Menlo, Ia. — Railroad employees are watching track equipment closely after a switching mechanism was tampered with in west-central Iowa.
Is such tampering an increasing problem, or is the popular press simply paying more attention to rail issues?
I know we’ve had cars on which the grab irons had barbed wire wrapped around them. We’ve also been advised not to pick up bottles of pop laying on the ground because there have been bottles with chemicals in them that can explode when the bottle is disturbed.
I don’t think it’s on the rise so much as reporting the event are. I used to argue with RR police and field management about telling the news media (me) what happened, the truth, that kids did this or somebody did that to the switch or the equipment or whatever. But time and time again they said they didn’t want to tell that side, that the fact they had a derailment was enough. Today, the concept of Homeland Security has reporters jumping at the hint of sabotage and RR police and officials basking in the glow of being on the trail of the perps!
Rail vandalism is at relatively the same levels I have experienced for the past 20+ years.
I’ve heard of a few cases where switches were tampered with in the past. Those cases made the newspapers, at least the local ones if not the national wire services. At least one such case caused a fatality among the engine crew. It always seemed to me like they (railroad involved) never had a problem with properly placing the blame on vandalism rather than bad track or equipment.
They seem to be downplaying any thought of terrorism at this point. Still, breaking a switch lock (from what I’ve heard, that’s what it sounds like) and lining a switch, even if partially lined, can get someone killed. I for one, am glad they are taking this seriously.
Jeff
PS. Henry, the thought occured to me that maybe those kids in your cases belonged to people who didn’t need the publicity. Maybe that’s why things were hush hush.
I think some definitions have been changed, too, if you will.
Twenty years ago busting off a switch lock and mis-aligning a switch was vandalism.
Nowadays, it might just be terrorism (in some people’s minds).
The other issue (as discussed in another thread) is downright thievery. Despite stricter laws on handling recyclable materials (like copper cable), there still seems to be a way for the thieves to convert their ill-gotten gains into the cash (or other items) that they want.
We can’t discount the speed with with news can travel today, either. What used to be a page two item in the local paper can become national news almost instantly, increasing our collective knowledge of such events.
MENLO, Iowa (AP) - A $10,000 reward is being offered in the rail switch tampering incident near Menlo.
Iowa Interstate Railroad is offering the money for information that leads to a conviction.
Well…if graffitti is an indicator…then yes, tampering is on the rise…
Once upon a time, train wrecking would bring the death penalty in some states. I have nothing to click on, I just remember reading it in an encyclopdia in an article about the death penalty when I was a kid.