I would report it also. The person(s) involved have no respect for themselves or the property of others. That is not conducive to a long life, no matter what side of the pond you live on.
E-O
As for the concern/punish mentality you find confusing: the Bible says spare the rod, spoil the child. By allowing this person to get away with this will only embolden them to do worse next time to experience the same thrill level. By stopping this activity and making it unpleasant (time in handcuffs or time in jail) this person will either come to their senses and realize the mortal jeopardy they were in, or realize that their actions will have an impact on others (stopped/delayed trains, clean-up time/costs, police and coroner called out to the middle of nowhere, etc). Maybe, just maybe, this person will grow up or at least figure out another way to earn a Darwin Award.
I had a similar experience 20 years ago during a business trip to the West Coast. I came out of a restaurant north of Oceanside, CA on a Sunday evening when I noticed what I later figured out to be illegals hanging on to the outside on the west side of some Amfleet coaches on a northbound San Diego to Los Angeles Amtrak train. I immediately called the California Highway Patrol to tell them what I saw, and I asked them to call the Santa Fe’s dispatcher to tell the train crew about the riders. The California Highway Patrol dispatcher didn’t seem to be too interested. He didn’t say they would look into it.
I immediately turned on my scanner, but I heard nothing so I don’t know if the train crew was ever notified. On the way down to Oceanside I noticed the Border patrol had diverted northbound traffic through its check point south of San Onofre on I 5. As I approached San Onofre on I 5 on the return trip I noticed the Border Patrol was no longer diverting northbound traffic through its check point. Then it dawned on me. The illegals were hanging on to the outside of the west side of the train, and possibly riding to somewhere north of San Onofre, to avoid getting caught when their car or a bus was diverted through the Border Patrol’s check point.
So I agree with you. You did the right thing. It’s too bad the railroad police didn’t take your report more seriously.
oh, sorry, you ment my history knowledge, I thought that you ment my forum history (history of my posts)
Well since you are interested in international politics, here is how socialism was viewed from one of the insiders:
Yea, I lived under socialism.
But the kind of socialism in Yugoslavia was very different from what was going on behind the iron curtain. Yugoslavia was “unsorted” as they called it at the time, which means it was neither a part of the western or eastern pact.
And indeed it was a sort of mixture of the western and eastern world.
For example, while there was a socialistic government and way of thinking, and to some degree the propaganda did keep a distance from the western world, all the trends from the western world did enter this country, from hippies and psychadelics in 60’s, to electro-pop in the 80’s, from clothes and food to rock music. Also , on TV for example, exept for the domestic shows and films, you’d mostly see american shows and movies.
I think that SSSR and similar countreys were much more isolated, and
opressive. I bet russians had the same kind of paranoya towards the west as west had towards them.
The main difference now and then is that people who want to start their own bussiness have more freedom. They can start any kind of company they want.
Back then, the government was serving as a kind of a regulator for private bussinesses. For example, if you wanted to start a meat shop or something like that, they’d examine the situation in that area
Bible was written by many people with many different opinions, even beliefs, as a CHRISTian , perhapse you should concentrate on what Christ had to say.
But I do understand what you are trying to say
BNSF4ever - You did the right thing! Fools like those riding on freight cars
give me the creeps. You don’t know what they are up to. It’s too bad that
the UP didn’t take it that seriously. If it had been railfans riding on the train,
they would probably have reacted swiftly. Thieves,vandals,terrorists seem to
get a yawn. You were very patient in wading through all the levels of RR mgt.
Thank you ! It is not likely that they were terrorists, but they obviously had no
business being there.
E-O. Thank you for your sane, balanced and intelligent overview of life in the former Yugoslavia.
My partner does not share my interest in railroads but is, like me, an embattled upholder of Socialist principles in President Blair’s UK. She has read your post and shares my admiration for your comments and sentiments.
Should you ever head to the UK please get in touch.
To get back on topic - the rail - riding indigent hobo is a part of the wistful nostalgia of an independent American life. Read London, and Steinbeck, and Lewis,and Mencken, and Sinclair. The truth, as evinced by the bloody history of the IWW, is very different from the idealised fiction.
Economic migration and mobility is probably the greatest social freedom in the world and it’s origins are intertwined with the origins of the US. Today is your Thanksgiving day and you’re giving thanks to indigent workers sailing from religious and social persecution in the (then) strictly orthodox England to found YOUR country and YOUR freedoms.
Live and let live?
Next time you call for the cops, tell the person on the phone that the perpetrators were seen carrying donuts…you’ll get a much faster response.[:D]
If we insist on getting biblical about this, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!”
By that standard I don’t qualify. Personally, I wouldn’t waste my cell phone minutes on that situation. (If I owned a cell phone.)
For Crist sake leave the guy alone all he wanted was a ride,you are blowing it all out of content. Your mind is working backwards , some people still need help and you think there are terrosist, for stupid
I completely agree that this country is getting silly about terrorists. Wasted energy and time.
As far as trespassers go, there was a big lawsuit in Michigan back around 1987 or so. A teenaged couple hopped on top of a multilevel autorack on an eastbound train (ELDW) in Jackson, Michigan. Everything was fine and dandy until they got knocked off the top into a gondola when they went under a bridge in Ann Arbor at 35 mph. Dead as doornails.
Conrail had to pay out big money to their parents, sine the train was an “attractive nuisance”.
If their actions had no immediate (and deadly) consequences, then I too, would ask, “woman, where are your accusors?”…“neither do I condem you”… and leave them to their fate.
LOL! Sort of like the guys who claim they would like to get their hands on those who run through activated crossings, so they could beat them to a pulp and teach them a lesson?
It’s been awhile since I last rode a freight train, so it’s not like I’m trying to keep myself out of the slammer. I STILL don’t think the answer is to snitch to the cops about a hobo riding a train. First off, a terrorist is NOT going to hang on a moving freight train: they’d more likely try to plant a bomb along the tracks where they can work on a stationary target. Second off, it’s stupid for them to stop a train just to catch a rider: he could have got off befor they get to him. Third and most importantly, the folks who ride trains have been known to look at jail as free food and rent. They have nothing to lose so why not ride the trains. Also, with jail space at a premium for REAL criminals, like burgulars, rapists, dope pushers and the like, do we need to put in someone like a hobo who’s not hurting anyone? The main problem with the lawsuits is to pass a law that if you’re trespassing on someone else’s place and get hurt you can NOT sue, then that would take care of the problem.
It’s called the patriot act and is an absolute violation of our constitution…Vigilance is one thing, but, things have gotten so far outta whack over here personal privacy will be something only read about history books. BTW railfanning is cool w/me as long as y’all don’t trespass.