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First of all, while some may consider it paranoid to question what people do with the knowledge they learn on the RR, it is a well-known fact that railroad keys, equipment, etc. are available for a price. I had my switch keys stolen from my car after 9/11: included were a Conrail divsionwide key and an old PRR key that could be used to get into switch cabinets. It is certain that these have been fenced through the usual underground of collectors. Second, I never said that railroaders were not interested in protecting security. In fact, we have seen all sorts of things happen, so everything is CYA and the grapevine travels faster than official circles when it comes to protecting one's job. Everyone is already constantly on edge, but that doesn't necessarily prevent problems. The rumors that Conrail was to be sold off to NS began several years before the final sale. The fact that everyone is spread too thin is also not something that is an uncommon refrain. We know this. Stories abound, and even if some are not true, the fact that other railroaders tend to believe their own stories is indication that it is too easy to expect the worst. Many times these fears are not unfounded. So I take offense when it is implied that I am being paranoid, as if this is solely a problem of my imagination. That is obviously an absurd statement in the face of crew room BS. Kind of the pot calling the kettle black don't you think? Yeah, nobody could imagine that people would fly planes into buildings either. Inconceivable paranoia, I guess. The problem is, if it is conceivable, it may very well be considered by a terrorist. And it is true that turnover is more fluid than people would like to admit. When I was qualifying, the rumors also flew about high dropout rates of new hires in the class ahead of us (50%). The two-tier pay scale was still in place, and it tended to demoralize people when the union was split between newbies and old heads. I believe the problem is a real one. So the question remains: when newbies come in and out so rapidly that it is difficult to keep from tripping over them, who trains them well to begin with? It isn't the rules instructor with his well-polished lectures that carefully avoid certain topics. We all know that things work differently in the field than in class. So again, a railroader who needs to train a newbie wille eventually explain the subtleties. For example, signal shunting, switch mechanisms, or how electric switchlocks are triggered, how to easily open frozen padlocks without a key-- in brief, how short cuts can be used the sake of expediency when the dispatcher is breathing down your neck-- you will find a railroader giving information over a period of time that is potentially useful. How is someone supposed to be vigilent if they are asleep in the cab because they are worn out from extra-board turns? Or if their judgment (and certainly their mood) can be recklessly affected by fatigue? Who hasn't seen a TM scream at a crew? Or demand things that don't make sense? How many times has your own brain panicked from being overly or underly-cautious, only to realize later the irrationality of it all? Don't tell me it doesn't happen. When you don't have a chance to get to know new hires (even if you do), the risk of embedded terrorists increases, just as the risk of ordinary injury would increase. This issue should be a statistical factor in any RR's business plan. Since insurance coverage elevated after 9/11 (in some cases, nearly bankrupting some shortlines), it is apparent the the RR's insurance company has already considered the risk. Are they paranoid if they review a company's safety record on the actuarial expectation of potential attacks? The fact that terrorists were patient enough and led ordinary lives while being members of sleeper cells was a factor in 9/11, however improbable the conspiracy was. The fact that it was relatively easy for well-educated and trainable, ordinary middle-class terrorists to achieve the hatred of their goals is what bothers me.
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