Nine Train Derailers Taken

ABC News ^ | 5/8/03 | Jason A. Ryan

[neefer]

W A S H I N G T O N, May 8—Devices that could be used by terrorists to derail trains are being stolen from rail facilities around the country, the FBI warned today.

Nine derailers, which are normally used to get jumped trains back on track, have been stolen recently, sources said, citing the FBI's weekly intelligence bulletin.

The theft of these items is strange since they are of little use outside of the rail industry, according to the bulletin.

Railroads have been targeted in the past by terrorists, the bulletin said.

It specifically mentioned the Oct. 1995 derailment of an Amtrak train in Hyder, Ariz. In that incident, one person was killed and 78 were injured when parts of the track were sabotaged. The FBI located a derail 50 miles from Hyder.

The bulletin does not mention a specific threat, and the FBI has no indication the derail thefts are related to terrorism. The bulletin is distributed weekly to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies around the United States.

The bureau has also warned in the past that railways and other mass conveyances could be terrorist targets

[Alamo-Girl]

Hmmmm .... verrry interesting coincidence, snickeroon! Thank you!

[snickeroon]

Ooops! WRONG train derailment on the RIGHT day!!!! The one on Free Republic is as follows:

"An Amtrak train bound for Miami derailed this morning in Liberty County after hitting a plywood truck at a crossing just outside Hinesville. The collision occurred as the truck was preparing to deliver plywood to a nearby business. Early reports indicate one person was killed and 23 injured. One of those injuries was said to be serious....

The Silver Star originated in New York City’s Penn Station at 11 a.m. Monday, and was scheduled to arrive in Miami at 5:20 this afternoon with stops in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh and Savannah."

Then again, THIS one had a more obvious cause, because the wreck occured after a lumber truck was hit....Which makes the OTHER report even stranger because it says that the derailment is STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR WHAT CAUSED IT.

Moving along.....

[snooker]

Does anyone know what these things look like? How heavy are they? If someone out and about saw suspicios activity around a track it might help to know what they were looking for.

[Uncle George]

About 2 feet long, are hinged down the center, weigh about 40 lbs., usually painted orange for visibility, fit over the top of the rail, have a means of locking it to the rail to avoid theft.

[snickeroon]

Just thought of another oddity in connection with this discussion. For some totally coincidental reason the "Cassandra Project" is in the current rotation on one of the movie channels.... For those of you not familiar, it is a 70's "Poseiden genre" epic movie which includes Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Richard Harris.....and a bevy of other BIG stars at the time, along with an up and coming actor who plays Ava Gardner's gigalo and unknown to her-- drug addict: Martin Sheen!

Anyway, the basic plot involves the accidental release of a military bio-experiment which is contracted by people on a train. In order to cover-up the event, and stop the virus which will supposedly wipe out millions in short order, the train is sent on a journey that places them in line for a derailment at a bridge near a concentration camp. The train passengers figure this out, and what ensues is a hell of a ride.... or a ride to hell....depending on how you view something so techno-dated, but at the same time, currently, almost headline driven.

No point here except how strange that so many clusters of coincidence seem to crop up at the same time these days.

[BagCamAddict]

Sabotage (Terrorism) suspected in 1995 derailment

PALO VERDE, Arizona (CNN) -- The day after a deadly derailment, Amtrak hopes to clear the Sunset Limited from sabotaged tracks in the Arizona desert.

...snip...

Notes found near the wreckage of the train led law enforcement authorities to believe domestic terrorism is involved, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.

Amtrak officials said they knew nothing of any notes but law enforcement sources involved in the investigation told CNN there were two notes, one on each side of the tracks. Both were signed "Sons of the Gestapo," the sources said. They said one of the notes mentioned the April 1993 federal siege near Waco, Texas, that ended in a fire in which more than 80 members of the Branch Davidian sect died, as well as the shootout in Ruby Ridge in which FBI agents shot and killed the wife and a son of illegal gun maker Randy Weaver in August 1992.

The notes were addressed to the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the FBI, state police and the sheriff's office, the sources said. The ATF was the agency involved in the Weaver arrest and the initial Waco raid that led to the long siege and final FBI assault.

[eno_]

I know there are plenty of neo-Nazi loonies running around, but why would they sabotage trains?

"Domestic terrorism." Yeah. Right.

There are no domestic terrorists with the same goal of economic sabotage as Al Quaida. Neo-Nazis would hit government targets, or specific groups of people like immigrants, blacks, or Jews.

[Valin]

Ah! life in the fast lane! :-)

[Valin]

Coal and grain cars mostly not passangers.

Two words, anhydrous ammonia.
There are so many ways terrorist can hit us.

[Rebelbase]

"there’s a whole lot of nothing out there"

My pickup-truck died on I-40 about 60 miles east of Barstow during the middle of the day late one August.

It was so hot the ice in our cooler melted in a hour and you couldn't sit in the cab with the windows down. We ended up pushing the truck 4 miles to an overpass so we could find some shade...which was a great relief.

[Rebelbase]

Its the green thing in this picture....Its just a hunk of metal that weights around 100lbs or so, bolts to the track and knocks the wheel off the rail if the train passes over it. Its used in railyards and sidings to keep runaway cars from entering onto the main track.

[snooker]

That's good to know. We walk the tracks where we fish and hunt. I will bet a lot of folks do. So now if you see something like this you know what to do.

Appreciate it. Too bad the media won't do the same thing. The best weapon we have against terror is our citizens.

snooker

[TaMoDee]

Yup, we have real fun times in the summer. One of the best is the opening of Sand Trout season in the Mojave River.
Season starts at noon on the 15th of August. Usually there's plenty of room on the river banks to cast a line out. See'ya there!

[joesnuffy]

I worked in Maintainance of Way for a few years...and for a variety of reasons...
this would be the terrorist device of choice for this purpose...

[joesnuffy]

The ones we used were bigger and not green

[Nick Danger]

Tehachapi Railcam