Alleged track materials thieves get "surprise" from CSX

OTM theft happens everywhere, but this particular incident took place on CSX, so here it is:
The occupants of an SUV that got flipped over by a freight train in Saugerties, NY on Saturday 09/06 were apparently stealing track materials. None of the news reports I've seen so far mention whether they were taking the "steel plates" from a storage area, collecting loose plates scattered along the r-o-w, or actually pulling spikes out of tie plates.

Police said [the occupants of the vehicle] were removing the materials from along the CSX tracks off Kohler Road near the Green County line around 7:50 a.m. Saturday when a train showed up.
As they tried to pull away, the train struck the rear drivers side of their SUV, causing it to roll over and ejecting two of the passengers, authorities said.

Story and photos here: <http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-new ... from-track>

The last time I looked, "Sorted Railroad Scrap" (spikes and other small steel items) was below 13¢/lb. I can't tell from the photos what kind of SUV it "used to be," but I think the owner is going to find that this little excursion was much less profitable than he had hoped it would be.
If the back of the vehicle was full of OTM, it's going to be kinda hard to deny what they were doing.

May have been a stolen SUV?

Looks like a Jeep Grand Cherokee. All Jeeps have the seven slot front grill,thats what seems to be hanging off in picture.

ccutler wrote:May have been a stolen SUV?

I didn't see any mention of that, but then again, I don't know if there have been any follow-up articles about the other two people being charged with anything, either. If it belonged to one of the three, I suppose it's too much to hope that their insurer will deny any claim for that.

expbusop wrote:Looks like a Jeep Grand Cherokee. All Jeeps have the seven slot front grill,thats what seems to be hanging off in picture.

Ah ha; okay, it did look a little like a JGC, or parts of one, anyway. Thanks.

They're probably lucky they weren't attempting to cross the track in front of the train. As it was, they got kind of a "PIT maneuver" (Pursuit Intervention Technique) and were bumped out of the way. I think they were in such a rush to get out of there that nobody was belted-in, and they probably felt like sneakers in a dryer until it stopped rolling.

Read in another article about this - there was a couple in their early 30's (same last name) and a older man in his 50's with a different last name. Was this just a 'family outing' gone wrong when a train showed up - you know the railroads are dead and they don't need all the track materials that are on the ground.

Judging by the peeling paint on the roof, an older vehicle too.

If not stolen, probably not worth very much.

Even so, still worth much more than whatever scrap they hoped to sell.

mmi16 wrote:Read in another article about this - there was a couple in their early 30's (same last name) and a older man in his 50's with a different last name. Was this just a 'family outing' gone wrong when a train showed up - you know the railroads are dead and they don't need all the track materials that are on the ground.

The 30-somethings in the article linked to above didn't have the same last name.

"Just a family outing gone wrong." Umm, yeah, that's one explanation . . .

Depending on the year, the payload of a Grand Cherokee is probably no more than 1180 lbs., or about $153 for a load of OTM matching that weight. I imagine it's hard to get out of the way of a train when the back end of the vehicle is crammed right full of stolen steel.

Watchman318 wrote:

mmi16 wrote:Read in another article about this - there was a couple in their early 30's (same last name) and a older man in his 50's with a different last name. Was this just a 'family outing' gone wrong when a train showed up - you know the railroads are dead and they don't need all the track materials that are on the ground.

The 30-somethings in the article linked to above didn't have the same last name.

"Just a family outing gone wrong." Umm, yeah, that's one explanation . . .

Depending on the year, the payload of a Grand Cherokee is probably no more than 1180 lbs., or about $153 for a load of OTM matching that weight. I imagine it's hard to get out of the way of a train when the back end of the vehicle is crammed right full of stolen steel.

Back in the day, I got called to work a tower because the regular guy laid off sick. Next morning I was instructed to work that job until it could be bulletined and awarded. The 'sick' guy and a partner had been arrested in a nearby city at 3 AM. They were driving a pick up truck with the headlights pointing to the sky and the bed full of journal brass that had been stolen from cars at a nearby quarry.

I've learned over the years that some people will swipe anything that's not nailed down, and sometimes will swipe things that are nailed down. They have "big brass ones," but not from journals. {Shaking my head.}