I read in the News Wire last night that a Soo Line steam locomotive, #2713 on display in Stevens Point, Wisconsin was vandalized for the second or third time in only a few months. The individuals who did this threw rocks though the cab windows, they kicked in the doors of the cab and the interior was vandalized to some degree. I am assuming that the cretins who did this are just young kids, but I have to ask myself, What is wrong with people who seem to get their kicks out of vandalizing and destroying things like this which have a good deal of historical value?? It is both sad, and utterly senseless.
They’re holding up the news article or pointing to the TV, showing their friends their exploits. Rite of passage, don’t you know. And they got away with it, since it’s not real likely we’ll ever catch them.
I know what you mean, Larry. These individuals are probably “proud” of what they have done, but it doesn’t make this kind of behavior any less wrong.
I remember when I was a kid, maybe 7 or 8 years of age, my family and I took a ride on the Black Hills Central, otherwise known as the “1880 Train” in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Black Hills Central had a good start on an outdoor railroad museum on a point about halfway up the line known as “Oblivion”. There was a Chicago & Northwestern steam locomotive on static display there and my Dad helped me climb into the cab. My Dad, like a lot of other fathers at the time, was in the habit of shooting a lot of standard 8 mm film and he shot some footage of me looking out the window on the fireman’s side of the cab. But the thing that I have never forgotten is that the upholstery of both the engineer’s and fireman’s seats had been slashed with a knife, the stuffing was coming out, and all kinds of garbage, including beer bottles had been tossed into the fire box. I was old enough at the time to know this is wrong and it is something that I will never forget.
The Stevens Point engine is in a nicely prominent part of the town, near the former Soo yard and roundhouse. It is part of a little railroad themed display that is worth visiting. At some point you’d like to think the little perps would brag about it one too many times and get caught.
Dave, you’re right on target on this one. In many other situations like this one, the perpetrators are often caught because they’ve made the mistake of bragging about it to the wrong person. Let’s hope that someone will open his mouth at the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Sooner or later one of the jackasses will brag about it and/or send around some cellphone photos, they’ll send it or brag about it to/near the wrong person who’ll report it, and the little twerps will cry like babies when they get hauled in.
IDEA: Maybe when the little twerps get caught we should chain their lousy butts over the broken windows and throw rocks at them…let’s see how they like it…WOW that felt good to vent like that!
I think its a national trend,its happening everywhere ! Kids these day have no respect for anything or anybody…I believe their parents are to blame for “not being their parents” and not teaching them core values and respect for life and property…Im afraid there’s coming a day when we who due respect others will be laughed at for our beliefs…Kids today have no respect for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and will not fight to keep them in the years to come…Im afraid our country is on a slippery slope…The next few years will tell…[:(][:(]
How sad. Now you know why so many cities have had to close their parks at night. Sometimes keeping free of graffiti and vandalism requires a policeman or a high fence, too. - a.s.
I for one, will admit that in my younger years I had done some pretty rotten things without giving any consideration to the consequences of my actions.
How about when they get caught, we make them re-glaze the windows, and wash, wax and shine up the inside of the cab…all the while explaining why this locomotive is more than a simple hunk of steel and iron…who knows, once they realize what it really is, they may even learn something.
Many of these “twerps” grew up lacking an stable adult authority figure.
If it seems they are ignorant of common social mores and shrug off the law, or are immune to being told (not) to do something because it’s just plain WRONG, that’s probably part of it.
A very engrossing (but depressing) film to watch is “Alpha Dog,” loosely based on the Jesse James Hollywood story (“Hollywood” his last name). You can see the generations sloughing off responsibility for their kids, not knowing/caring where they are or what they do for fun. The kids try to act like adults, but in the absence of useful role models they get their social and legal cues from gansta rap and other street culture. - a.s.
I usually am a good, nonviolent person, but yeah I sometimes have the same thinking as this. But you forgot the part about kicking them in the you know what, after all we want then to go through what the engine did. Then they can make the repairs!
A friend of mine actually fixed up a displayed locomotive for a museum in a nearby city. They have two and both needed some TLC. He found a mattress in the firebox of one, I guess they make a decent bedroom when not in use.