# cable theft paralyze island rail freight



## dana (Jan 7, 2008)

You know the price of copper is geting crazy when it also affects railways/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif 
nanimo(black press)june 23 Southern Vancouver Island railway was scrambling to restore frieght service back yesterday after thieves disabled both of the companys locomotives during the weekend. sometime between saturday evening nd 5:30 yesterday,someone crawled under two disel-electric locos parked at the companys switch yard and made off withe the copperpower cables that feed the electricityto the motors. MArk hughes,SVI operations manager said the companyis "dead in the water" until problem is fixed .


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Dana - mrs tac and I know Nanaimo well from our time on the island [the bucanneer and starlight motors figure in there somewhere...], and we have to admit that the island is a special place for us. 

We usually head up to Parkville and north from there and have a contact on Denman island. 

As for cable theft, well, we know all about that too. Thieves here last October stole 90m of 1000 pair telephone cable, ripping it out of the underground conduit, and irrepairably damaging over a mile of it. Damage cost almost half a million $$$. 

Almost 2000 homes were without phone connection for up to six days...they came back again in March, but got cared off by a farmer driving his big tractor at them while they were hitching up the cable to their truck. 
They are also stealing heating gas lines from outside leisure and sports facilities and building projects - not the brightest thing to do as it leaves the gas open to the atmosphere and could and has caused explosions and injury to innocent persons. 

The best story, and there are always good things to come out of this kind of activity, was the guy who got a job with an electricity supply company just so he could be on the 'inside' and shut down cross-country power lines while his pals cut it down. He had been arrested and was in custody when his pals, thinking that the 120KVA cable was dead, tried to cut it down. 

He seems to have forgotten to turn it off. 

Result, one crispy critter and three with life-threatening injuries... 

Life is good. 

tac


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## ohioriverrailway (Jan 2, 2008)

Now in the good, old U S of A, the three victims and the survivors of the deceased will be planning on fiing suit against the power company -- and probably winning.


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## Tom Lapointe (Jan 2, 2008)

*" Result, one crispy critter and three with life-threatening injuries... "*/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/ermm.gif 
I've lost track over the years of the number of stories I've heard of would-be copper thieves who've "barbequed" /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif themselves trying to steal copper from utility transformer installations (know of at least one local case in my hometown) or electrified railroads such as the Amtrak NE corridor. I think they deserve their own special *"Darwin Award"/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif category!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif 
It's the combination of "druggies"/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/angry.gif trying to get cash for their "fix" & current scrap metal prices driving it./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif It's not limited to copper, either - we recently had a rash of manhole cover thefts/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif in my town, with the obvious hazard to both drivers & pedestrians!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif Thankfully, the city replaced the missing covers quickly enough that no one was hurt, & the local scrap metal dealers alerted as well. One of the largest scrap dealers (who IS serviced by a rail line!) reported one of the "perps" to police, so there's one less idiot  on the streets! 

Tom*


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## Paul Norton (Jan 8, 2008)

I put my old BBQ out at the curb when the boss bought me a new stainless steel one. About a half an hour later I looked out to see the whole thing was disassembled and the shell was gone. I guess someone felt the aluminum shell would be worth something at the scrap yard.


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Paul Norton on 06/27/2008 11:43 AM
....I guess someone felt the aluminum shell would be worth something at the scrap yard.




Yup, that's a few bucks gone. 

Never but never underestimate what something is worth. Heck scrapping cars right now is worth BIG bucks! Catalytic converters, Car battery, Radiator can add up to about $1000 on some cars and the dealer will only give you $500 trade in. HA! Sell the rest to the local junk yard for a $100 and you're better off. 

Chas


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## jtutwiler (May 29, 2008)

Last night I took our old washer & dryer that were dead to the curb. My brother asked me if the trash pickup would haul them away. "No need" I said. By morning both units were gone.  Could I have scrapped them and made some money? Possibly, but around my area there are enough people who make their living by finding scrap metal, so I figure pass it on. That is one way to keep this economy going.


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## Tom Lapointe (Jan 2, 2008)

*" Never but never underestimate what something is worth. Heck scrapping cars right now is worth BIG bucks! Catalytic converters, Car battery, Radiator can add up to about $1000 on some cars and the dealer will only give you $500 trade in. HA! Sell the rest to the local junk yard for a $100 and you're better off."* 
I'll second those comments. We recently junked an ancient *(but HUGE!)* conversion van (based on a 1983 Dodge B250 commercial van chassis) belonging to my girlfriend/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/kiss.gif. I had noticed ads from the some of the local scrap dealers offering up to *$220 / ton* /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif for junk cars. I called up the scrap dealer; they said it would cost at least $50 for towing if they picked it up, & I knew the vehicle was *marginally drivable;*/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blush.gif so I hooked the battery (on it's last legs/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/doze.gif ) to a charger for a couple of days while we prepped it for the trip. (Emptied out the *tons*/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif of camping equipment in it, put air in a leaky tire, & a gallon-&-1/2 of gas in the tank - it got *maybe 13 MPG at best*/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sick.gif - but the scrap yard was only 7 miles away). I drove it while she followed in my minivan (it DID make it there!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif ), & drove it right onto a weighing scale in the scrap yard. She got *$548 cash*/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif on the spot for it - but still didn't prevent her from getting a bit teary-eyed/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crying.gif about getting rid of it!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif Tom


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## ohioriverrailway (Jan 2, 2008)

My washing machine bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. I had it out for the trash when one of the neighbor kids asked if he could have it. Apparaently he surfs the adjacent neighborhoods with his truck looking for scrap. He says they use it to pay for their hunting trips. At least I know it went to a worthy cause . . . .


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