Railfans and Stealing.

[Anonymous]

Why do Railfans steal from the Railroads?
Allan.

[wctransfer]

Because they want memoribelia.

Alec

[csxengineer98]

becouse they think that if its just laying around in the weeds..it means the railroad must not want it anymore..and it would look great in ther game or train room...
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

I don't get it... STESLING IS BAD...But what do railfanns steal?

[Anonymous]

STESLING is a new word too me. What do railrans steal? I though about stealing a few rocks to crush for ballast on my model railroad.

[Anonymous]

I picked up two grungy old pins that had undoubtedly seen all their useful life.

Is that so terrible??

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rgroeling

I don't get it... STESLING IS BAD...But what do railfanns steal?

In the 1960s, the railways here in Britain were going through radical changes, there was a new corporate image brought in around the same time as the end of steam, instead of the six regional identities and many branch lines were being closed down. In this period many of the old style "totem" station namesigns were "acquired" by railfans, and while the morals of such action is up for debate, it means that alot of old memerobelia has survived and is valued (you're looking at anything from £500 upwards (approx $800) for a "totem"), items which otherwise would have ended up being thrown away/melted down.

[PBenham]

With the way that most railroads and a nasty minority of their employees show anger toward railfans this is NOT the time to try any dumb stunts!

[TomDiehl]

I think we really need to clarify things here. First, if you pick up an old spike in the ballast, obviously rusted beyond any further use to the railroad, you are picking up trash. If you take a switch lantern off a switch that's still being used, that's theft, which has been clearly defined as a crime for at least 3000 years. People doing things like picking up spikes would probably be chased off the railroad by employees simply because they believe the next thing you'll be taking is a lantern (to use the above example). And of course, for safety concerns.

[espeefoamer]

I have picked up a few spikes(including some from the Pacific Electric in Long Beach) and a couple of discarded air hoses but that's all.Taking anything the railroad is still using is theft and is simply WRONG[:(!]!
As to why railfans steal,sometimes, some moron will think he just HAS to have the builders plate off that brand new GEVO or SD70ACE[:(!].Then the same fan will wonder why he is chased off the property the next time he tresspasses to get that perfect photo!

[trainboyH16-44]

right on, espeefoamer. I have a small collection of tieplates and spikes, but they were UNDOUBTEDLY used up. Cleaned up real nice, with about $5 of lime-a-way.
Stealing stuff that the railway is using is wrong, and I was once thinking about taking the numberboards off an SD40 that was standing and marked surplus, but I went to get a pencil and paper to write down the contact number. Next time I was there, they were gone. I missed my chance just because I didn't want to steal...
Matthew

[cnw4001]

It should be quite simple.

Railroad or any property. If it has not been put specifically in the trash, it's not there for the taking.

Even if it is in the trash, it may well be the property of the trash hauler.

Will this discussion change anything? No, those who want something that's not
their's will continue to take it.

My thoughts.

Dale

[trainboyH16-44]

Sorry...I just thought it was forgotten.....

[Anonymous]

I grabbed a bad-order tag sitting in the weeds beside of a parking lot where the tracks go nearly through. It had a date a month old, so I figured I was safe. And the box car it was for was nowhere in sight.

[wctransfer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainboyH16-44

right on, espeefoamer. I have a small collection of tieplates and spikes, but they were UNDOUBTEDLY used up. Cleaned up real nice, with about $5 of lime-a-way.
Stealing stuff that the railway is using is wrong, and I was once thinking about taking the numberboards off an SD40 that was standing and marked surplus, but I went to get a pencil and paper to write down the contact number. Next time I was there, they were gone. I missed my chance just because I didn't want to steal...
Matthew

What number was it? Or if anything else, was it CN or CP?

Alec