I'd Hate to be Them.

Reading the news,three people arrested in Pine Bluff,Ark. did 5.5 million dollars worth of damage to 22 locomotives,stealing the copper.

link to full report:

Police make large copper theft bust, millions in damages - KATV - Breaking News, Weather and Razorback Sports

other reports:

https://www.google.com/search?q=pine+bluff+copper+theft&hl=en&gl=us&tbm=n ws&meta_news_search=&gs_l=news-cc.12..43j43i400.5023.12028.0.13806.12.6.0.6.6.0.1 56.766.2j4.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.LVosMOuexIA&oq=pine+b luff+copper+theft

"If there was not a market for it and there wasn't individuals who are willing to pay the money top dollar for it, it wouldn't be as fruitful as it is now," said Woods.

Maybe congress should pass some laws making it illegal to buy copper. Or maybe regulate the copper market so there's a maximum amount paid for copper. Then maybe these poor innocent people wouldn't be tempted to act on their lust for money. If the minimum wage was raised higher, they could make more money working at McDonalds and wouldn't feel the need to steal. :-)

Ban locomotives!

Originally Posted by telecomguy

"If there was not a market for it and there wasn't individuals who are willing to pay the money top dollar for it, it wouldn't be as fruitful as it is now," said Woods.

Maybe congress should pass some laws making it illegal to buy copper. Or maybe regulate the copper market so there's a maximum amount paid for copper. Then maybe these poor innocent people wouldn't be tempted to act on their lust for money. If the minimum wage was raised higher, they could make more money working at McDonalds and wouldn't feel the need to steal. :-)

I hope that is sarcasm

Maybe my meter is off?

I know times are tough, but not tough enough to do jail time for. They should have gone for that 12 strand of 12 gauge ground wire buried no more than 8 inches down 1 ft from the ties. Pretty stuff it is. (I did a year and a half in Gran Jct Co for 2 miles of that pretty pretty wire back in the 90's. Aint taking that choice again.

Originally Posted by telecomguy

"If there was not a market for it and there wasn't individuals who are willing to pay the money top dollar for it, it wouldn't be as fruitful as it is now," said Woods.

i rarely watch/read the news anymore because of quotes like this one. the news isn't like the old days, every reporter has an opinion now. decades ago the media just reported the facts.
i strongly believe these opinions have an agenda to mold society as they want to see it. you'll see... they create the problem and then will offer a solution that benefits them.
hell, copper theft was a problem over 50 years ago when prices were much lower than today. john gotti was arrested, i believe in 1957 for copper theft. nothing new is happening, the media is just reporting every major copper theft so they can easily offer up their solution in the future. you will see.

This story is crazy. This copper is Number 2 tin plated by the way. These locomotives had to be in storage for an extended period of time. I am not going to share how much copper is in that SD40-2 but its more then a ton. The copper is over 1 and 1/2 inches thick and very hard to maneuver around. There are also wire ways that hold the wire in every foot with two bolts and multiple pieces of plastic. Some runs have 8 wires some have 4. I want to know how long it took them to do it. We usually turn the bases and strip them with the grapple. Doing it by hand would take days and days to do. They had to have help. We are a scrap yard and have all the tools available to break them down as fast as possible and I know how hard it would be to do this. Its just boggles my mind that they did 22 of them. 5.5 mill is a low low number to get these locomotives fixed. I think they are just talking about replacing the wire and not labor and time lost.

[QUOTE=telecomguy;1372 If the minimum wage was raised higher, they could make more money working at McDonalds and wouldn't feel the need to steal. :-)[/QUOTE]

If I could make 5 million working at Mcdonalds, then thats where I would work..minimu wage goes up, so does the price of everything..if minimum wage goes up $2, my wage doesnt go up at all...boo min wages n booooooo raising them...

I hope these guys get 20 yrs, but they wont...they deserve more, but hey this is the land of the free

I think they have some kind of repair facility. might even be where they retire some of them,not sure.

Sorry to confuse anyone, but my sarcasm is a little thick sometimes. It just amazes me that everyone in today's culture wants to blame someone/something else. Now we have the sheriff's office trying to explain away the reason someone committed a crime. Grrr...

"If there was not a market for it and there wasn't individuals who are willing to pay the money top dollar for it, it wouldn't be as fruitful as it is now,"

Interesting. Exact same quote could apply to luxury car theft, but I've never heard anyone stupid enough to say it.

Originally Posted by PistoneScrapProcessing

This story is crazy. This copper is Number 2 tin plated by the way. These locomotives had to be in storage for an extended period of time. I am not going to share how much copper is in that SD40-2 but its more then a ton. The copper is over 1 and 1/2 inches thick and very hard to maneuver around. There are also wire ways that hold the wire in every foot with two bolts and multiple pieces of plastic. Some runs have 8 wires some have 4. I want to know how long it took them to do it. We usually turn the bases and strip them with the grapple. Doing it by hand would take days and days to do. They had to have help. We are a scrap yard and have all the tools available to break them down as fast as possible and I know how hard it would be to do this. Its just boggles my mind that they did 22 of them. 5.5 mill is a low low number to get these locomotives fixed. I think they are just talking about replacing the wire and not labor and time lost.

after reading a few news reports, it appears that they took the easily available wiring in the engine compartment, which was still probably a lot.

I HATE breaking news, because reporters will say anything just to be the first to say it, then let the facts come out latter.