Cannonball Security Issues

[badneighbor]

I was watching the Cannonball cruise through Mastic-Shirley station this week, 5/28, when i noticed a rather large, military type helicopter following the train along the ROW. It may have been a coincidence, but if the MTA-PD, or FBI has a tip, I pray and hope the LIRR workers, customers, and neighbors have a safe summer.

There has definately been a bigger LIRR PD presence of late.

This region is a fat target, just by being attached to NY. The US OPEN in Southampton is another bullseye, with the extra traffic. These Al Qaida types will be cowards again, and try to attack unarmed civilians. We all have to watch our butts out here.

[de402]

yeah, maybe they can catch some of the 'local' terrorists that graffitti stations, walls, and bridges. when are they going to do something about that?

[JFB]

When I was in the Navy, I worked on a tiger team commanded by a lieutenant who was a copter man. In relating his "war stories," he told us that trains are a favorite "buzzing" target among copter pilots. Don't know why; they just seem to like messing with trains. Engineers who work lines near air bases are usually aware of this, and often have a good laugh when it happens.

I'd bet that what Badneighbor saw was just a copter crew trying to squeeze a little fun out of their routine training flight.

[Jayjay1213]

I saw 3 Blackhawks on Friday fly real low while sitting in Hicksville North Side. It appeared that they were following along the tracks, I was able to see them coming from what appeared to be as far away as Mineola.

Jason

[de402]

looks like they've been placed all over the ROW at inactive crossings and level grades.

[mark777]

actually, helicoptors frequently follow the Lirr right-of-way, and I was told by a pilot once that they always follow the tracks to provide them with visual aid since one can get lost even in the air. This practice was common at one time country wide back in the earlt days of aviation where aircrafts often followed the rights-of-ways of railroads. The right-of-way usually stands out even in poor visibility and can assist pilots in establishing their direction and location. Trust me, I was working the Cannon Ball that day, and their were no security measures used that were out of the ordinary from a normal train operation.