Jeez, that’s what the railroad tracks looked like when I rode through the former East Germany in 1992, except there were lots of old appliances and busted cars by the tracks as well. This looks mostly like food wrappers, water bottles and discarded clothing. Couldn’t that stuff derail a train if got deep enough? I’m sure it’s full of used syringes and needles, too.
Could it derail a train? It did. News story just yesterday showing an engine and a couple cars bounced off their track down in that kraphole. Doesn’t take as much as you might think. A wadded up toaster, metal tool box, a thick rug, or any combination that lifts the first two wheels about one inch high just so the wheel flanges aren’t guiding.
Did you ever lay a penny on a track? It takes a little more than that but not much.
Thugs have been ripping off crago in trains. I believe that’s what photos are depicting. The boxes and stuff the thugs leave by the tracks.