Winston Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 2 arrested for stealing 15' of RR track. http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/195270/250/Two-arrested-for-trying-to-steal-railroad-track-parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordcaradoc Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 "Investigators say CSX had recently replaced the steel tracks in the area and left the old beams off to the side, to eventually recycle them." Really? When? ten years from now? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Boy those guys were thinking..............The track must be 4 to 5 ' longer than the compact truck.................The cops at least saved em some gas and labor, they woulda got poped at the scrap yard anyway.....duh........The track can sit there for a 100yrs as far as the RR is concerned, It's theirs and they mean business.....Believe it or don't get caught.....:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 If they are lucky the only charges will be for trying to steel the rail track. They could end up with a Federal Terrorist attack charge. As I have mentioned numorous times before ANYTHING on the right-o-way of ANY train track belongs to the RR and being on that R-O-W is a terrorist threat due to all of the hazardous materials transported by rail. So if you are getting your RR spikes for those cute little knives from the discarded ones on the track area BEWARE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 The railroads are not kidding when they say STAY OFF THE RIGHT OF WAY. They have good reason to guard against trespass~ http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/business_news/x530602459/Police-investigate-theft-of-railroad-tracks-in-Taunton-today-train-derailed Probably 90% or better of those who get into blacksmithing have strolled the tracks and gone home with the odd cast off spike or two. Easy to justify one's actions when a spike or old clip is found and it has obviously been rusting away there for decades. In the eyes of the railroad it is still theft. Little known fact- the railroad police (yes, there is such a thing) can write you an appearance ticket for any court in their jurisdiction. Their jurisdiction is anywhere their tracks go. That means if they really want to give you a hard time and arrest you for trespass in say, Chicago and their line extends all the way to Seattle, you can receive a summons to appear in that court. Is a spike knife worth all that hassle? Also, as someone else pointed out here times have changed. We now have Homeland Security and a whole slew of other Federali alphabet agencies that can really rain on your parade. Giving the tracks a wide berth is the wise move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Another loss to fond memories... When I got out of High School, a couple friends and I road the rails all over the west... What fun!! Railroad cops are called "Bulls" By the by, yes they can be nasty.... I got escorted of a train destine for Canada at gun point once.....THAT was interesting..... Used to be, the crews running the trains for Burlington Northern would let you ride inside if it was cold out... You could also walk into the yard shack and find out which train was going where on what line.... Times ARE changing and they aren't getting better :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgemaster Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Funny how the media comes up with these descriptions, "a steel railroad beam" does that imply that there are other types of railroad beam in use today, such as maybe, playdoe railroad beams, or maybe paper mache railroad beams. Why can they not just refer to it by it's correct name, rail! Not even "steel rail", does anyone know of rail used today by the rail industry that is not steel. Just my obervations. But yes the D's as we call them in Aus are pretty heavy on people pinching stuff from the ROW, as well as just being in the vicinity, you even get chatted standing on a road bridge on the public footpath while wearing a loud vis jacket with a camera waiting for a train to pass so as you can take a photo these days. Yes things have changed. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 In my opinion the rail road should be fined for leave junk laying around. I know if I was to leave 8 foot high stack of logs laying in my yard for years as well at large hunks of steel thousands on nails and sheet metal I would get a fine even though I own my land so they should too. whats fair is fair. just my two cents. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Well that is about 50 miles north of where I live. they are not the sharpest tools in the shed are they the way the truck looked surprised they still have a bumper ,didn't really think that one through LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave English Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 RR track is heavy, I wanted a 5 foot section that had been dumped in the creek but couldn't climb out of the steep creekbed with it, something about mass and traction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 If you click on the link there are some real funny surveillance videos, the guy that losses his pants while tying to steal some beer is a good one- looses his pants and drops the beer We have miles and miles of abandoned track out here, there was a spur that went to the military base that has been unused for at least 30 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junksmith Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I love making spike knives and I get $50 a piece on average for them. Not enough to justify getting busted for stealing them though. McMaster-Carr has them in 5-packs that run $7.38 per pack plus S/H. That works out to about $1.48 per spike and I figure that's affordable insurance. $48.52 over material cost is still a pretty good margin. Just save your receipts in case anybody comes asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spears Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Yup, times are changing. People get arrested for going on private property and taking things that they themselves consider the rightful owner no longer needs. I like those good ole days where thieves just got shot. Then a thief could be a respected individual who deals with elevated elements of risk versus just a low down piece of trash looking to recycle metal for that next pack of cigarettes. Just my two cents. Spears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Junksmith raises some good points. With the price of fuel today and whatever you consider your time to be worth, is it even worth it to drive out to a stretch of tracks somewhere and search for cast off spikes? If they can be had legally, purchased new for a buck and a half each with no risk of legal troubles then why bother going out of your way to find old spikes? New spikes are also not rusty, pitted and corroded spikes either. Also, I'm with Spears. Thieving varmints should be fair game. No closed season, no bag limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Christman Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 In my opinion the rail road should be fined for leave junk laying around. I know if I was to leave 8 foot high stack of logs laying in my yard for years as well at large hunks of steel thousands on nails and sheet metal I would get a fine even though I own my land so they should too. whats fair is fair. just my two cents. Hear hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 In my opinion the rail road should be fined for leave junk laying around. I know if I was to leave 8 foot high stack of logs laying in my yard for years as well at large hunks of steel thousands on nails and sheet metal I would get a fine even though I own my land so they should too. whats fair is fair. just my two cents. In cities they often are, but not outside of city limits. The Feds just care about chemical pollution, not materials that will stay put. There are places that sell kegs of used, inspected spikes and other railroad materials. Businesses that own a siding in their yard need to maintain their equipment. I expect that the price is below $1 per spike, but I wonder about shipping. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 One off of Parson's Avenue in Columbus OH IIRC, bring them in a RR spike letter opener and they would probably be happy to deal with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 One off of Parson's Avenue in Columbus OH IIRC, bring them in a RR spike letter opener and they would probably be happy to deal with you. Hmmm... What came first, the chicken or the egg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Hmmm... What came first, the chicken or the egg? There are enough spikes floating around that it won't matter. I have pulled several out of landscaping timbers that are recycled ties. If you have trinkets, key fobs, strikers, etc. and ask the guys who are working on the line when you see them they will give you at least a handful of pieces, if not a couple bucket full. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Our cops are too busy trying to bust real criminals to have any time patrolling the rail right away, we have a part of town where the rail road tracks serve as prostitution area, drug dealing and sleeping quarters for any homeless people that end up there, the cops just look the other way unless someone gets killed over there. The train passes through maybe 2 or 3 times a day so the rail cops are not in force either, as long as you are not breaking into box cars they do not pay any attention to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 There are many ways to legally get spikes, but to get a lot for free might take some time. For knives and such I would think buying them new would be best. In a thread a while back we discussed some places to get legal spikes, new and used.http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/16111-where-to-buy-legal-railroad-spikes/page__hl__%2Blegal+%2Bspike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Actually the Rail Road cops are a different group from town or city cops; rather scary in what they can do due to their being constituted way back in the bad old days and then those powers got a lugged retread with Homeland Security due to the bad new days. PTree was selling brand new keg spikes at Quad-State last year bought from the company that makes them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 People do not understand how much power the rail road has. For example a county/city has broad powers within their right-of-way. Anyone doing anything within that right-of-way can be required to have a permit. Except the rail road. When a RR and a road cross, the road is considered to be crossing the RR right-of-way, not the RR crossing the county/city right-of-way. The RR can block a road with train cars and nothing can be done to force them to move. Because the roadway is crossing their right-of-way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 People do not understand how much power the rail road has. For example a county/city has broad powers within their right-of-way. Anyone doing anything within that right-of-way can be required to have a permit. Except the rail road. When a RR and a road cross, the road is considered to be crossing the RR right-of-way, not the RR crossing the county/city right-of-way. The RR can block a road with train cars and nothing can be done to force them to move. Because the roadway is crossing their right-of-way. This is not completely true. The RR can be fined for obstructing a roadway for longer than a certain period of time, I believe 15 minutes. It is a real problem at a couple of crossings that multiple lines are converging in the same ROW, and there are a few of those crossings not very far from me. If immediately accessible alternate routes exist, such as bridges and underpasses, then the rules change, so it is a convoluted mess. Because of this problem we excluded several parts surrounding the city when shopping for this house. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tagkver Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I use to pick up coal next to some tracks that the TVA spilled ( I buy coal now ) the last time I did it a sherif depuaty got his gun out on me because he thought I was picking up spikes, I told him it was coal then had to explain the diffrence between a blacksmith and farrier before he reholstered, so now older and wiser I stay off the dern rail road tracks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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