Eastern Railroad Discussion > Maryland derailment affects Cuba trials

"A 9/11 pretrial hearing at Guantanamo Bay was postponed on Wednesday after a coal-train crash that killed two women in Baltimore, Maryland, disrupted internet connections to the 45-square-mile US naval base in Cuba."

More at....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/23/maryland_derailment_delays_9_11_pretrial_hearing_after_fibre_optics_cut/

Enjoy
Michael

Showsya how fragile web based systems are--banking, power grid, etc.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> Showsya how fragile web based systems
> are--banking, power grid, etc.

Those fiber optic conduits underneath many railroad lines carry a lot of communications information. There's some redundancy in the system, but the nearer you get to the point of signal origin, fewer alternatives are available.

Remember when one guy with a backhoe cut off communications between NY and DC a few years ago? Shut down phone and internet service. There were two conduits, side by side. One was the backup...

It probably wouldn't matter but it sounds like they need to bury the cables a little deeper.