Overheard a conversation this evening between the CSX dispatcher and a train on the Abbeville Sub about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta. Dispatcher informed the train, “Do not expect a signal indication at the Huff Road crossing as the signals are out because someone stole the wires.” He then issued clearance to take the siding and proceed northward. How often does this (wire theft) happen? I seem to recall that about 6 months ago CSX authorities caught two guys in a remote area that had pulled down several hundred feet of copper wire off of poles, most likely to sell the copper on the black market. This particular signal, which protects the control point for the south end of the siding at Gloster, is in a populated suburban area amid several new housing developments (about five miles from my house).
Copper theft has become a plague – wire, roof flashing, water pipe, bronze statues out of cemetaries, you name it. Now they’re digging up cable, too. It’s as big problem in rural areas that have a lot of meth addicts as it is in the ghettos.
It gets real funny when they try to cut out power cables that kill them in the process. I don’t feel bad at all for them, especially when there are big warning labels all over the place.
More wire was stolen out of a functioning substation and put it out of comission and killed 3000 homes in the area for a few hours with no power.
It is bad enough that they will see a water heater in a window break in and get to it for the pipe. Construction sites probably suffer from theft as well. Personally I dont look at prices for copper wire lately, I just buy it and use it but the amount of theivery and brazen stealing out of live equiptment is getting really out of hand.
If they did fry themselves trying to steal a few dollars worth of wire, make it a big fry with lots of sizzle. They deserve such a fate.
About a year or two ago Norfolk Southern’s H Line (former Shenandoah Division) was plagued with copper cable thefts. It asked railfans who were out along its line, and who saw these thefts, to try to photograph the license plates of the trucks the thieves were using so that they could be identified and traced through their vehicle registrations.
Laws are starting to crop up requiring persons wishing to sell copper, etc, to produce a photo ID. Of course, that just means that a black market will develop to take in the stolen material, process it, and launder it back into the legitimate market.
The construction industry is really taking a hit on this - both new construction and refurbishings that expose the wire and plumbing are regular victims. We’ve had some problems in our little town.
its a problem here in ohio too.a local school was robbed of a custom fit copper pipe that was cemented in between 2 floors.a very costly delay of a new school.They are also requiring an ID here in ohio.
Thanks to copper theft we lost the last working semaphores on the CORP (Central Oregon and Pacific former SP) Siskiyou line. Last in service in the state Oregon. That and the fact that it was getting harder to find people to work on them. But the people stealing the wiring out of them was what did it. Lame.
Unbelievable. I hope that when someone gets caught doing this, they can be charged with a more serious crime than simple theft, since many of these cases (such as disabling railroad signaling) can lead to serious safety issues.
About a year ago there were a couple guys caught stealing wire off the poles along the Omaha sub between Conucil Bluffs and Mo Valley Iowa The Superitendent put out a alert to try and catch these guys not to sure if they ever did Larry
scrap theft is bad in general in south bend last year several people got murdered after fighting over scrap copper wire they stole from old Studebaker buildings. In East Chicago scrappers will actually hop in gons and steal anything thats not steel out of them they will even cross live tracks that they are switching just to get a handful of aluminium or copper when I took cans in last month cans were .85 per pound and copper was 2.97 a pound
In new construction, I won’t order copper electrical feeders until I know that we can install them and energize them the same day. We have also been using aluminum a lot more since the scrap price of copper hit 3$. The stuff is almost like gold. The only problem with aluminum is that it can be a hazard if it isn’t installed properly. It isn’t as good a conductor as copper, either.
this has been going on for years & it’s not just the crackheads…the old Rock Island line I work on was ABS/TWC until the Katy aquired it & started going under…a Katy MOW foreman stripped all the copper & sold it…thanks to this idiot, I now work in dark territory. [banghead]
Interesting. Oak Road is pretty heavily travelled, yet that whole area near South Gloster gets used as a dump, so it must be possible to hide back behind the clump of trees an operate unnoticed.
The Abbeville Sub uses a data radio based code line, so there is no pole line or buried cable along the line. The must have stolen the wiring local to the interlocking.
I live about a mile away. For railfanning, the Arnold Rd crossing, at the north end of Gloster siding is more scenic. Looking at Google maps, it looks like there is a nice bridge over the Yellow River behind Connemarra, but I’ve yet to figure out a reasonably legal way to get to it.
I need to watch my step. I don’t know if Brookwood people are allowed to talk to Parkview people…[;)]
Where I’m working in Southern Michigan, these low-lifes are stealing the wire off of center pivot irregation systems. They have to walk a tight rope like pipe twenty feet off of the ground to pull the wire down.It’s hard enough to farm this sand-box, but without irregation, you might as well park the tractor and collect welfare.
To me a thief is one of the lowest forms of life there is. The had rather steal from hard working people than work for anything. No wonder the cost of everything is out of sight. Sad part is not much is done to these low live once caught. The cops ask the railroad if they can prove those spikes and tie plates are theirs. Never mind the fact that the stolen items were in the back of the suspects truck and there are tire tracks in the mud next to the right of way. It has to be proven that the items in the suspects possesion belong to the railroad. I’ve heard of cases of brand new ties being stolen and the suspect caught but without proof the ties belong to the railroad there’s nothing that can be done. The legal system is a big joke, and thieves should have their hands cut off.
Here in Milwaukee we’ve had a problem with people stealing aluminum as well. I read in the paper about a month ago that it’s becoming comon to have the siding stolen off of houses in broad daylight (while all the occupants of the house are at work or school.) It’s gotten so bad that the city is looking into several scrap yards to fine them for taking metal they knew to be stolen.