[This message has been edited by CK (edited 10-30-2002).]

There was also a segment (10 seconds) on CBS Radio News this morning.

If it happened before, it can happen again. I'm kind of edgy since I'll be traveling on the Southwest Chief during Thanksgiving (a prime time to strike if any) I hope nothing will happen but it certainly can and there is really nothing you can do to prevent such an act. I just can't imagine what kind of idiot would do such a thing, but then look at the east coast sniper. Times certainly have changed but I'm still going to take the train. Those terrorists can't take that from me!

Look how easy it was for that one jerk to derail the Sunset Limited in AZ. It doesn't take a genius to trick the signals like that guy did.

Even if they derail a train, doesnt mean everyone will die on it. Even a bomb...maybe one car would blow up the others would be fine, but then it would derail.

That's not to say others won't make an Amtrak train and its passengers a target.

As some here have said, an attack on a passenger train, although disasterous, won't have the devastation close to 9/11, Oklahoma City, Hurricane Andrew, and several other events.

As some of you might recall, he/she not only wanted information about what goes on in train yards, but wanted pointers on the best way to knock a train off its tracks. What's more, he also wanted diagrams if possible!

Now, maybe he was truly working on a school project. Or maybe this was just his idea of a lame post-9/11 joke.

But his questions sounded fishy, especially since they strayed so far from the usually benign topics discussed on these boards.

My point: several members responded with fairly detailed answers.

A good idea? A stupid idea? You decide.

In the brave new world of cyberspace, each of us can claim to be. . . anyone. And anything.

But thanks to those responders who insisted on being so helpful? He now has several small but useful pieces of information about disabling or destroying a train. Information that he didn't have before.

Nobody on the Western board revealed anything significant, and SteveD seemed to be on the alert. On the Central board someone wisely answered that he knew how to derail a train but wouldn't reveal it here. But somebody on the Eastern board was not so cautious. To them I will say, we must all be on the alert these days. Homeland Security begins with us. "Loose brains derail trains."

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car

quote:

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Originally posted by Southwest Chief:
I hope no one was suspicious of a post I did awhile back. The one on Amtrak derailments. I did this because I was interested in which Superliners were repaired and which were scrapped. I like to know the history of the cars I travel in, it gives them a kind of personality. I'm in no means interested in wrecking a train. But as I viewed that other guy's post, it did look more suspicious then mine.

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Southwest Chief...Since your question was of a historical nature and you have been a regular poster on this forum about different topics I didn't question it. On the other hand, RJMamula's posts were all directed at one subject initially - how to cause a derailment. Later questions about decoupling seemed to be suspicious as well.

While I have limited knowledge on these subjects, I wasn't about to share anything I knew with this individual even after the college student explanation. I also suspect some of those who did reply intentionally left out some key points.

What I didn't think about was warning other members about giving out sensitive information or reporting the posts to authorities.

If nothing else, it might prevent the more trusting and/or clueless members among us from responding before thinking.

The strengths of these boards can also be drawbacks. Many people are extremely knowledgable and even obsessive about their favorite subjects. I, for one, have learned a lot. But let's not let our enthusiasm take the place of common sense.

It not just rail boards that require alertness. On a cell phone board someone recently asked how the transmitters worked and how they could be modified. Fortunately the regular folks over there were immediately suspicious, too.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

At the same time, I'd like to point out that detailed information on railroads (including answers to all the questions he asked, often in even more detail than our posts gave him) appears in many publications from TRAINS Magazine to books to timetables, all easily obtainable by your average Joe. More likely than not, none of the posts really helped him out a great deal. Even so, it should encourage us all to watch what we post. Since law enforcement can't possibly catch evey little thing, it's up to us to be alert and cautious of anything suspicious.

True, only a few responses provided small kernels of useful information. But if someone gets a small piece of info from one source, and marries it to bits of information they've gleaned from other sources. . .

See what I mean?

Then again, it's quite possible that a federal employee is already keeping an eye on these boards and others like them.

Just think of it as another good reason to check your spelling and punctuation before you post.

When we were discussing ideas for the project, I came up with the idea of doing a segment on the trains, so I am incharge of that portion of the project. The segmant is covering information on trainyards, switches, how the trains were derailed and what the different types of cars were like. I have found the information I need, a little from here but mostly from books and other resources. The reason I asked about pictures of coupling and switches is that I am looking for pictures that are not copywrighted. The professor suggested that pictures of switches and couplings would be helpful. Perhaps it turns out that this forum is not that helpful for that. My main concern is that I want to clear any suspicion that I am trying to derail a train.

I find it suprising that many of you train enthuseist do not know anything about the Pullman Strike and perhaps it is something you would be interested in learning about.

I think many of us are familiar with the Pullman Strike and how violent it became. However, your professor should be told that, in the current climate, it's an extremely bad idea to include detailed descriptions of derailing and uncoupling procedures (not to mention photos of switches and couplers)in the project. Especially if the project is going to end up on a CD or, possibly, a college web site.

Frankly, I can't see why it's necessary to describe in detail how to disable a train.