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Re: BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!!!!
Author: OldPoleBurner
Date: 03-16-2007 - 21:09
Last night's 11pm news showed a sound byte of a fire chief explaining why they thought the fire was of suspicious origin. Two things were mentioned - The entire length of the wood trestle was intensely involved within minutes of the start of the fire; and (hold your hat on), the Chief mentioned that the trestle was uplifted where the fire started, suggesting an explosion started the fire in the presence of accelerants.
If in fact someone did start it, they sure did seem to known of the strategic importance of this particular structure!
KTVU ch2 has been reporting another suspicious railroad fire in San Jose. They have yet to give enough detail to really know exactly where or what that is about, except that ties are shown burning. That one is also reported to be under investigation.
As to disparaging the use of hindsight - Don't. Its usually 20/20. Its a good thing when we can learn from disasters. We now know to rebuild the trestle, and include pre-installed stand pipes leading to a ready source of water. If it ever happens again, the firemen might have at least a ghost of a chance to minimize damage. Such stand pipes are already common on larger bridges. BART has them in every tunnel! And at every station platform, dry stand pipes are fitted with high power nozzles to drench a burning train, even from underneath the car - where the fires usually happen.
As to the paranoid thought that railfans better lay low - There is no need, since you won't get caught on railroad property if you're not on it! And if you're on public property, even the RR police (who are actual commissioned officers) need probable cause to bother you.
I personally have never had a problem with the UP police. They have indeed been friendly and respectful, even right after 911. They seemed to quickly understand the silliness of all the hysteria - which is more than I can say for the Regional Park Police. Most of my railfanning is conducted from a regional park, But hey, just don't get caught carying a loaded ... camera ... near the railroad, and they won't bother you either.
OPB
If in fact someone did start it, they sure did seem to known of the strategic importance of this particular structure!
KTVU ch2 has been reporting another suspicious railroad fire in San Jose. They have yet to give enough detail to really know exactly where or what that is about, except that ties are shown burning. That one is also reported to be under investigation.
As to disparaging the use of hindsight - Don't. Its usually 20/20. Its a good thing when we can learn from disasters. We now know to rebuild the trestle, and include pre-installed stand pipes leading to a ready source of water. If it ever happens again, the firemen might have at least a ghost of a chance to minimize damage. Such stand pipes are already common on larger bridges. BART has them in every tunnel! And at every station platform, dry stand pipes are fitted with high power nozzles to drench a burning train, even from underneath the car - where the fires usually happen.
As to the paranoid thought that railfans better lay low - There is no need, since you won't get caught on railroad property if you're not on it! And if you're on public property, even the RR police (who are actual commissioned officers) need probable cause to bother you.
I personally have never had a problem with the UP police. They have indeed been friendly and respectful, even right after 911. They seemed to quickly understand the silliness of all the hysteria - which is more than I can say for the Regional Park Police. Most of my railfanning is conducted from a regional park, But hey, just don't get caught carying a loaded ... camera ... near the railroad, and they won't bother you either.
OPB
