once was owned by Pope Benedict XVI, after the team gifted it to him in Italy.
Mr Johnston said: “It seems totally bizarre that I have something a Pope used to own.” He also owns an Eritrea shirt, smuggled into Europe.