Some news that the Adirondack Daily Enterprise neglected to report:Link to the full story on NNY360, dated October 5, 2021:
Police seeking public’s help in train derailment case near Old Forge

And an excerpt from an earlier September 30, 2021 article, also from NNY360:
Link to the full story:
Town of Webb Police Department looking into train derailment near Old Forge

Padlocks are not what hold a switch in position so how would its removal cause the switch to move under a train, if that’s what happened? The throw or stand or other components would need to be defective, no?

A padlock locks the mechanism so the person that throws the switch must have a key to remove the padlock first. Or a large bolt cutter so you can run out of the bushes and throw the switch while the train is over it. I think that’s what they’re intimating. The rabid snowmobile crowd aren’t very friendly with the railroad.

It only takes 3 reply posts to a new thread before off-topical political crap gets appended to it.

Keep up your fantastic work RYPN mods!

Sabotage of our equipment is a political statement, so why not? SRC also had episodes in the past of ballast having been packed into journal boxes. Linn Moedinger was called out as a commie for speaking at a Paradise town meeting in favor of an Amtrak stop at Leaman Place. As was said at the meeting, "Only drug dealers ride trains."

WHAT? This happened to your operation? To your people?

You've only been running a heritage railroad now for what, 63 years?

And the railroad itself has been around, how much now over 150 years?

Must be all those drug dealers….

Regrettably, we have had imposed upon us by the political classes and their activists this highly divisive and antagonistic (by design) political tribalism into just about everything we do or say now. (Or, heaven help you, retroactively upon what you impulsively typed foolishly as a young person 20 years ago.)

The reality is that:

1) Major railroads have themselves become targets of political activists with larger agendas such as halting all use of fossil fuels, fracking, crossing Native American lands, etc. (I'm actually surprised I haven't heard of anyone protesting or blockading a rail line over "reparations" for the hired use of slaves to construct certain lines in the South. I fear it will come soon.)
This is not wanton speculation. Selective protests and acts of vandalism and outright sabotage have been directed against specific rail lines by activists and saboteurs. We are lucky that save for the vociferous opposition to the rebuilding of the rail line through central Lac-Megantic, Quebec after the 2013 derailment there, most such actions have received almost no media attention--perhaps in part to discourage "copycats."

2) Several heritage railroads, including most specifically the Adirondack RR in question in this case, have also been the target of politically-centered opposition and protest over such things as presumed safety hazards, unwelcome intrusion into some people's figment of a "peaceful pastoral" (or simply "Not In My Back Yard!!!"), or simply taking up land that others want for their recreational desires (very specifically in this case, the snowmobilers). I have not yet heard of any protests at heritage lines in North America specific to the use of fossil fuels (I understand a couple have occurred in Britain), but given the antagonism and hostility being stoked by radical elements in our political specter today, I feel such acts are inevitable, and that we need to be preparing for how to address such acts.

Pretty much none of us want to involve politics in our efforts at preservation. But the reality is that in many ways--from community acceptance to funding to fending off irrational opposition--you bury your heads in the sands of politics at your own substantial risk.
(One might well make the argument that inadequate or incompetent political intercourse brought about the currently-occurring deaths of both the Adirondack RR and the Indiana Transportation Museum. And, "there but for the grace of God" your operation may be the next targeted.)

As stated before, the ASRR has experience issues with vandalism in the past as well as political opposition to their continued operations. One of my friends owns property near the railroad and is an avid snowmobile rider. He would love to see the whole railroad ripped up. The concerns are real and valid.

As far as switches….. a lock does not prevent an individual from tampering with a switch. This is why we visually verify position/condition of a switch as indicated by the points, target, and handle position as we approach. Switch positions are logged on the time and delay sheet along with the time the switch was locked. It would not be surprising that some pieces of equipment might pass safely over a “defective” switch prior to other equipment in the consist derailing.

Has there been any evidence of a group taking 'credit' for this vandalism, if not how can the concerns be considered 'real and valid?"

Bob H

Bob, the concerns are based on past experiences based in fact. Hence, the concerns are real. I am not aware of any individual or group of individuals who have claimed responsibility or have been accused of such regarding this particular incident at this time. The possibility of vandalism is not an unrealistic one. I can speak as a person who has directly dealt with the results of railroad property vandalism.

Admittedly the padlock issue needs to be investigated. But with locks removed, is it possible one of the cars picked the switch, the points moved and the other car followed?

Wesley

On high mast switches, even if you only remove the lock the vibration from the train can cause the handle to rise up and out of its slot, and the points can then open under the train. This is why switches without locks always have 'keepers', little metal hooks that you leave in the hole on the top of the handle.

VIA had a very similar derailment in Nova Scotia in 2001

https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-repo ... m0024.html

I think the political comment was about using a political propaganda channel as a reference.

Thank you, Mr. Mitchell, this was essentially the point of my original post, which you wonderfully expanded upon.

It's true, we don't like to have to deal with things like this.

And I can remember when we didn't. It used to be when a railroad was abandoned, there'd be a last run, a story in the paper about "the iron horse being put out to pasture," we rail enthusiasts would get our last photos, and the tracks would go away and the weeds would come in. In a few precious cases some people would get together an open a tourist road on the now inactive track, and sometimes would even be successful at it.

There wasn't the antagonism we see now, there wasn't a trail movement that envied our track as we have now.

But that was then. This is now. We can't pretend it isn't there.