Rail Yard Security (or lack thereof)

From the NBC10 web site:

The Investigators: Are SEPTA Trains Secure?

It would appear, on the surface, the answer would be no...

Ya gotta love how that clown Maloney tried to diffuse the whole situation.

If by "diffuse" you mean "make me even more concerned about rail security," then yeah, you're right.

So their logic is to leave the trains open and not have guards or cameras because they don't have any information that something's going to happen. Well, that's just brilliant. Someone needs to open up Fearless Leader's Funk & Wagnalls and show her the meaning of the word "proactive".

Oh, and another thing... that footage NBC 10 had of the SEPTA cop walking through a SL4... how often does that happen, if ever? I've been riding three years now, and the only cops I've ever seen on the trains were Philly cops traveling to or from work.

Its all a bunch of media hype, paranoid post 9/11 lets be scared news coverage.

What is SEPTA supposed to do? Spend more money to put cameras and fences around all the layover yards? Instead, they'll just start deadheading all the equipment back to Roberts and add more cost to operations, and to defer the costs cut service.

I do find it funny though that all these shopping malls have 24 hr. security guards driving around in those pickups with the orange lights on their roof. SEPTA could probablly do that. How many places to they leave equipment overnight anyway? Warminster, Doylestown, West Trenton, Trenton (already covered by overzealous NJT pigs), Norristown and Elwyn. Guess that's about 1/2 the system.

Any reason why nothing stays at either Chestnut Hills? Both lines deadhead their equipment back after the last run of the night.

SEPTA stopped storing equipment overnight at Chestnut Hill East because of frequent vandalism (graffiti), NIMBY complaints (noise pollution?), and equipment restrictions on two of the yard tracks. Also, it was more practical to have the equipment deadhead from Roberts ave. for overnight inspection rather than have the mechanics venture up to the Hill. I agree that SEPTA would have difficulty securing all of their outlying poin ts; but, someone being allowed to frequent those outlying points with no questions asked is inexcusable. Anyone could easily board Silverliner II or III equipment simply by opening the door and popping the trap. Imagine if some juvenile delinquent got on and released the handbrakes (anonther Doylestown anyone?) or even worse. As far as Rich Maloney (or better yet BALONEY) stating that SEPTA personnel are trained for emergency preparedness, that simply is NOT true.

From what I've seen in Warminster, the trains are left wide open, either the traps are open, or doors are open. Bet that makes one happy engineer at 5am in February.

The trains are usually left open for the cleaning people.

Also, it was more practical to have the equipment deadhead from Roberts ave. for overnight inspection rather than have the mechanics venture up to the Hill.

But its easier to send them to Elwyn, Warminster, West Trenton or Doylestown?

But its easier to send them to Elwyn, Warminster, West Trenton or Doylestown?

Yeah, they just take the train, duh.

Hey, wait a minute...

jfrey40535 wrote:Any reason why nothing stays at either Chestnut Hills? Both lines deadhead their equipment back after the last run of the night.

Nothing is stored at Fox Chase, either.

I operate through Warminster from time to time on the CSX job to Ivyland, and we usually come through after the car inspectors and cleaners are finished. I have RARELY seen any open doors on the equipment, and on the few times I have, it was on a Silverliner II or III, which as we all know have the manual doors and traps.

And had they tried to go through Roberts Yard in the middle of the day, say, noonish, you can bet the results would have been different!

Why only pick on SEPTA? NJ Transit has a yard in Morrisville. How about the freight yards too? And who's to say that all the doors on the trains were actually closed before the camera crews arrived to do that report? They could have opened up everything beforehand to stage their story.

That's not to say that they don't have a point, but no sense in giving potential vandals new ideas by showing them. And yes I said vandals....it's more likely you'll see a juvenile deface the equipment or release a handbrake than anything more sinister.

Fences can be cut. Lights can be broken or burned out. Police, even when
on patrol, can't see all over at once. If someone is going to do something even remotely terroristic, they will manage to do it, no matter what measures we take. I don't dwell on it, and as a railroader, I do what I have been trained to do even before 9-11: Be vigilant, and watch for suspicious activity anywhere near the railroad or around facilities.

I agree on most points. Roberts Yard at high noon it is likely that someone would notice something or someone lurking about that shouldn't be there. I guess that's not really the point though, because the news was trying to prove that their opportunity was at night time. Terrorists, homegrown and abroad, generally operate in stealth. Those news cameras did not operate in stealth. They were not trying to avoid detection, that was the point of the story. Something as conspicuous and ostentatious as a news crew parading around Robert's Avenue yard for 45 minutes with NO QUESTIONS ASKED is an embarrasment, no matter what time of day or night. Remember that the car inspectors work around the clock at Roberts Ave. I don't think the news is "picking" on SEPTA, remember that the local NBC news network that ran the story acknowledged that a SEPTA EMPLOYEE contacted THE MEDIA about his/her concern for rail security and accompanied them through the televised news story. I'm sure other railroads have similiar vulnerabilites.

whovian wrote:I agree on most points. Roberts Yard at high noon it is likely that someone would notice something or someone lurking about that shouldn't be there. I guess that's not really the point though, because the news was trying to prove that their opportunity was at night time. Terrorists, homegrown and abroad, generally operate in stealth. Those news cameras did not operate in stealth. They were not trying to avoid detection, that was the point of the story. Something as conspicuous and ostentatious as a news crew parading around Robert's Avenue yard for 45 minutes with NO QUESTIONS ASKED is an embarrasment, no matter what time of day or night. Remember that the car inspectors work around the clock at Roberts Ave. I don't think the news is "picking" on SEPTA, remember that the local NBC news network that ran the story acknowledged that a SEPTA EMPLOYEE contacted THE MEDIA about his/her concern for rail security and accompanied them through the televised news story. I'm sure other railroads have similiar vulnerabilites.

I concede your points. I just think that sometimes, the media can be more a problem in setups like that....it could possibly give potential vandals (or terrorists) ideas on what they could do...

jfrey40535 wrote:Trenton (already covered by overzealous NJT pigs)

Whoa, whoa...watch it with the slurs. I don't know any police officer that enjoys being called a "pig". Choose your descriptives a little more carefully, please.

Maybe SEPTA should just rehire the guy that was fired for setting up "detectors" at Powelton Yard to alert him when the supervisors were coming and it was time to wake up. He could install his devices in all of the yards and be a hero!

glennk419 wrote:Maybe SEPTA should just rehire the guy that was fired for setting up "detectors" at Powelton Yard to alert him when the supervisors were coming and it was time to wake up. He could install his devices in all of the yards and be a hero!

And SEPTA would save millions by not needing CCTV systems that will quit working for lack of maintenance.....LOL!