Teenager tried to hijack train
CD
By Ian Haberfield and Carly Crawford
June 13, 2004
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9829343%5E26462,00.html
A TEENAGE train buff staged his own version of the Great Train Robbery when
he was caught trying to steal a Melbourne commuter train while dressed as a
Connex driver and carrying an official set of keys.
The elaborate heist failed only because alert staff went to investigate why
the locomotive's engine was running.
The youth ran from the workers but police arrested and charged Daniel
Crawford, a former Connex attendant, with stealing uniforms and radios and
duplicating keys.
Connex and police said Crawford, now 20, planned to drive the 260-tonne
train from the Newport rail yards to Flinders St Station.
Crawford had used the uniforms and equipment to gain access to train cabs
and other secure locations and dupe staff into believing he was a Connex
employee. It is believed he was only one of a group of teenage train buffs
who have acquired, and are prepared to sell, train keys, uniforms and other
equipment.
Crawford was also caught allegedly making fake concession cards and printing
unauthorised tickets.
He faced 53 charges including theft, burglary and obtaining property by
deception at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in April, and received a good
behaviour bond.
The revelations follow a Sunday Herald Sun report revealing teenagers were
allowed to drive commuter trains under supervision of drivers. A police
probe found at least two drivers let youths drive suburban trains in
2002-03, sources said.
Connex said yesterday it did not know how many sets of keys had been sold by
the gang but the State Government has announced it will conduct an urgent
safety audit.
Crawford claimed yesterday he had never driven a train and denied planning
to take one to Flinders St. But police and another gang member confirmed
that Crawford was caught behind the controls early this year.
Crawford has admitted he has often ridden in the drivers' cabins of commuter
trains.
James Morgan, 18, who told police about Crawford's activities, pleaded
guilty to seven charges in Melbourne Magistrates' Court in May, including
theft from cars, possessing stolen property and possessing an explosive
substance. He says he saw unsupervised youths, including Crawford, moving
trains at the Newport yards and estimated that up to 10 sets of keys had
been copied and sold.
"I'd go down there and they would roll up in a train to meet me," Mr Morgan
said.
He had thought Crawford was a driver and surrendered to police after
realising he was not.
"It was frightening for me as a passenger to know that this could be
happening at the front of my train," he said.
Another teenager, now 17, was also charged and dealt with in the Children's
Court. Among the charges was possession of an explosive, a railway safety
detonator.
Opposition Transport spokesman Terry Mulder said commuters would be shocked
teenagers could access train controls.
"We have a combination of kids with keys and kids with explosives," he said.
"There needs to be an investigation so commuters know the system is safe. At
the moment, it's clearly not."
Transport Minister Peter Batchelor said a safety audit would begin within
weeks, covering access to drivers' cabins, signalling equipment, uniforms
and keys.
Connex communications manager Lea Jaensch said the company had no record of
anyone being caught at the controls of a train at the Newport yards.
"We acted promptly to recognise there was a problem with this individual,
which resulted in a thorough investigation both internally and by the
police," Ms Jaensch said.
"Staff are required to return uniforms on termination of their employment.
Key distribution is registered and keys are returned on termination of
employment. Keys are also marked to instruct locksmiths not to cut
duplicates without authorisation from Connex.
" And we are in regular contact with the police to discuss issues of
security of train infrastructure."
A teenage train enthusiast who blew the whistle on the frightening practice
of children driving commuter trains in Victoria has described the practice
as rife.
Melbourne student and keen rail fan James Morgan, 18, says teenagers
frequently ride with drivers in the cabins of Melbourne commuter trains,
sometimes operating the controls.
"Drivers put their friends and family behind the wheel. It's not uncommon;
it's rife," he said.
Mr Morgan was one of three teenagers charged by police as part of an inquiry
into the Newport rail yards, where youths allegedly made duplicates of
stolen keys, manufactured train tickets, stole railway equipment and
conductors' uniforms.
Mr Morgan said he had witnessed others move trains while they were in the
cabins with no supervision.
Morgan's webpage provides a discussion forum for enthusiasts and advice
about how to drive trains and read railway signals.
Sunday Herald Sun
Peter Ware
>Connex and police said Crawford, now 20, planned to drive the 260-tonne
>train from the Newport rail yards to Flinders St Station.
>
>
>
Forgive my ignorance (not being a train driver) but I would have thought
that hijacking a train stored in a yard
to drive it to Flinders St would be like hijacking an elevator to take
it to another building.
To succeed the hijacker would need help to take control of signal boxes
and control rooms to give
his hijacked train the road from the storage yard to his intended
destination - unless he indended to bluff his
way through various level of system control.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
To reply to me direct, remove one of the "w"s from the return address
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
CD
news:07pAc.152$eg7....@nnrp1.ozemail.com.au...
> CD wrote:
>
> >Connex and police said Crawford, now 20, planned to drive the 260-tonne
> >train from the Newport rail yards to Flinders St Station.
> >
> Forgive my ignorance (not being a train driver) but I would have thought
> that hijacking a train stored in a yard
> to drive it to Flinders St would be like hijacking an elevator to take
> it to another building.
>
> To succeed the hijacker would need help to take control of signal boxes
> and control rooms to give
> his hijacked train the road from the storage yard to his intended
> destination - unless he indended to bluff his
> way through various level of system control.
>
But yes, I think "steal" would have been a more suitable word to use, rather
than "hijack".
CD
Garry Bryant
> Teenager tried to hijack train
> By Ian Haberfield and Carly Crawford
> June 13, 2004
Hmm. I did a bit of Googling, and was surprised to find out that one
of those involved, if I'm not mistaken, is the "Lead Developer" of
railpage.com.au. What's also surprising is that some people on the
forums there are making excuses for them. Whenever we see a story
about vandals getting killed on the rails, there's universal
celebration at those who had it coming. Yet when a few railfans are
involved in the much more dangerous act of attempting to steal a
train, we start hearing the old "they're just kids" defence and
attacks on the accuracy of the story.
Incidentally, what is the relationship between railpage.com.au and
railpage.org.au? I've enjoyed visiting the latter over the years and
wouldn't like to think that train thieves are involved in running it.
Gazza
CD
"Garry Bryant" <gaz...@operamail.com> wrote in message
news:b6b77317.04061...@posting.google.com...
> "CD" <loco_d...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<40d1bd7f$0$6202$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > Teenager tried to hijack train
> > By Ian Haberfield and Carly Crawford
> > June 13, 2004
>
> Hmm. I did a bit of Googling, and was surprised to find out that one
> of those involved, if I'm not mistaken, is the "Lead Developer" of
> railpage.com.au. What's also surprising is that some people on the
> forums there are making excuses for them. Whenever we see a story
> about vandals getting killed on the rails, there's universal
> celebration at those who had it coming. Yet when a few railfans are
> involved in the much more dangerous act of attempting to steal a
> train, we start hearing the old "they're just kids"
With luck, these naughty little boy will spend 12 months being someone's
bitch in prison.
CD
Tony Gatt
Albert Alcoceba
wrote:
>Hmm. I did a bit of Googling, and was surprised to find out that one
>of those involved, if I'm not mistaken, is the "Lead Developer" of
>railpage.com.au. What's also surprising is that some people on the
>forums there are making excuses for them. Whenever we see a story
>about vandals getting killed on the rails, there's universal
>celebration at those who had it coming. Yet when a few railfans are
>involved in the much more dangerous act of attempting to steal a
>train, we start hearing the old "they're just kids" defence and
>attacks on the accuracy of the story.
The story is full of inaccuracies. It has totally misquoted James
Morgan who was the sad victim of the whole affair and did nothing
wrong. James Morgan alerted authorities to what Crawford was
attempting to do.
James Morgan is one of the lead developers of railpage.com.au (the web
site that newspaper article claims to teach people to drive and steal
trains). As he has done nothing wrong and is the victim of a
sensationalist smear campaign by the paper his association with
railpage.com.au should be of no concern.
Crawford on the other hand...
Albert Alcoceba
<><
alb...@REMOVE.ihug.com.au
http://aussietrains.fotopic.net/
Remove REMOVE
Tony Gatt
"Albert Alcoceba" <alb...@REMOVE.ihug.com.au> wrote in message
news:gfl5d0pk1fso6nr0r...@4ax.com...
> On 17 Jun 2004 16:57:32 -0700, gaz...@operamail.com (Garry Bryant)
> wrote:
>
> >Hmm. I did a bit of Googling, and was surprised to find out that one
> >of those involved, if I'm not mistaken, is the "Lead Developer" of
> >railpage.com.au. What's also surprising is that some people on the
> >forums there are making excuses for them. Whenever we see a story
> >about vandals getting killed on the rails, there's universal
> >celebration at those who had it coming. Yet when a few railfans are
> >involved in the much more dangerous act of attempting to steal a
> >train, we start hearing the old "they're just kids" defence and
> >attacks on the accuracy of the story.
>
> The story is full of inaccuracies. It has totally misquoted James
> Morgan who was the sad victim of the whole affair and did nothing
> wrong. James Morgan alerted authorities to what Crawford was
> attempting to do.
Depends on who you can believe. if the newspaper article is so inaccurate,
why has a retraction not been printed?
Surely the evidence would be there, and the newspaper would be liable, as no
retraction request has been made, then...
Bauie
Not suprising. GOD aka David Bromage, one of the head people of
railpage, advocated putting detonators on the track to celebrate the
run of a last train recently.
Emails to him went unreplied, as a result his posts are now being
monitored by rail officials.
Railpage forums are fine for those that like little tin Gods censoring
their posts.
Mark
Ms_Squiggles
Since when has a media organisation started allowing the truth to control what
goes into a news story???
--
Pippa
Mark Newton
> Depends on who you can believe. if the newspaper article is so
> inaccurate, why has a retraction not been printed? Surely the
> evidence would be there, and the newspaper would be liable, as no
> retraction request has been made, then...
You couldn't possibly be THAT naive, could you???
Tony Gatt
"Mark Newton" <mark_new...@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:40D34798...@optusnet.com.au...
and then backflipped on nearly every statement made by the press. There was
no statements made about the inaccuracies of the article until after he
started copping a hammering from his fellow gunzels.
Since the adverse publicity started, he's now screaming 'victim of the
press'. I would have thought that would have been made very clear from the
first post...
Tony Gatt
"Bauie" <mar...@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:a56be259.04061...@posting.google.com...
Thats is not suprising, I have not seen an email or PM reply from him in
over 6 months.
> Railpage forums are fine for those that like little tin Gods censoring
> their posts.
There is an alternative...
http://forums.railmedia.com.au
The posting guidelines are here:
http://forums.railmedia.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=2
In 90 posts the only censorship has been to words not permitted for teenage
audiences ;)
Roy Rogers
Roy
David Bromage
> Not suprising. GOD aka David Bromage, one of the head people of
> railpage, advocated putting detonators on the track to celebrate the
> run of a last train recently.
Correct. A line of dets is the traditional way to farewell a last train.
Cheers
David
Matthew Geier
Back when the NSW local hauled trains were being withdrawn I rode on a
number of 'last trains'. They all left their 'terminal' stations with the
loud bangs of the SM's entire stock of dets....
Usually it was railway staff, often the station staff themselves, down
there laying the dets out, it wasn't rail fans with a stolen box of dets.
Rail 'fans' stealing detonators probably isn't a real problem anyway -
most they are going to do with them is sit the canester next to their PC
and admire them for a while.
More serious was that 'gang' of kids in Sydney a few years back who out
of an exclusive Nth Sydney private school were running a racket in dets
stolen out of Suburban trains with the use of stolen/copied ETR
safeworking keys. The kids were opening the things up to get explosive out
to make their own little bombs. Wonder more of them didn't get injured.
Albert Alcoceba
wrote:
Usually staggered between up and down side rails.
Bauie
Completely missing the point here.
Bromage advocated an illegal activity, (railfans procuring and using dets)
The post was in contravention of his own railpage posting rules.
Mark
David Bromage
> dbro...@omni.com.au (David Bromage) wrote in message news:<ca7386a3.04061...@posting.google.com>...
> > mar...@iprimus.com.au (Bauie) wrote in message news:<a56be259.04061...@posting.google.com>...
> > > Not suprising. GOD aka David Bromage, one of the head people of
> > > railpage, advocated putting detonators on the track to celebrate the
> > > run of a last train recently.
> >
> > Correct. A line of dets is the traditional way to farewell a last train.
>
No, you are.
> Bromage advocated an illegal activity, (railfans procuring and using dets)
Here are my exact words on the subject:
"Whichever one is deemed to be the last service, it needs to be sent
off in the traditional "last train" manner, i.e. a chalked message on
the front and a line of dets."
Where did I advocate an illegal activity?
Cheers
David
Antonio Gomes
> > >forums there are making excuses for them. Whenever we see a story
> > >about vandals getting killed on the rails, there's universal
> > >celebration at those who had it coming. Yet when a few railfans are
> > >involved in the much more dangerous act of attempting to steal a
> > >train, we start hearing the old "they're just kids" defence and
> > >attacks on the accuracy of the story.
> >
Put shit on one "kind" Yet Make excuses for the other...
You gunzels can be absolute fucking losers...
sean
this newsgroup and that have taken it apon them selfs to email admins of
railway websites telling them it 'encourages train hijacking' I have a
special message for you:
Get fucked and get a life and stop sooking about it!
sean
"CD" <loco_d...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40d1bd7f$0$6202$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
Greg Rudd
> The guys a wanker (Crawford), and to all the wankers out there that watch
> this newsgroup and that have taken it apon them selfs to email admins of
> railway websites telling them it 'encourages train hijacking' I have a
> special message for you:
> Get fucked and get a life and stop sooking about it!
Are you having a dig at RailCorp management are you ????
--
Greg Rudd
Spam Bait
sean
"Greg Rudd" <gr...@usyd.edu.au> wrote in message
news:cb9062$4h5$1...@spacebar.ucc.usyd.edu.au...
> sean wrote:
>
> > The guys a wanker (Crawford), and to all the wankers out there that
watch
> > this newsgroup and that have taken it apon them selfs to email admins of
> > railway websites telling them it 'encourages train hijacking' I have a
> > special message for you:
>
>
>
> > Get fucked and get a life and stop sooking about it!
>
> Are you having a dig at RailCorp management are you ????
>
websites.
Damien Tinker
"sean" <se...@boxen.net.hack> wrote in message
news:iETBc.49497$sj4....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...