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Thieves target Downpatrick railway
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14-05-2012 10:57pm#1Once again metal thieves take stuff worth only a fraction to them of the value to the owner.
TRAIN parts have been stolen by metal thieves who targeted a Co Down railway museum over the weekend.
Four metal buffers and three coupling screws were taken from an engineering wagon at the Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) on Saturday.
An attempt was also made to remove a length of steel cabling from a steam crane at the Ballydugan Road site.
A volunteer with the railway museum raised the alarm when he spotted a group of unknown men in high-visibility clothing working on the section of track.
Railway chairman Michael Collins said he has notified local scrap metal dealers to be on the look out for someone trying to sell the unusual items. He said: “Our volunteers then went out and discovered that the buffers had been cut off an engineering flat wagon we use to transport sleepers around our line to where they are needed.
“Not only does this render the vehicle useless, as it prevents us coupling it up into a train, but it’s also incredibly risky as these buffers are sprung and can be under tension, and to release that tension not knowing what you’re doing could have caused serious injury.”
Police are appealing for information about the theft and say a lorry and cutting machinery would have been used by the thieves.
This is a recent video there
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmZ6PLp6P5wComments
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Judgement Day wrote: »It's a wonder it was only buffers as Downpatrick has long been a target for thieves and arsonists. I'm tired of giving out about the need for improved security there http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77568916&postcount=14 but it just doesn't seem to sink in. At least at Dromod we had 24 hour security and as a result had zero problems during my years there. As the slogan on emblazoned on the County Donegal Railway Working Timetable stated 'Constant vigilance is the price of safety' or, in this case, security.
Two different beasts in fairness, JD.
Dromod is a small village, it has a yard beside an open mainline railway station, a on site lodger, 500 metres of track and it's metal content is close together. Downpatrick is a busy town (And hence it has a lot of scobes around the area) with several miles of trackl it is home to a lot of stock and it has a lot of isolated places where people can access it's track. The station area has CCTV that is monitored off site and is beside a 24 hour occupied bus station and fuel garages. The stock that was attacked at the weekend was not in the station yard, simply because it's PW stock that is out regularly and there is no room on site for it. The station at Inch has also been attacked on occasions and sadly no CCTV can prevent it
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end of the road wrote: »how about securing the lot with an electric and razer wire fense? health and safety can go away as the filth who would do this deserve what they get.
You are talking about 4 miles of track, including several accommodation crossings that would need to be isolated. Almost impractical but it would be fun
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^^^^^ Yet another visitor from IRN! It won't be long before jhb171achill joins up too and then the **** will really hit the fan. I just call as I see it, or read about it, and there are plenty of references to recent vandalism on the moribund IRN forum.
Here's a couple to go on with: http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/sreply/31507/DCDR-Latest
http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/sreply/40573/DCDR-Latest0 -
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Judgement Day wrote: »^^^^^ Yet another visitor from IRN! It won't be long before jhb171achill joins up too and then the **** will really hit the fan. I just call as I see it, or read about it, and there are plenty of references to recent vandalism on the moribund IRN forum.
Here's a couple to go on with: http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/sreply/31507/DCDR-Latest
http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/sreply/40573/DCDR-Latest
Yes indeed, a reference to two isolated "recent" events in 2009 and 2010 (two and three years ago). Certainly worth the expenditure on a live-in caretaker 365 days of the year plus accommodation. Hang on while I get you that straw you'll need to clutch...
I'll admit the lead stealing wasn't well reported on IRN by JHB171 - it wasn't major and was repaired in a day. And they got caught by the cops later on!!
If you who I think you are, you've always been very civil to the DCDR team in person, very interesting to read your post history here about the DCDR, who you think are running a theme park... but then again no-one seems to be running *anything* in Ireland that meets your standards, LOL 0 -
cybereagle - whether or not I'm who you think I am is neither here nor there and I hold no grudge towards the D&CDR and it is out of concern for the railway and - more importantly - its locomotives and stock that I harp on about this subject. Vandalism has been a constant problem at Downpatrick for years as this press release from 2006 reveals:
PRESS RELEASE
24-03-06
CCTV Now Operational at Railway
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway is now protected by a £5,000 CCTV system, installed by local firm Spa Security Solutions.
After a spate of break-ins and vandalism attacks against the railway, ranging from stone-throwing, break-ins to a major arson attack on Christmas 2006 that nearly destroyed the historic station building, the railway has been given a grant by the Northern Ireland Museums Council for a state-of-the-art
system to deter would-be intruders.
Railway chairman, Michael Collins, says that he is delighted with the new system.
"In the past the police have usually had a few leads as to who may have been responsible for the various crimes committed against us," he says, "But the main stumbling block has always been finding hard evidence to bring forward prosecutions."
He continues, "We're now confident that we will now have that evidence should anyone in the future think that the railway is a place where they can get away with crimes - no part of our yard will be safe for them."
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
The Northern Ireland Museums Council grant covers £4357.00 of the cost
The railway pays approx £400.00 of the remainder
EXAMPLES OF CRIMINAL ACTS COMMITTED AGAINST THE RAILWAY
27 July 2005 - smashed window in carriage
16 March 2005 - carriage interior smashed by vandals (evidence of drug taking found)
01 July 2004 - every window in buffet carriage destroyed by stone throwers
26 December 2002 - station building nearly destroyed in arson attack
Issued by
Robert Gardiner
Marketing Manager
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:zlFCEkpbOOUJ:www.downrail.co.uk/pdffiles/cctv.pdf+DOWNPATRICK+RAILWAY+ARSON&hl=en&gl=ie&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg91UlBkmUM_sQ9sDxj5sd6jknvCKlV08wD-P3XSVfbm_o-6cyvse74eojjAFA4guI77EW4mHopg2xtYsjTu4xjRwdEcW9sSBAdbP8hY4Op4cIIkYXSWc0KgX1UwWr6mWflr2iU&sig=AHIEtbTg2Uhojt5eGHpphFEKAteWTrdR-A
As for which preserved railways operate to my satisfaction that is a matter for another thread. Despite describing the D&CDR as a theme park I would rate it as a professional enough operation doing what it does well.
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Judgement Day wrote: »cybereagle - whether or not I'm who you think I am is neither here nor there and I hold no grudge towards the D&CDR and it is out of concern for the railway and - more importantly - its locomotives and stock that I harp on about this subject. Vandalism has been a constant problem at Downpatrick for years as this press release from 2006 reveals:
PRESS RELEASE
24-03-06
CCTV Now Operational at Railway
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway is now protected by a £5,000 CCTV system, installed by local firm Spa Security Solutions.
After a spate of break-ins and vandalism attacks against the railway, ranging from stone-throwing, break-ins to a major arson attack on Christmas 2006 that nearly destroyed the historic station building, the railway has been given a grant by the Northern Ireland Museums Council for a state-of-the-art
system to deter would-be intruders.
Railway chairman, Michael Collins, says that he is delighted with the new system.
"In the past the police have usually had a few leads as to who may have been responsible for the various crimes committed against us," he says, "But the main stumbling block has always been finding hard evidence to bring forward prosecutions."
He continues, "We're now confident that we will now have that evidence should anyone in the future think that the railway is a place where they can get away with crimes - no part of our yard will be safe for them."
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
The Northern Ireland Museums Council grant covers £4357.00 of the cost
The railway pays approx £400.00 of the remainder
EXAMPLES OF CRIMINAL ACTS COMMITTED AGAINST THE RAILWAY
27 July 2005 - smashed window in carriage
16 March 2005 - carriage interior smashed by vandals (evidence of drug taking found)
01 July 2004 - every window in buffet carriage destroyed by stone throwers
26 December 2002 - station building nearly destroyed in arson attack
Issued by
Robert Gardiner
Marketing Manager
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:zlFCEkpbOOUJ:www.downrail.co.uk/pdffiles/cctv.pdf+DOWNPATRICK+RAILWAY+ARSON&hl=en&gl=ie&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg91UlBkmUM_sQ9sDxj5sd6jknvCKlV08wD-P3XSVfbm_o-6cyvse74eojjAFA4guI77EW4mHopg2xtYsjTu4xjRwdEcW9sSBAdbP8hY4Op4cIIkYXSWc0KgX1UwWr6mWflr2iU&sig=AHIEtbTg2Uhojt5eGHpphFEKAteWTrdR-A
As for which preserved railways operate to my satisfaction that is a matter for another thread. Despite describing the D&CDR as a theme park I would rate it as a professional enough operation doing what it does well.
Well, thank you, it didn't come across as that though and I stand corrected. I don't think it's fair to be called a theme park, however. We have a very strong preservation ethos and have been very strong in trying to preserve actual railway artefacts and rolling stock, rather than reproductions or something that doesn't look like it ever ran on a railway.
Now, would we have liked to have done a Bluebell and inherited our infrastructure so it was genuine BCDR, and run nothing but BCDR stock? Most likely, but we have to do with what we've got instead, and we have restored two BCDR vehicles to running order.
In regards the above press release, yes that's true, but you will notice that the instances of vandalism have dropped remarkably since that was written, no doubt as a result of that investment, which sort of makes my point for me.
It's also worth pointing out that the buffer theft was not vandalism, but a deliberate pre-meditated criminal act. Apart from stealing the buffers they made no other damage! The St. Patrick Centre (which is manned daily) had all the copper stripped off its roof about a month back, and a school was also targetted.
And regards overnight security, how do you know we DON'T have something in place?0 -
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end of the road wrote: »an electric fence along the whole of the line, should sort out the filth who would do such vandelism. oh well, we don't live in an ideal world.
That'd be nice
The farmer's one does the job pretty well though... LOL!!!
Actually rogue cows can be more common... and they eat the trees you've just planted! At least vandals don't do that...0 -
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