# My Railroad "Disaster" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135 "2011-09-13T03:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/1 "2011-09-13T03:24:19Z")
After reading today’s “classic” column : [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/592/what-does-do-not-hump-mean-on-the-side-of-railroad-cars](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/592/what-does-do-not-hump-mean-on-the-side-of-railroad-cars) I was reminded of the railroad “Disaster” I caused some time back in the early 80’s. I was in my lower teens, and I was out walking with my friend along the tracks of the Long Island Railroad. It was a summer weeknight, and it was probably 2 A.M. We found a piece of metal cable, probably steel. It was about 3 feet long. So I asked my friend, “Hey, what do you think would happen if we throw the cable on the track so that it touches the ‘third’ rail and one of the regular rails?” The third rail, for those who have never seen one, runs down the middle between two parallel sets of tracks, and it provides the power for the electric trains of the LIRR. So, my buddy throws the cable and it lands perfectly. There was a huge shower of sparks, and the cable was arc-welded to the rails. The crossing gates came down at New Hyde Park Road and Covert Avenue. It seems that the “automatic” system thought that there was a train there, so it brought the gates down, and it would not let trains through that stretch of track. It took the railroad workers about 8 hours to repair the damage. It snarled the morning commute for 10’s of thousands of commuters that day. Also, they had to post police at the lowered gates to direct traffic around the gates. I never got caught, and I am only coming clean now since the statute of limitations has to have run out after 25-27 years right? So if you are from Long Island and you remember this event from around 1983, now you know what happened. Also, coincidentally, this is very near the point where Colin Ferguson went nuts and opened fire on a train, killing 6 and wounding 19, about 10 years later, as discussed here:[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin\_Ferguson\_(mass\_murderer)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Ferguson_(mass_murderer)) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/2 "2011-09-13T05:03:03Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > So if you are from Long Island and you remember this event from around 1983, now you know what happened. My uncle probably had to clean up that mess. He was an electrician for the LIRR, and after I tell him your story he’s going to hunt you down and kick your ass! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/3 "2011-09-13T13:54:05Z")
Our hijinks were limited to putting pennies on the rails, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/4 "2011-09-13T14:39:55Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Also, coincidentally, this is very near the point where Colin Ferguson went nuts and opened fire on a train, killing 6 and wounding 19, about 10 years later, as discussed here:[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin\_Ferguson\_(mass\_murderer)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Ferguson_(mass_murderer)) I was on the 5:33 that night; however, my wife and I changed at Jamaica for the train to Long Beach. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/5 "2011-09-13T15:27:09Z")
Reported for promoting illegal drug use. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/6 "2011-09-13T16:14:08Z")
What did you do when you saw the result? Presumably you ran for it? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/7 "2011-09-13T17:47:03Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Reported for promoting illegal drug use. Are you in the right thread? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/8 "2011-09-13T17:51:17Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Are you in the right thread? It’s a good thread for a meh whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/9 "2011-09-13T17:51:26Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Reported for promoting illegal drug use. Can’t you see he’s just trying to get help?? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/10 "2011-09-13T17:53:36Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Can’t you see he’s just trying to get help?? Sorry. The thing is, throwing cables on third rails is more a mental addiction than physical. I kicked the habit myself when I stopped hanging out with cable dealers. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/11 "2011-09-13T18:05:05Z")
Is there a Cable Throwers Anonymous on Long Island? Thats where I would start if I was trying to kick the habit/addiction. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/12 "2011-09-13T21:43:14Z")
I’d still be wary of admitting to this. In all the traffic backups you caused, it seems very likely that at least one emergency vehicle was seriously delayed. Someone could have died due to your “adorable” childhood prank. You still sound proud of this shit; I’m surprised this sobering possibility hasn’t occurred to you. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/13 "2011-09-13T21:54:00Z")
He promises he’ll never do it again. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/14 "2011-09-13T22:34:22Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Is there a Cable Throwers Anonymous on Long Island? Thats where I would start if I was trying to kick the habit/addiction. 1. We admitted we were powerless over railroad shorting—that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of the cable collections in our basement. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7 Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 7. Made a list of all railroads, railroad workers, and commuters we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 8. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them, others, or cause delays on the line. 9. Continued to take personal inventory and when we we found a metal cable promptly discarded it. 10. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 11. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to railroad shorters, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/15 "2011-09-13T23:03:48Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I’d still be wary of admitting to this. In all the traffic backups you caused, it seems very likely that at least one emergency vehicle was seriously delayed. Someone could have died due to your “adorable” childhood prank. You still sound proud of this shit; I’m surprised this sobering possibility hasn’t occurred to you. Actually, I can gaurantee that nothing of the sort happened, since we hid in the bushes until the cops showed up to direct traffic around the gates, and saw no ambulances come by in that time, as well as the fact that the nearest hospital has 3 railroad crossings closer than the two that we blocked. The closest railroad crossing to the hospital has an overpass to ensure that ambulances never get blocked by trains. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/16 "2011-09-13T23:07:39Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > What did you do when you saw the result? Presumably you ran for it? No, we actually hid in the bushes until the cops showed up, and then we ran for it through peoples back-yards. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/17 "2011-09-14T17:29:46Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Actually, I can gaurantee that nothing of the sort happened, since we hid in the bushes until the cops showed up to direct traffic around the gates, and saw no ambulances come by in that time, as well as the fact that the nearest hospital has 3 railroad crossings closer than the two that we blocked. The closest railroad crossing to the hospital has an overpass to ensure that ambulances never get blocked by trains. > [@](#): > > It snarled the morning commute for 10’s of thousands of commuters that day Which of these is true? You weren’t hidden in the bushes all day long. You also don’t know whether you delayed someone who was having a medical emergency without an ambulance (like say, a woman’s water just broke and her hubby was driving her to the ER). You could have gotten someone fired because they were late to work. I’m not sure why you created this thread, if you didn’t expect to get called on doing something monumentally fucking stupid and thoughtless. It’s not even relevant whether what you did was legal/illegal. I’m trying to make you aware that what you did was an immoral, shitbag thing to do, because you still don’t seem to understand that. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/18 "2011-09-14T17:47:40Z")
And just to prove there are no hard feelings, she knitted you a lovely hairshirt. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/19 "2011-09-14T19:02:50Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Which of these is true? You weren’t hidden in the bushes all day long. You also don’t know whether you delayed someone who was having a medical emergency without an ambulance (like say, a woman’s water just broke and her hubby was driving her to the ER). You could have gotten someone fired because they were late to work. > > I’m not sure why you created this thread, if you didn’t expect to get called on doing something monumentally fucking stupid and thoughtless. It’s not even relevant whether what you did was legal/illegal. I’m trying to make you aware that what you did was an immoral, shitbag thing to do, because you still don’t seem to understand that. It’s also possible that, because you delayed traffic, you saved someone’s life by preventing them from making it to a specific intersection until after a car dangerously ran a red light across the intersection from the cross street. However, you could never prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135/20 "2011-09-14T20:30:58Z")
My dad and his friend once derailed a locomotive by laying a railroad spike on the rail. They got caught (because they were standing right there to see what would happen) and were threatened with multiple felonious charges because it was during WWII when tampering with the rails was not a joking matter. I’m not sure what his eventual punishment was; the ending of the story always got kinda vague… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-railroad-disaster/596135.md?page=2)