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The most extreme type of modern train theft occurs when thieves cut the air-compression brake hoses that run between train cars, thereby triggering an emergency
by 0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
The most extreme type of modern train theft occurs when thieves cut the air-compression brake hoses that run between train cars, thereby triggering an emergency braking system. When that happens, the engineer stays in the cab and the conductor walks the length of the stopped train, trying to locate the source of the problem. (Thieves can also stop a train by decoupling some of its cars.) Of course, if a train is miles long, that walk takes a while. In the meantime, the pilferers unload.
Way more brazen than I had imagined. I was foolishly just thinking these were people sneaking into train yards at night.
- geodel 3y ago> I was foolishly just thinking these were people sneaking into train yards at night. That would be theft not robbery.
- irrational 3y agoOr burglary. My understanding is robbery is theft that involves violence or the threat of violence. Burglary is theft that does not involved violence or the threat of violence.
- michaelmrose 3y agoBurglary is entering a property with the intend to commit a crime. Theft is intentionally depriving someone permanently of their property. Robbery is doing so through violence or intimidation.
- justsomehnguy 3y agoSo this should be under Offenses Against the Public Safety, Unlawful impairment of operation of railroads, not even telling about thousands of losses for the railroad itself. Yet nobody does nothing.
- legitster 3y agoThe videos of people just standing on moving trains in broad daylight ripping open packages is... something else. Completely changed the way I understand society.
- xattt 3y agoSomething happened between the Wild West when this was common and now which brought a stop to that behaviour for a century and a half. That something needs to happen again.
- grow2grow 3y agoGuns. Guns happened.
- ssully 3y agoThe Wild West, very famous for not having guns.
- lobsterthief 3y agoYes, as the saying goes: “If only they had guns in the Wild West, it would’ve been _really_ Wild”
- ls612 3y ago
- atourgates 3y agoMost of it is much more opportunistic than that example. > "But over the course of the task force’s existence, which lasted nearly a year, only 34 of the roughly 700 people arrested or cited for stealing from trains were part of these organized crews. Many more were just passers-by or unhoused people living near the tracks in R.V.s or makeshift structures who just happened to pick up fallen boxes." It's just one datapoint, but under 5% of the thefts this specific taskforce identified were perpretrated by organized groups. Most were essentially opportunistic thefts by individuals on the margins of society.
- spenczar5 3y agoCareful, there: 5% of the people arrested or cited. That is not the same as 5% of the thefts (one would expect the professionals do more than their share of the thieving) or even 5% of the thieves (one might believe that pros are less likely to get caught).
- ysavir 3y agoIt's also not representative of the quantity of stolen cargo. Even if it's 5% of thefts, that 5% could be responsible for 60% of stolen cargo.
- dotancohen 3y agoThis is such a great example of lying with statistics. I know that it was not deliberate, which is why the lie is so effective. Even the teller believes it to be true.
- HenryBemis 3y ago> I know that it was not deliberate Although I never underestimate human stupidity or laziness for misrepresentation of numbers/statistics/etc, it's usually some poor SME that writes the report, and then the Manager sees the "60%", freaks out, asks the SME to rewrite making it softer, and thus the truth is (given a serious effort to be hidden). I've been writing audit, security, and other reports a big part of my life. I tend to write numbers in the form of "5 out of 100 X (5%) examined, regarding the Y process, failed due to..". It freaks out anyone who reads my reports, but, hey, they pay me for accuracy and truth. Once I send it (and it's 'untouched' on my Sent Items), they can do whatever they want with it, as long as they put THEIR names & signatures in the bottom if they change a single word (sorry for the cynicism but there exists no corporate hill that I want to die on) - also you never know when a regulator will come back 6.5 years later and ask about THAT job scheduler that was transferring £€$5bn per day between X-system and Y-system. I cannot recount the AMOUNT of times my report has 'softer' writing in the end, and it's their prerogative. But "it's not deliberate"????? No way in hell!!! Manager --> Director --> C-suite --> Audit Committee --> Regulator. EVERYONE will change a couple of words, and instead of a dumpster fire (Red) it will end up being Yellow.
- dmckeon 3y agoIt would be interesting to see train conductors on electric mountain bikes, with drones scanning each side of the stopped train for damaged or cut air hoses, hotbox bearings, etc. Could save a lot of walking, if the railroad and the union agree.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jojobas 3y agoAutomated (dye) gun turret car every 50 meters of the train.
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoSome cars are 89 feet long, so every 50 meters is every third car. That's a lot of overhead. Theft would have to be huge for that to be anywhere near realistic.
- jojobas 3y agoSounds like it is huge.
- euroderf 3y agoA gantry outside of Barstow that plops a device on top of every third (or fifth) car. Outgoing traffic collects them off again.
- dotancohen 3y agoIt would still be less expensive than an armed Marine, and that solution has been effective before.
- anigbrowl 3y agoDisposable overalls: $10
- 3y ago
- izzydata 3y agoThat's wild. Maybe they will start defending trains like they defend cargo ship.
- yieldcrv 3y agoTrains already have deputized private police forces, just a matter of staffing up again
- izzydata 3y agoWhat if it costs more to employ the right amount of people than the losses from robbery?
- acdha 3y agoThe reason it’s bad in LA is that Union Pacific “saved” money by firing the defense: > The Union Pacific Police department has jurisdiction over the 32,000 miles of track Union Pacific owns. Many of these "special agents" used to patrol this now infamous stretch of track. According to the source, the number of patrolling officers has been cut from 50 to 60 agents to eight, which the worker thinks has led to an increase in train robberies. https://www.lataco.com/union-pacific-theft-police-laid-off/ https://www.lataco.com/union-pacific-theft-police-laid-off/
- concordDance 3y ago"The" reason seems implausible given even back then you would have an officer per 500 miles, which doesn't seem useful.
- acdha 3y agoYou don’t need the same level of coverage on the thousands of miles of track in deserted rural areas as you do where the trains are frequently stopped in urban areas where millions of people live. As trains have been getting longer to reduce staffing costs they have been leaving them on the tracks rather than in fenced in yards, so those specific areas are where they need security guards.
- ExoticPearTree 3y agoWell, since this is the US, what would be the incremental cost of package delivery if every train car would have an armed person shooting at anything that comes close to the tracks? A semi-automatic rifle and lots of ammo would deter a lot of people from atracking trains. Not doing avout it anything hurts all the business that either have to refund customers or resend another item at their own expense.
- chrisandchris 3y agoInteresting how the US is seen as "will shoot at anything, if possible" while others try to think how a lock could work.
- walthamstow 3y agoShooting from a train car is not something Americans are unfamiliar with, just ask the buffalo
- treflop 3y agoThe train companies already know this. They’ve been fighting train robbers since the days of the Wild West. I don’t know what other train companies are doing but Union Pacific cut a lot of its police force 3 years ago. If they aren’t trying to hire more police, presumably they did the math and they must be making more money now than before regardless of any business they may now be losing.
- ahtihn 3y agoWhy would lethal force be justified to protect packages? That's so excessive. The punishment for theft isn't the death penalty even in the US last I checked.
- yard2010 3y agoI would say robbing trains wild west style endangering everyone involved is excessive.