Posted on 04/10/2010 9:45:13 PM PDT by george76
from Norfolk Southern Railroad, according to Henderson County ...The men, both of whom appear to be illegal aliens... ordered to be held on ICE detainers pending deportation proceedings.
Sheriff Rick Davis praised the work of the two deputies who apprehended the suspects while investigating suspicious activities on the tracks...
found the suspects in possession of over 500 spikes that had been taken from a stretch of active rail road track.
“This act of theft could have easily had catastrophic consequences had a train derailed in this area,” Davis said. “A spillage of chemicals or other hazardous materials as a result of a derailment certainly puts our citizens at risk, as well as the emergency services personne
(Excerpt) Read more at blueridgenow.com ...
You mean I’m not a criminal.
Is scrap iron worth that much now?
15 cents a pound or thereabouts.
Pulling spikes out of ties, to sell for scrap? Gosh, that must sure beat working for a living! /sarc>
Let’s see...500/2 = 250 spikes-—check!
5.6’ tall by 1.3333’ wide = ~7.5 square feet * 144 * 2 =~ 2150 sq inches of body surface area-—check!
A spike = ~1 sq inch cross section-—check!
Drive 1 spike/10 square inches of body surface-—CHECKMATE!
We are becoming a Thurd World Country,,where we have people stealing copper wire, copper pipes, aluminun wire and now railroad spikes for the price of scrap. Next thing you know they will steal man hole covers from Pennsylvania Ave just before the Obamamobile drives by. \BTW..in Thurd World countries they make the man whole covers out of concrete to avoid theft. Just a hint for the financially strapped cities.
I used to pick them up along the tracks, where they were thrown by the crews replacing them. They made good weights for ocean fishing off the rocks. Never would have crossed my mind to pull them out of ties, though; besides, I saw how hard it was for the workers that had to do it, using a 6’ pry bar.
Used spark plugs worked good, too, as weights. The great thing about them was that if they hung up, a steady pull would bend the ELL shaped electrode away from the center one, releasing it from the line. All that was lost was a free spark plug.
Attempted derailment, attempted murder. Depending on the train cargo, passengers, prevailing wind and nearby populations, potentially attempted mass murder.
And what religion are these fine fellows?
This is just another small price to pay for cheap labor.
Sounds like it would require an awful lot of effort to pull the spikes out.
You folks should read up on “train wrecking” - deraila train, loot the cargo.
Az just busted two Mexican (as in from Mexico, here illegally) for cutting the air lines on trains, so they could steal appliances.
The 3rd world isn’t coming, it’s here now.
>>”Sounds like it would require an awful lot of effort to pull the spikes out.”
Yes, a special tool, and much labor. The track where I used to live typically had freight trains rolling through every half hour or so. They would almost certainly be seen by a train crew. They would also be facing a Felony Murder charge if a derailment cost someone his life; at the very least, Depraved Indifference. They could have made more money, and with little risk, picking up aluminum cans.
Therefore, I think one of two things (nay, three things) is most likely true:
1. They were ACTUALLY merely picking up used castoffs, and the story is wrong.
2. Their full intent was sabotage, and keeping the spikes was a bonus.
3, Being criminaliens, they assumed they would not be held to account.
DG
Lots of vampires in Mexico??
There was a report a few weeks ago about the same thing. I don’t know if this is the same incident. My cousin who worked for the RR for 40 years says this could be catastrophic.
TERRORISM.
Depression era people have told me about wandering the tracks and picking up loose coal to help heat their homes.
Not if the recycler is in Mexico.
Given the family history I think a few of the coal chunks found their mark and did some damage.
Picking the spikes Americans refuse to pick.
A local family had the aluminum siding stolen from their house while they we on vacation.Theives stole a bunch of catalytic converters from cars on a dealer’s lot here too...
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