@0-Gauge CJ posted:"After getting inside, the person took the locomotive onto the tracks, damaging two switches worth about $30,000 each."
The cost of a railroad switch is definitely not a commonly known fact. So where did that number come from? Did the railroad tell the police the cost of the switches, and the journalist is simply quoting the police report? Did the journalist look that number up? Police reports (at least the ones I've seen) will include a line on the report where a crime victim can indicate the value of the property that was damaged/stolen. So, if the railroad gave that number to police, is the railroad saying "This switch cost $30k" and just didn't write down that the cost to repair would be different? Is the journalist just assuming they would have to replace the entire switch? (buying to replace instead of repairing what is broken is common these days, wouldn't necessarily blame anyone for assuming that is what the railroad would do).
Something else I'd like to know: "Because the locomotive was locked, it is likely the perpetrator broke in through the locomotive's window."
Just my opinion but, rarely is a locomotive "locked", i.e. locked cab doors, unless the railroad has add pad-locks on the outside of the door frames (which are fairly easy to break).
Was the window broken? Or are windows easily opened? If the window was indeed broken, the article probably would have read, "The perpetrator broke in through the window" rather than precede it with the uncertain phrase "it is likely".
Unless the perp had a pretty tall ladder, the cab side windows are NOT easily broken into anyway, especially since they are FRA mandated safety glazing (darned near bullet proof), being laminated glass and Lexan inside.
Also, the locomotive was broken into between March 24th and 28th. Was there a four-day period where the railroad simply didn't know it had a locomotive missing? Did they find it exactly where it was parked?
I could ask more questions! And I have no idea the answer to any of these questions, and I imply nothing one way or the other. Frankly, the journalist is smarter than me with regard to this story because it sounds like they've read the police report!
I'd love to read that police report.
Wouldn't we all? Maybe that Police Report is available on-line? Then again, some Police Reports are sort of a joke when it comes to railroad related crimes.
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