Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
This may feel like a sermon. In many ways it is.
I understand from the railway press that the Dean Forest Railway is suffering from a spate of thefts of parts from their restoration projects. Over this weekend I’m told a few other railways have also discovered that important parts have been removed from some of their assets too.
The items stolen are not lumps of metal (steel, copper, brass etc) that would fetch a good price at the scrap merchant, and consequently the prime suspects would be from outside the railway community. But in each case the components taken have been carefully selected and targeted, the break ins have been undertaken carefully to cause minimum damage. In at least one case the parts removed were electronic PCBs (circuit cards). These have no scrap value, but are essential to the operation of the vehicle targeted. What is even stranger is that these cards will not work in any other type of locomotive (all class members are now in preservation).
Consequently I‘m finding it hard to seriously come to any other conclusion but that preservationists are stealing from each other. I seriously hope I’m wrong, I really do. Until recently preservation has been marked out by cooperation, celebration of each every groups successes and a friendly rivalry. If this has been replaced by deceit and deliberate sabotage then we are all much worse off.
So my appeal. If you know what has happened to these missing parts, tell the owners and do the honourable thing and get them returned. You’ll make better friends and gain a huge amount of thanks and possible future assistance from grateful owners. If you know who has been nicking the bits, let them know you are not happy with their behaviour (yes this will take some bravery), and get them to return the parts (anonymously).
Come on, you know it makes sense, otherwise we will end up spending more time trying to steal each others parts and less time getting our projects completed.
Consequently I make no excuses for the biblical title for this blog entry.
Tony B very piXXed off!
I understand from the railway press that the Dean Forest Railway is suffering from a spate of thefts of parts from their restoration projects. Over this weekend I’m told a few other railways have also discovered that important parts have been removed from some of their assets too.
The items stolen are not lumps of metal (steel, copper, brass etc) that would fetch a good price at the scrap merchant, and consequently the prime suspects would be from outside the railway community. But in each case the components taken have been carefully selected and targeted, the break ins have been undertaken carefully to cause minimum damage. In at least one case the parts removed were electronic PCBs (circuit cards). These have no scrap value, but are essential to the operation of the vehicle targeted. What is even stranger is that these cards will not work in any other type of locomotive (all class members are now in preservation).
Consequently I‘m finding it hard to seriously come to any other conclusion but that preservationists are stealing from each other. I seriously hope I’m wrong, I really do. Until recently preservation has been marked out by cooperation, celebration of each every groups successes and a friendly rivalry. If this has been replaced by deceit and deliberate sabotage then we are all much worse off.
So my appeal. If you know what has happened to these missing parts, tell the owners and do the honourable thing and get them returned. You’ll make better friends and gain a huge amount of thanks and possible future assistance from grateful owners. If you know who has been nicking the bits, let them know you are not happy with their behaviour (yes this will take some bravery), and get them to return the parts (anonymously).
Come on, you know it makes sense, otherwise we will end up spending more time trying to steal each others parts and less time getting our projects completed.
Consequently I make no excuses for the biblical title for this blog entry.
Tony B very piXXed off!
Labels: components, electronics, honesty, honour., railway, stealing, theft, traction
posted by TonyB at 1:57 pm
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