Thefts and Vandalism

Unless it's not an option :-------

 

Do HRs generally have a Director of Security? Does the umbrella organisation have a consultant on this? It is as simple as having a man in place or irregular visits to crime prone locations. Criminals do not like company! It is galling to read of the damage done and more so when volunteer led restorations are involved but in todays milieu Railways must be more vigilant and address this issue as a major problem. You just cannot leave stock etc in isolated locations without surveillance either by persons.or technology, donors pockets are getting stretched thin these days without preventable losses repeating all too frequently.

 

Nothing is ever simple with computers ...

 

I know how much my church pays in insurance premiums, and how much work we have to do to keep it that low. That's in a town centre, and with CCTV etc.

I'm very reluctant to criticise others for being unable to give security the attention it possibly warrants, when it is one of a number of "must do" activities and contributes nothing in itself to the objectives of the organisation.

 

I also get the login page with no Not Now option shown . However, if I manually go to
https://www.facebook.com/SwindonAndCrickladeRailway that works fine and I can browse everything on their FB pages.

 

Yes it is ..... SISO ..... simples!

 

The damage to the coach and the fire of the wagon must be heartbreaking for all at the S7C railway.

 

Not a heritage railway this time, but one of our ME bretheren. Caution: this report is liable to make your blood boil, as it did mine:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-57424634.amp

 

A woeful week for Foxfield: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-61770075
Three acts of vandalism caused damage costing in excess of £25,000.

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/FoxfieldAppeal22

 

Vandalism at Bo'ness: https://mobile.twitter.com/bonessrailway/status/1542453167924953088

Linked page includes a donation link.

 

I see a railway sadly had an attack on its dining coaches whilst stored in a siding, they are doing an assessment. Could be the insurance company might request security improvements?

Also last year the Dartmoor Railway Association which at some stage hopes to restart a heritage service between Okehampton and Meldon had problems with remote sidings, from its website.

Meldon March 16th 2022
Geoff Horner reports that a largish working party assembled at Meldon to board up the broken windows with plywood. This should be more weatherproof than the previous tarpaulin cover, and hopefully of little interest to vandals other than a clean target for even more pointless graffiti.

 

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I am deeply saddened to hear this. I seriously wonder just what you can do to protect rolling stock from vandalism. Whilst CCTV is much touted, how many cameras would be needed to give coverage to the extent that you could be reasonably sure that all rolling stock is covered and in such a way that you could get high quality images? Even then you have the problem of identifying the culprits.

Breaking into carriages etc does require the culprits to physically be "at the carriage" but what about the instances where it appears that air rifles or BB guns are used solely to smash windows?

 

Sadly, about the only thing that really protects rolling stock is for it to be inside a properly designed and secured building, including cctv and night security.

Unfortunately, that doesn't include landmines and a piranhas / saltwater croc filled moat ...

 

Yes indeed but even that policy has some downsides.

It seems a facetious and stupid comment to make but it may be cheaper to deal with the occasional outbreak of vandalism rather than go to all the expense of constructing buildings, outfitting them with cctv etc, maintaining them etc etc.

How many of us have cars and garages but do not put the car away at night as we judge the risk of vandalism or theft is lower than the aggro factor / inconvenience cost of garaging the car?

 

Rottweilers, perhaps ? They do like to play with unannounced visitors.

 

There are laws about what you can do with said visitors.

 

Deleted

 

Perhaps just a sign like the one I encountered on the side of a barn many years ago. It had a picture of a Rottweilers head with the message underneath; ‘ the remains of trespassers will be prosecuted’. The dog didn’t exist but apparently the farmer had no further pilfering and theft after putting it up!
If a guard dog is used the the advice is not to use a sign that says; beware of the dog. If the beast does bite a chunk out of an intruder’s leg it could be argued as an admission that you keep a dangerous dog, it’s why most signs you see no just have a dog’s picture with the words, ‘I live here’.

 

Reminds me of a house just down the road from me, which has a notice that says 'Dogs close the gate'.

It says nothing about what humans should do.