A BIG BAG Of WHAT?

On the date of this posting, a strange sight was seen by the passengers awaiting at the north end of the platform at Harmon, as the inbound 6:47 AM electric crept in from the yard.

Atop the train, at about mid-train, just off the center of the roof, there was a large bag of garbage. The bag was obvously one from the railroad, as it was one of the over-sized clear types, seen occasionally on platforms. These bags are also used by clean-up crews at Harmon who remove slovenly passengers' refuse, while the trains are holding over in the yard.

An observant passenger called the matter to the attention of the Conductor at the rear of the train, who instantly went into action. Obviously, if that bag blew off at speed in a station, it could seriously mess up a person, in more ways than one!

Now the big question is, how did that bag find it's way to the roof?

The Conductor upon his return to the train remarked; "Someone's going to be in a heap of trouble over that!"

Dieter.

Maybe someone on an overhead walkway in harmon knocked over (or dropped) a bag?

Nester

Sounds like employee throwing garbage bag up on adjacent train, instead of carrying it to dumpster. They hope it will fall off enroute. We've certainly had Coach Cleaners do this at LIRR.
Thing is, in the atmosphere we live in today, a large bag on top of a train may attract a lot of attention if someone gets suspicious.
Big investigation would ensue a massive response to the suspicious package, and the offending employee, if found, would probably become ex-employee.

Tom

At first, I thought there might be a big Chinese Firedrill over the event, but fortunately, it was not the case.

This was probably due to the happenstance of the bag being made of clear plastic. First, you could see the contents, alleviating suspicion, then again you never know... Second, the fact that it was an oversized clear plastic garbage bag, made it obvious as to the origins of it. I don't know about you, but I haven't noticed oversized garbage bags in any store that are clear.

In regards to someone tossing the bag up on a train, given the size, the "Pitcher" would have had to have a hell of an arm to heave such an oversized and bulky thing like that so high in the air. Plus, if this was a regular practice, we would have seen them before. Even if that's the case, trying to get the garbage hauled to the opposite end of he yard, what's supposed to knock every bag off at the right spot?

In yesterday's storm, the bag might have fallen off of a truck, and tumbled over the fence on the overpass at the site of the old station. What kind of trucks do they haul refuse with? Open topped bucket, or compressor type?

Dropped? Nobody's going to take one large bag of garbage on that overpass, and manage to hurl it over the fence. The only place it could be dropped would be in the area of the doors, and we all know that ain't gonna happen.

Anybody hear anything about this, or a similar occurance in the past?

Dieter.