Eastern Railroad Discussion > Monon Semaphores Stolen

Some folks with hard hats and a white truck to make it look official:

http://indianarailroads.org/board/index.php?topic=15755.0

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/14 11:34 by wabash2800.

CSX sold semaphores off the Indianapolis Sub after it went to color light signals in 1999.

Hope these thieves are caught and prosecuted, it's people like this that give railfans a
bad rep.

Ha, I like the idiot that got all indignant that foamers might be considered possible suspects, and then blames CSX for the theft because they quit running trains on his precious line.

darkcloud Wrote:
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> Ha, I like the idiot that got all indignant that
> foamers might be considered possible suspects, and
> then blames CSX for the theft because they quit
> running trains on his precious line.

Sorta like blaming the victim for being raped because she wore a tight skirt in the projects...

I don't really see how this gives railfans a black eye on the whole. Until someone can absolutely verify that it was in fact a railfan (or group of them) that took the signals, that is speculation only. The railroads already largely distrust railfans for perceived violations of their property lines and inherent risk, so thinking this incident will further sour the railroads towards railfans is just wishful thinking... they can't get much worse than they are now, especially with CSX.

I was just laughing with a few friends yesterday about how the pendulum has really swung between CSX and NS. 10 years ago, CSX largely tolerated railfans on/near the property in lots of places I'm familiar with such as Sandpatch and the Magnolia Cutoff while NS was really cracking down on railfans.

Now, CSX seems to be tightening up the control of their property to ridiculous levels (possibly blowback from the Georgia Film Crew Incident) while NS has become a great deal more receptive towards railfans than they had been in the past. Granted, they'll still gleefully stroke you a ticket for egregious violations, but I've had nothing but positive encounters with NS special agents in the handful of times that I've encountered them.

I think since the advent of ebay and others, if anybody even gets a HINT or a RUMOR that something might be worth real money, sometimes in their eyes it may become fair game. It could be someone from off the street, yes railfans or associates or acquaintances with the railroad, heck might even be a railroader or a relative of one. And one can buy orange or yellow safety vests at Walmart. I hope the perps get caught, I also hope they are not railfans. Just glad I got the semaphore shots I did in June in Indiana that I posted on TO. It seemed too good to be true when I took the photos, that they were as yet unmolested. Now I worry about the last active ones closer to home, in New Mexico. - - JLH

CSX does not like rail fans at all. Trust me, they don't want to operate any excursion trains except the "New River" train which is an Amtrak train. They do NOT want anyone on their property period so that they do not have to spend money taking anyone to court because this costs them more money paying lawyers to defend themselves.

CSX only cares about the bottom line...remember, they're not a railroad--they're csxT...for Transportation!
Sucks they were stolen--but I'm not surprised...lots of "historical preservation" going on everywhere.

Were not those same signals pictured in Trainorders some time ago?

ClubCar Wrote:
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> CSX does not like rail fans at all. Trust me,
> they don't want to operate any excursion trains
> except the "New River" train which is an Amtrak
> train. They do NOT want anyone on their property
> period so that they do not have to spend money
> taking anyone to court because this costs them
> more money paying lawyers to defend themselves.


Even when they say no, folks still come on the property and try to film their movies. Witness the Allman film death.