and this is part of the dilemma: there remains a legitimate need for proper recycling. There isn't a rail preservation operation I've dealt with that didn't need, or at least have a use for, the money from recycling leftover junk, be it a bucket of copper saw shavings or a locomotive. Heck, I'll even defend the folks that collect aluminum cans from the trash and roadsides.

The problem is the "scum" that pilfers stuff and shows up with a beat-up truck loaded with stuff on the scale. Try as I might, the only solution I can come up with is registration of customers and mailing of checks. I wonder if some high-profile gunpoint robberies of some scrap merchants would push them more towards a cashless business model......

Incidentally, yesterday I "apprehended" and turned over to a passing police cruiser a disheveled individual on Falls Road in Baltimore that was walking around one of the stored Philly PCC streetcars with a pair of wire cutters......... and had bags of "stuff" stashed in the weeds near his bicycle...........

Hear, hear.....

It isn't just metal, it's also any high priced electronic devices that are located in places where the security is marginal. Friends who work for the local power company tell me their support facilities are getting hit regularly by thieves who not only take wire but also walk off with any electronic devices that are likely to have a decent resale value. A dealer of expensive motorhomes in our area was the target of professional thieves on a regular basis until he installed motion detecting devices around the perimeter of his property. He pointed out to me that there are now reasonably affordable kits available that have an alarm monitor capable of receiving signals from a batch of hidden battery powered transmitters as much as 1000 feet away. Since his property is fenced and nothing big enough to set off the transmitters should be in there after a certain time at night, he has the alarm kick on a master switch for all the yard lighting as well as sounding an alarm.

Home break ins are also going up and if the economy goes south you can expect a lot more of that.

Back in 1912, Southern Sierras Power Co., a predecessor of Southern Calif. Edison which brought electric service to the Perris-Hemet area (where OERM is now), posted a sign reading "Let Electricity Be Your Watch Dog, Burglars Will Not Raid Where There Is Light." (from "Iron Men and Copper Wires", by William A. Myers.), so the power of light to deter criminals is "nothing new under the sun" or the night sky.

Unfortunately this is going to be a problem for some time to come. The economy here in southern Arizona is taking a good hit from the mortgage bubble busting. I suspect that our neighbors in Nevada are going to see an increase in property crimes as the situation there is getting pretty bad-they're currently up there with Florida leading the nation in foreclosure rates.

Our organization presently has sensor activated lighting which illuminates the yard during dark hours. I don't recall what steps we've taken in the other yards. For us, it's a balancing act as we want to protect the assets to the greatest degree possible, but are wary of making any significant investment in infrastructure as the land involved is leased from the City of Tucson and will eventually be condemned for transportation infrastructure improvement. Our most valuable asset, a restored 1930s vintage Yellow Coach, has been removed from the property and is stored in a secure building through an agreement we have with the Transportation Services of the University of Arizona. We have also deferred acceptance of a donated coach until certain issues can be addressed.

Our operating yard and car barn also have sensor activated lighting. Better yet, the barn area is bordered on the east, west and south sides by bars and restaurants and on the north side by the street and a row of shops and restaurants. Anyone going into or out of the barn can be plainly seen and on busy weekend nights, the immediate area has a high police presence. We also have a high level of interaction with the police due to private vehicles blocking our access gates-the police are very prompt in dealing with these.