Connecticut family charged with damaging PAR tracks

From the Record-Journal:

Record-Journal wrote:Fearing that someone was trying to derail a train delivering liquefied petroleum gas to a business in Southington, the FBI and Transportation Security Administration partnered with local and railroad police to conduct surveillance over the summer. The investigation revealed a family that often walks along the rail line placed debris on the tracks “to see what the train would do to the objects.”
. . .
Nicole Taylor, 42, Kenneth Taylor Jr., 67 and Kenneth Taylor III, 26, of 118 Broad St., were charged by warrant Wednesday with third-degree damage to railroad property, second-degree reckless endangerment and simple trespass to railroad property. They each posted $2,500 bond and are scheduled to appear in Bristol Superior Court on Sept. 25.
. . .
At one point, a train suffered damage to its wheels when it struck the debris, and Pan Am began conducting safety inspections of the track in the area, the report continued. The safety inspection crews found debris on the tracks each time they went to the area before the train carrying petroleum gas containers passed through.
. . .
The warrant said items placed in the joints were forced down as trains passed over, putting stress on couplings and forcing rail sections apart. With enough stress, the couplings could break, causing a train to derail, according to the warrant.

The couplings in the quarter-mile area where debris was placed on the tracks were separated by an inch or more, the warrant said, while other sections where the debris was not placed were not separated.

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Oh, Plainville...don't ever stop Plainvilling. :rolleyes:

"Nice" to see that some things never change, the good folks of Plainville were pretty much the same when I was growing up in Connecticut 30+ years ago. Not like I never put coins on the tracks, matter of fact I still have a mashed Quarter hanging around someplace, but this is waaaaay out of line!
Peace,
Jonathan

Yea. Pennies I can see. Spikes? Bolts? Not so much.

As the Rev. Billy Graham always said, "The family that trespasses together, stays together."

Or something to that effect.

Can you imagine if they had gotten a train crew or nearby pedestrian killed???? What a bunch of......... (I really want to swear, but this isn't the right place to do that.)

PanAm already got spanked for going on the ground in New Britain, last thing anyone needs is that happening with liquified petroleum anywhere in that area even if it's not their fault.

Everyone:

After reading this article I would have expected vandalism of this type by juveniles - and not adults
that should have been old enough to know better...

The word "couplings" instead of joiner bars/plates actually confused me a little until I figured out
what the writer meant - I did not think that train couplers would be compromised unless there was
an actual derailment of some type instead of rolling over objects placed in jointed rail gaps.

Let's see what the penalty for this vandalism will be - had a derailment resulted from this debris
perhaps even a civil suit by PAR directly against these people could have been brought forward...

MACTRAXX

But, you have to have money for a lawsuit to hurt. I'm wondering if these people are worth a couple million each?

Just a guess, but I'd say the three of them together are worth exactly $5.94, can anyone figure out the math on this one?

Friend of mine when I was a kid lived right next to the NS mainline north of Atlanta.

He always put coins on the tracks ... until one squirted out sideways and went through his bedroom window.

He never put another coin on the tracks.

They must have tried quite hard to make PAR tracks worse than they are...

Since these people are so interested in the mechanics of a railroad, perhaps their punishment should be for them to learn how the railroad business works... Their punishment should be to clean, better yet, scrub, every bathroom and toilet in each Pan Am locomotive for at least six months. If these people want to do something really sh*tty, then the punishment should fit the crime !

I detest the negative comments about Plainville. This is my home town, and there are many kind and industrious residents. Every town has a negative element. I'm sure that a few could be found in your town too.

Why should they have to clean toilets. There is some laborer, who probably works hard up in East Deerfield Shop. This is part of his job. He might be feeding a family with that income. Why should his work be taken away, in order to punish these scumbags?

Every town has elements. Having grown up in a city with many "undesirables" and being the target of much ridicule I agree it is uncalled for.