Hi everybody.
To bring the topic back on thread, I am sure we are all thankful to the various security services for preventing the possible killing and maiming of many innocent people by preventing this terrorist attack. However, it also brings into perspective the responsibilities we all have in co-operating with police and security personnel whenever anyone is in the vicinity of a railway line, station or any of the associated equipment involved in the safe running of its infrastructure.
This is a forum for railway enthusiasts who very often not only indulge their interest in the running of a railway simulator but may well take it further by travelling by rail whenever possible and/or photographing all and everything involved in the running of those railways. We have all too often on this forum witnessed threads which have had members protesting their right to access a railway and its property to take photographs of all and sundry while not seeing any need for their actions to be questioned in any way.The above detection and prevention of the Canadian/American bomb completely justifies the strict security measures that have come about (especially in Britain and throughout Europe in general) to as far as practically possible ensure the safety of all those employed on the railways, its passengers and those that live adjacent to rail installations.
By example, here in the UK there were quite a number of us on Liverpool, lime Street station last week who witnessed three fairly young adults get a very stern interrogation from the British transport police for taking photographs of the signalling installations from the end of one of the main platforms. This is the second occasion in recent times that I have witnessed such an altercation which on both occasions has resulted in the removal of those taking the photograph from the station. Undoubtedly it probably was purely an innocent action by those involved. They were probably taking the photos for a model railway set up or even a route they are working on in trainz or possibly even Railworks.
However, railway security personnel can never be sure of the forgoing, and while there may be many interrogated and removed from railway property when they were completely innocent, there is in this day and age always going to be just one who is there for anything else but innocent reasons. So next time any member of this forum feels he should post a complaint regarding being questioned for being in the vicinity of railway property just think, the security services have to be lucky all the time, a terrorist has to be lucky only once.
Bill
Posted from London Paddington to Taunton Somerset HSTconsist on approach to my local Somerset station at the end of a very long day.