Thieves target Downpatrick railway

ardmacha

Once again metal thieves take stuff worth only a fraction to them of the value to the owner.

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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.

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This is a recent video there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmZ6PLp6P5w

Cookie_Monster

honestly, how low to you have to go to resort to stealing wagon buffers :rolleyes:
:mad::mad::mad:

Judgement Day

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.

Mycroft H

Steel cabling? I' not surprised.

The scrap metal industry is booming here.

dowlingm

If scrap metal is so valuable maybe IE should get on with lifting Claremorris-Collooney and Limerick-Foynes and scrapping any metal overbridges, and we can thereby terminate a whole pile of kidding outselves forum threads?

Judgement Day

Why not lift the whole system and be done with it?

demanufactured

Plenty of steele between athlone and mullingar...that gives me an idea....

Losty Dublin

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

Judgement Day

Oh, I don't know, Dromod was quite spread out and could be approached from many different directions unseen. I believe it was the on site presence and 24 hour security thus provided that kept 'scobes' and others away. At one stage there were three people living on site at two different locations. My previous experience at Mallow, which was in a busy station, would indicate that the lack of a 24 hour physical presence is at the root of the problem. Mallow was under constant attack towards the end of the 1980s and nobody ever saw anything. Anyway, I'm resigned to both Downpatrick and Howth suffering catastrophic attacks at some time in the future.

Losty Dublin

Dromod hasn't several miles of track to try and secure nor has it as much stock to hand, this makes Downpatrick much more rich pickings for the metal magpie. Certainly, a presence on site will help but it's one cost too many for what is a volunteer led project.

Mycroft H

This is nothing new at all. Enfield has been a target for many years. Sleepers frequently grew legs.....

dmcronin

dowlingm wrote: »

If scrap metal is so valuable maybe IE should get on with lifting Claremorris-Collooney and Limerick-Foynes and scrapping any metal overbridges, and we can thereby terminate a whole pile of kidding outselves forum threads?

As time goes by, someone may do exactly that. i.e. help themselves to it. Govt isn't doing a tap to stamp it out with any kind of serious scrap metal trade legislation.

end of the road

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.

Losty Dublin

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

end of the road

Losty Dublin wrote: »

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

so realy theirs no way of protecting it? very unfortunate.

Losty Dublin

end of the road wrote: »

so realy theirs no way of protecting it? very unfortunate.

Sadly, no. Unless you have it all CCTV or patrolled, it's nigh impossible. The station area generally has some activity on it pretty much daily but out of town it's a different story.

cmore123

It's a matter or money, and I understand form recent conversation with them that this is currently being done. they have new CCTV in. The fencing is being replaced. This is all in the station area though. The buffers were stolen from vehicles parked in a siding almost 2 miles from the station, where there is no road access.

Stonewolf

Judgement Day wrote: »

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.

To be honest though, going by one anecdote I read in a history of said railway, you didn't mess with the CDR.

Losty Dublin

Stonewolf wrote: »

To be honest though, going by one anecdote I read in a history of said railway, you didn't mess with the CDR Henry Forbes.

Fixed your post

Stonewolf

If only we has his ilk running de railways today ...

Cyberbeagle

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.

There's very little a live-in caretaker could've done in this instance as the crime happened in daylight hours in plain sight! Dromod doesn't have nearly as much line as the DCDR has to maintain or watch over.

Basically a volunteer coming in on a Friday track team saw a number of people out the line in hi-viz jackets. When he got in he queried who was out the line and why, the answer he got was "no-one". When the PW team went to investigate the theives had already gone.

The location was on the south line, about a mile outside of the town station - no-one broke into the station yard, and as others pointed out the line was accessed by a farmer's accommodation crossing, and it's impossible to have CCTV or high-security the length of the entire line.

Site security at Downpatrick station itself has increased dramatically over the years, with significant resources going into fencing, razor wire, CCTV, etc., but it still has to be a family-friendly venue and not look like a police station at the height of the Troubles! However the way you've portrayed it is that vandal and arson attacks happen everyday, they don't, thank goodness. There was only one arson attack - ten years ago - and incidents of broken windows are also rare. When they do happen of course it's extremely frustrating despite best efforts, but thankfully few and far between (touch wood!) and probably no more than the average rate for the area.

More information on this incident is online at the railway's website: http://www.downrail.co.uk/news.htm

Judgement Day

^^^^^ 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

christmas2012

reckless and endangering i hope they get caught..

Cyberbeagle

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

Judgement Day

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.

Cyberbeagle

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?

end of the road

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.

Cyberbeagle

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...

Sligo Quay

Metal stealing is out of control country wide, crowd at Downpatrick are doing a great job.

cbl593h

Cyberbeagle wrote: »

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!!

I think it was very well reported. Run the feckers over with a train. No a DCDR one though,far too much paperwork to fill in.

cmore123

I think the DCDR are doing a great job with limited resources - hats off to them. I was on several British preserved lines this year and they have many more volunteers. No Irish society is likely to have that many, so they need to cut their cloth, operationally as well as financially.