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Comment by cesaref

2 days ago

>so how do you get a privately owned train car and get it to the tracks or etc?

I think you wait in a remote bit of Nevada for a train to pass, and trigger a rock fall which causes the driver to slam on the brakes and bring the train to a stop just short of the rockfall.

Then, you and your posse jump out from behind some rocks and fire your revolvers in the air, and the driver sticks his hands up. There's much celebration, and back slapping as you discover the train also happens to have a massive amount of gold bullion on board.

The rest is a bit blurry, can't remember seeing what you then do, but it probably involves filing down the serial numbers on the frame or something like that?

9 comments

cesaref

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immibis  2 days ago

> Having worked at a railroad, I will say it’s comically easy to steal a train, for instance. They all have the same key, which is basically just a plastic rod.

> The argument of the railroads is... okay, you have our train. Now what? You either go forward or you go backward, and we know where both those directions go.

[credit: thanatos_dem]

  • FridayoLeary  2 days ago

    Well if you're Tintin you'll use it to catch up with the train in front and when that doesn't work, accidentally blow it up... Tintin in america is a great parody of 1930's Midwestern united states and the gangster culture of Chicago.

IAmBroom  2 days ago

I work for rail.

That's pretty much it.

The serial numbers are on the axle bearing covers, BTW.

  • aspenmayer  2 days ago

    Do train cars ever go missing? What’s the procedure for missing rail equipment?

    • bombcar  1 day ago

      They actually do get lost quite often. There’s quite a bit of law around ownership of rail, cars, requirements, and maintenance and who’s in control and who’s in charge. All those numbers you see on the side of it are part of the tracking to figure out where things are.

jvm___  2 days ago

The bad guys are driving their train when a cop train shows up in the mirrors behind their train.

Cop walks up to the window and asks for their license and registration please. Another shootout occurs followed by a multi-track multi-train police chase, but everyone needs to stay on their respective train tracks.