Container trains broken into in the US

[deltic]

An amazing video taken in Los Angles showing trackside littered with Amazon parcels stolen from passing container trains

https://twitter.com/i/status/1481770722271760384

Keep hearing of train burglaries in LA on the scanner so went to #LincolnHeights to see it all. And… there’s looted packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, @UPSboxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains.
@CBSLA

I’m told by law enforcement these @UPS bags are especially sought after by thieves opening cargo containers… they are often full of boxes with merchandise bound for residential addresses. More valuable than say, a cargo container full of low value bulky items like toilet paper.

The thieves break into containers when the trains are stopped or moving slowly, you can see in the video a container with its doors open, throw out the UPS packages then rip them open by the side of track taking things of value and dumping the rest.

Apparently the tracks were cleaned a month ago so that is the amount of stuff stolen in that time.

 

[Ken H]

An amazing video taken in Los Angles showing trackside littered with Amazon parcels stolen from passing container trains

https://twitter.com/i/status/1481770722271760384

The thieves break into containers when the trains are stopped or moving slowly, you can see in the video a container with its doors open, throw out the UPS packages then rip them open by the side of track taking things of value and dumping the rest.

Apparently the tracks were cleaned a month ago so that is the amount of stuff stolen in that time.

that defunding the police went well then...

 

[furnessvale]

Bit of a problem when the train is 2 miles long. A bit of US justice required with armed guards scattered along the train perhaps?

 

[deltic]

that defunding the police went well then...

US railroads have their own private police forces

 

[MarcVD]

US railroads have their own private police forces

And it is quite common, in sensible areas, to see trains escorted by police force riding a 4x4 along the track.

 

[the sniper]

Looks like a case for Kitchener Leslie...

Didn't something similar used to happen on a lesser scale somewhere near Motherwell at some point?

 

[Ken H]

Looks like a case for Kitchener Leslie...

Didn't something similar used to happen on a lesser scale somewhere near Motherwell at some point?

kids used to steal car radios from new cars on double decker car trains in UK. pretty lethal when 25kv overhead.

 

[Chriso]

Another example of the cesspit Urban California has become unless of course you are rich and live in a nice gated community. So sad to see how the US has fallen

 

[Falcon1200]

Looks like a case for Kitchener Leslie...

Didn't something similar used to happen on a lesser scale somewhere near Motherwell at some point?

Yes, many years ago when Gushetfaulds Freightliner Terminal was still open trains were regularly raided between Cambuslang and Newton, and more recently curtain-sided vehicles have been slashed open and raided in the Wishaw area.

 

[theking]

Luckily we haven't decended into the cesspit that America is becoming where they are going in and looting shops and stealing things carte blanche.

I have seen a video of about 100 people looting double deck containers on a train dragging tv's and high value goods out of them in the US.

Also our railways seem a lot more secure than the US with far less distance travelled so more oppotunity for people to get caught.

 

[furnessvale]

It was always a problem when I was on BTP. We used to advise signalmen to hold trains back in certain areas until they could give them a clear run. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't with predictable results.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Yes, many years ago when Gushetfaulds Freightliner Terminal was still open trains were regularly raided between Cambuslang and Newton, and more recently curtain-sided vehicles have been slashed open and raided in the Wishaw area.

Along with Woodgrange Park , Gospel Oak , Willesden Brent and of course the prime area of Garston (Merseyside) - various strategies were put in place. Some effective. (others less so)

 

[the sniper]

and more recently curtain-sided vehicles have been slashed open and raided in the Wishaw area.

Thanks, that was the one I was thinking of, though I remember the others incidences were mentioned when it came up.

 

[David57]

My somewhat limited experience on containers, I believe that trains are loaded 'door to door', so that they cannot be accessed whilst in transit, but can be easily swung round to suit the lorries needs at the terminal.

 

[matt_world2004]

Don't freight in America travel quite slowly for long periods of time due to the quality of the track on some routes

 

[Meole]

Hobos ride the railroad and even post video to youtube to make a living, experiencing run ins with the "bull" i.e. security.

 

[yorksrob]

In Britain we used to have bullion cars, where a passenger vehicle was converted to freight, but a compartment was retained to enable security guards to accompany the load. I wonder if such a vehicle might prove useful to counter the problem in California !

 

[Meole]

Don't freight in America travel quite slowly for long periods of time due to the quality of the track on some routes

Forced to stop to await meets on single track, and to allow priority to pass on double, and of course crew change and refuelling, to be fair the volume of freight is huge and the pilfering relatively very small.

 

[Gloster]

There was an accident at Watford Junction in 1975 when a loco on an Up train derailed after hitting car parts that had fallen from a van which had been opened by thieves, probably in the Gospel Oak area. A driver on the Up train’s loco was killed when it was hit by another train.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

My somewhat limited experience on containers, I believe that trains are loaded 'door to door', so that they cannot be accessed whilst in transit, but can be easily swung round to suit the lorries needs at the terminal.

Ideally - but not always possible. Heavy duty seals helped ,- but some containers (particularly continental ones had side doors !)

Put it this way - loading of SNCF side loading containers into Garston , with French brandy - pre Xmas in 1982 would have been a particularly worthwhile bounty to the locals - so they went via Trafford Park with a police escort in the back cab of the loco , (from Crewe) and the boxes were loaded next to the engines. We probably saved BR a few quid by such actions

There was an accident at Watford Junction in 1975 when a loco on an Up train derailed after hitting car parts that had fallen from a van which had been opened by thieves, probably in the Gospel Oak area. A driver on the Up train’s loco was killed when it was hit by another train.

And deflected down the bank - ironically where the 1996 collision took place...

 

[Meole]

In Britain we used to have bullion cars, where a passenger vehicle was converted to freight, but a compartment was retained to enable security guards to accompany the load. I wonder if such a vehicle might prove useful to counter the problem in California !

Double stack container train of 150 cars will normally have a couple of DPU inserted centrally, easily used for the purpose if such was desired, obviously entirely suitable with heat, toilet, food and water in there.

 

[yorksrob]

Double stack container train of 150 cars will normally have a couple of DPU inserted centrally, easily used for the purpose if such was desired, obviously entirely suitable with heat, toilet, food and water in there.

Sounds a bit more luxurious than a billion car !

Remember seeing one in the bay at Tonbridge as a lad and bring intrigued.

 

[Towers]

Double stack container train of 150 cars will normally have a couple of DPU inserted centrally, easily used for the purpose if such was desired, obviously entirely suitable with heat, toilet, food and water in there.

The trouble is, if the train is a mile long you're going to need quite a few of them!

 

[MarcVD]

This made the news on belgian tv tonight. Astonishing pictures !

Some 10 years ago (or was that more ? Can't remember exactly,...) there was a shortage of flat cars due to increase of container traffic. Some operators started using cheaply converted gondolas to transport containers. This was not an issue since they are loaded vertically. The shortage ended quickly but for some time, the usage of gondolas persisted. Reason : international traffic to the east was also subject to pilfering, and containers in gondolas were almost unviolable, their doors being blocked by the gondolas' bulkheads. Food for thought?

 

[Busaholic]

Amateurs! Cheddington, Bucks showed what could be done if you were sufficiently dedicated, well organised and devious in an age before CCTV and DNA samples. Doesn't mean you get away with it long term though!

 

[Ianigsy]

Many years ago there was a flow of tractors from International Harvesters at Girlington near Bradford which was lost to rail as the tractors had a tendency to leave Bradford with toolboxes attached and arrive with them not attached.

 

[GB]

A freight train has now derailed at the location of these break-ins in LA. I wonder if all the rubbish laying about had something to do with it or maybe an intentional act?

 

[Towers]

A freight train has now derailed at the location of these break-ins in LA. I wonder if all the rubbish laying about had something to do with it or maybe an intentional act?

Minor, or a bad one?

 

[GB]

Minor, or a bad one?

Minor by most standards

LOS ANGELES - A Union Pacific train has derailed in Lincoln Heights. It is unknown if anyone was injured.

The derailment happened near the intersection of San Pablo Street and Valley Boulevard, which is blocked for the foreseeable future, according to USC, which has its Health Science Campus nearby.



This is in the same area where tons of torn up packages and boxes lay after thieves broke into cargo containers.

Union Pacific train derails in Lincoln Heights, 17 cars off track

While the trains are back up and running again, crews with Union Pacific continue to clear the tracks after a train derailment in Lincoln Heights over the weekend.

www.foxla.com

 

[najaB]

that defunding the police went well then...

Clearly demonstrating that you have no idea what "defunding the police" actually means.

A video showing the state of things at the site of the derailment: