Western Railroad Discussion > Al Quida Advocating Derailing Trains In America

I just saw a report on TV about Al Quida advocating derailing trains in America. The news story specifically mentioned subways but the TV report says it included freight trains as well - showing the reporter standing between the rails to illustrate his story: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/11/al-qaeda-targets-us-trains/

I don't normally cry wolf but this certainly could cause more photographers being called in as suspicious and more contacts with police... I was certainly aware of the potential while working for a railroad for 18 years but this kind of publicity won't help our hobby.

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Was only a matter of time I guess.Bet they have been giving it a lot of thought for some time.
Regards,dK

Nothing new here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_VIA_Rail_Canada_terrorism_plot

Ray

Part of the reason car and locomotive traces had to be controlled a lot tighter no doubt...

"I was just out looking for terrorists, officer. If I see one, I'll definitely call 911. Maybe take a few pictures of him or her, too."

toledopatch Wrote:
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> "I was just out looking for terrorists, officer.
> If I see one, I'll definitely call 911. Maybe take
> a few pictures of him or her, too."

In all seriousness, I had an officer pull up while I was standing waiting for a train and in the course of conversation said, "how do I know you're not a terrorist?" He had never heard of a railfan before.

How do I know you're really a cop?

Back in the 1990s, NJ had a rash of fake cop MV stops. Radio shack lights in the grill, fake badge on a chain. Usually pulling over women at night.

Still have them, a quick Google search shows several different fake cop pulls over motorist in NJ in 2016.

Posted from Android

C'mon guys, reading the Washington Times?

"Founded on May 17, 1982, by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon, the Times was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the church until 2010, in which Moon and a group of former executives purchased the paper. It is currently owned by diversified conglomerate Operations Holdings, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the church."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times

I didn't post this as a way to bash cops... I was a cop for 37 years. I posted this as a way to make people aware that those who want to do harm to our country are looking at a technique that could impact our hobby of watching and photographing trains. I understand not everybody likes cops - I was reminded of that on most days at work.

As you go out and take photos or just watch trains, keep in mind many are not aware of our hobby, and many see what we're doing as 'suspicious'. I have a friend who was out photographing airplanes near a playground was told by a woman that she didn't think it was appropriate for him to have such a long lens near a children's playground. I really don't think the subject matter is relevant, the fact we're taking pictures is 'suspicious' to some people. I was on an overpass over some railroad tracks east of Denver one day when I was contacted by a sheriff's deputy who told me I was reported for being on the overpass 'too long'. His thought was that I was contemplating jumping off the bridge... I showed him my photo gear, gave him my card with my personal website on it so he could see my photos. He left telling me not to get run down standing on the edge of the bridge and said to have a good day.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now...

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

When you are out watching or photographing trains, you should ALWAYS bring copies of the various RR magazines with you, i.e. TRAINS, Railfan, PTJ, TRP, etc. If you have any issues that contain photos you've taken be sure to have these copies with you.

So, when you are approached by a local or state police officer, or a retard from Homeland Security like was mentioned above, you can show these people that there is in fact a strong railfan hobby, and demonstrate this is why you are trackside with a camera.

Showing such magazines has gotten me out of a few jams. The absolute dumbest people you will ever encounter are from Homeland Security. A neighbor who was employed for 20+ years with one of the several federal agencies that got combined into Homeland Security after 911 told me the senior people in Homeland Security were the most clueless idiots imaginable, and he left the federal government because of this.

mojaveflyer Wrote:
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> I didn't post this as a way to bash cops... I was
> a cop for 37 years. I posted this as a way to
> make people aware that those who want to do harm
> to our country are looking at a technique that
> could impact our hobby of watching and
> photographing trains. I understand not everybody
> likes cops - I was reminded of that on most days
> at work.

I'm sure you saw an earlier thread by NS19K, about feeling like a criminal. I don't think cop bashing is done by most of us railfans. No doubt there have been few who have been traumatized, and you just have to let them vent.

Title of the Washington Times article says "Subway trains" but the article itself starts with just trains. I lost motivation to finish the article, but did so anyway, just in case.

I've encountered Military Police on high alert (day after a military facility shooting), and you just have to let the cops do their jobs. Some people treat public space as their own personal space... WRONG. You're sharing it with the public. Correct attitude can go a long way to avoid misunderstandings.

There is a lot of tension among police officers. You're a target even when helping somebody. Like the guys murdered in Dallas.

Posted from Android

I believe I heard some rumblings about this article about a week ago. Things like that typically gets circulated around law enforcement before it makes it out to the public so they get a head start, if necessary.

With that in mind, I did have contact with the sheriffs dept in an unlikely spot (because they rarely bother to go out that far), as they must have been hearing back from a call. Technically I was parked illegally, left side of a 1.5 lane road, but I was out of the car we did not see each other to begin with. I was walking back with my camera and he stopped near me. Told him I was taking photos of the trains. We had about two more sentences and he kept going. Since he really didn't really intend to get out of the car, I can't really count that as a real law enforcement contact.

Gary

Posted from iPhone

Notice the source, the Washington Times likes to make people fearful

Mr. Nelson has it right. Under current conditions, and even well before 9-11, as a former State Police officer, I have always made a point of being polite and offering respect to an officer on duty or off in whose jurisdiction I might be. Theirs is not a trivial profession and it's getting more hazardous and difficult every day. If you feel that you were mishandled in a contact, you have avenues of complaint. But in the field, if someone with proper authority instructs me to "jump!", my only question is, "How high, Sir?"
That said, you might be surprised that there are any number of law enforcement members of our community of ferroequinologists.

Have a great day!

Grafvonb49

drh1est Wrote:
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> Notice the source, the Washington Times likes to
> make people fearful

Yeah. I sensed a bit of fear-baiting in that article. Several years back, I recall a media blitz about protecting our mass transit from terrorism. If the agencies involved (and the politicians) did their jobs, this alleged "advocacy" would have been addressed. I know some TO members were trying to articulate that, but decided to be a bit too self-expressive?

I always carry magazines with my photo credits in them. It is a great way to get the message across to certain cops who ask questions, but refuse to listen to the answers (which seems to be the norm).

I also show them the phone numbers of train dispatchers in my phone contacts and tell them that if I see anything suspicious, I would contact them immediately.

Now, more than ever, we need to be alert to suspicious activity and report it promptly. Get the phone numbers of train dispatchers in the territories you cover (they are usually listed in employee timetables) and use them if needed. DON'T use them to pester the dispatcher for train information.

TCnR Wrote:
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> C'mon guys, reading the Washington Times?
>
> "Founded on May 17, 1982, by Unification Church
> leader Sun Myung Moon, the Times was owned by News
> World Communications, an international media
> conglomerate associated with the church until
> 2010, in which Moon and a group of former
> executives purchased the paper. It is currently
> owned by diversified conglomerate Operations
> Holdings, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of
> the church."
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times


drh1est Wrote:
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> Notice the source, the Washington Times likes to
> make people fearful



Funny how out of all the garbage removed from this thread (which did need cleaning up), the off-topic and head in the sand leftist snarks were not.

The story was also reported in left-leaning Newsweek:

http://www.newsweek.com/us-train-stations-target-al-qaeda-latest-magazine-650334


Have you two already forgotten about the attacks on rails in London, Brussels, Madrid, France? There's a history of terror acts taking place in the same style as suggested in articles in this specific Jihadist magazine after those articles were published. It isn't 'fear mongering' but rather another potential security issue that most rail workers take seriously. No panicking, but awareness.

darkcloud Wrote:
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> Funny how out of all the garbage removed from this
> thread (which did need cleaning up), the off-topic
> and head in the sand leftist snarks were not.

Wrong on that one. Some of the deleted comments had no "leaning" except anti-cop. Maybe we need to go back to the color system ("Orange Alert") to get people to react to threats again?

Source for the media reports is Al Qaeda's Inspire magazine, which released the threat in their latest issue on Sunday, 8/13.