Posted on 05/20/2004 11:32:31 PM PDT by trifona
May 20, 2004 -- The Big Story on Action News is word of suspicious activity along train tracks in our area, and the discovery of a wireless transmitter that seemed to be carefully hidden in the gravel under some tracks in Philadelphia.
Needless to say, this has attracted some peoples' attention. While authorities do not want to unnecessarily scare commuters, they say that after terrorist train attacks in Madrid Spain, they are taking all suspicious activity on rail lines seriously. Of most concern is the discovery of that wireless transmitter on a SEPTA rail line.
Action News has learned that last week SEPTA police recovered an infrared sensor that was carefully concealed along SEPTA's track bed near 34th and Powelton. The device, a commercially available wireless infrared transmitter made for home security use was discovered spray-painted black and tucked neatly in the trackside ballast. Such devices transmit a signal when something cuts across their infrared beam. And while there is no indication of any specific threat, investigators are concerned because the sensor has the potential to be used as a triggering device. The FBI is now investigating the discovery.
Jerri Williams/FBI SPOKESPERSON:
"We don't know why its there, what the purpose was and that's why we're investigating . At this time, we have no reason to believe there's a nexus to terrorism but of course we wanna be careful, we want to protect the public, and so we're investigating." Meanwhile, the New Jersey attorney general's office is investigating at least 7 instances in the last week of suspicious surveillance activity along Amtrak and New Jersey Transit commuter rail lines between Philadelphia, Trenton and New York." Peter Harvey/N.J. ATTORNEY GENERAL:
"The activities ranges from persons walking under a train trestle and filming it to persons trying to enter parking garages adjacent to train rail tracks or train stations filming those parking garages as well as filming the rail stations themselves." According to ABC News, the separate incidents in addition to other activity along rail lines between New York, Philadelphia and Washington has triggered concern among federal authorities in Washington prompting a massive counter surveillance operation. By coincidence these developments come as the Department of Homeland Security announced a series of new mandatory security measures on rail lines including the use of canine explosive teams to screen passenger baggage, terminals and trains. Meanwhile, you may remember a year ago when Action News told you about one man Hany Hasanin. Tapes obtained by Action News show Hany appearing to embark on a mission to make a roadmap of the Delaware Valley taking pictures of a public water supply and a PECO power station. He was arrested by Amtrak police taking pictures of 30th Street Station but he was deported back to Egypt before the FBI could questioned him. To this day, he has not been located.
Security is already being stepped up due to the presidential conventions in New York and Boston, and threats that an attack could be launched before the November election. Again, there is no specific threat to any local rail line, but officials are taking any possibility very seriously.
Dann Cuellar, Channel 6 Action News. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Does this mean they are running out of suicide volunteers?
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/3325185/detail.html
You can go here. Apparantly this is twice this month
for Burlington Railroads in Texas. The first happened
just south of San Antonio. I do no alot about it yet.
GUNTER, Texas - Transportation officials worked Thursday to determine why two freight trains collided head-on, killing an engineer and injuring four other crew members in a fiery wreck that left cars scattered across the tracks.
A major rail line north of Dallas remained closed. U.S. Department of Transportation officials were on the scene early Thursday along with National Transportation Safety Board investigators, and railroad officials were also en route to the rural crash site about 50 miles north of Dallas.
More than 20 rail cars lay in accordion fashion on the tracks after the trains collided about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
At least one of the locomotives burned and flames spread to grass and other nearby vegetation. The engineer who died, who was on the southbound train, was found about 50 feet from the wreckage. Names of the dead and injured were not immediately released.
One of the injured men suffered severe burns and was taken by medical helicopter to a Dallas hospital, said Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Rebecca Uresti. The other three injured crew members were in stable condition at Wilson N. Jones Medical Center in Sherman, said hospital spokeswoman Karis Schirmer.
Joe Faust, a spokesman for Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., said both trains belonged to the company.
Rail cars on one of the trains were empty, while the other train was hauling rocks, the Grayson County sheriff's department said. No one was evacuated, but a hazardous materials crew was called to clean up spilled diesel fuel.
The collision is the second this month in Texas. On May 3, two freight trains collided on a Union Pacific track just south of downtown San Antonio, injuring three people, derailing some cars and spilling about 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel into the San Antonio River.
What if they are wearing a motorcycle jacket? There are many ways to blend in if you want to.
The data points seem to be heading toward an event rather than a campaign. I think they know they don't have many shots left, so every one has to count, and when they're done we can't continue to pose a threat.
"The collision is the second this month in Texas. On May 3, two freight trains collided on a Union Pacific track just south of downtown San Antonio, injuring three people, derailing some cars and spilling about 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel into the San Antonio River."
I live in Maryland, near PA and DE. Last week I saw four or five dark-haired men walking around the railroad tracks in my town. They were dressed rather heavily for the weather and did not appear to be working or walking to somewhere - like directly up the tracks. They were just looking around and they did not look like vagrants. It's fairly unusual since there was derailment there last year that lead to chemical leaks and everyone steers clear of that area. The tracks are part of the main line for Washington to NY commuters. At the time, I only made a mental note because I could not see them well and I was in my car going over a small bridge that goes over the tracks. It did appear suspicious, but it could have been anyone. With this new information out, I just cannot help but to wonder.
Sage advice. They can't even keep gun varieties straight, do you really trust them with electronics?
I sell automation equipment and we have infrared sensors that do not require a receiver -- they output a signal when they receive a reflection from the target (train).
The sensor may have been placed, but the explosives were going to be added later and connected to the sensor output.
why bother with all that when a cell phone call can be used to detonate the device on the train? why risk going out to the tracks to plant a device? they could also trigger it by being in a car near the tracks, on an overpass or something, and using a handheld garage door opener to trigger it as the train passed by.
Texas is a Big State. However, 2 head on collisions
that they don't seem to have a probabal cause for,
leaves me quite suspicouse. Especially in lew of
everything else that coming out.
Have you checked out this thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1136902/posts?q=1&&page=1301
Oh shit. Now you can't even take a SEPTA train from Montgomery County into Philly without worrying about getting blown up.
"What is good in life?" To destroy the jihadists, to drive their leftist enablers before you, and to hear the lamentations of their media!
WAKE UP AMERICA!
Maybe they put a tracking chip on him while he was in custody, otherwise it's a snafu.
It is Moore who blows..
You need to stock up on disposable cameras...
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