Closure of the MDLR

Gremlin · Post by **Gremlin** » Sun May 22, 2011 7:12 pm

That's terrible news, both for you and Maxitrax. It's a fairly niche market for this stuff so it should stand out if offered for sale.
It would be a shame to let them win.

Keith S · Post by **Keith S** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:24 pm

I read about that Maxitrack theft and found myself wondering how exactly one steals and makes off with several large live steam engines? Must have been a fairly organized and planned heist. Is there actually a black market in steam toys? I've always felt that steam enthusiasts as a group are a fairly gentle lot, and above this kind of behaviour.

These track vandals however seem to be just bored young troublemakers who have singled out the MDLR for their particular brand of mean-spirited fun. Capture and spanking would probably do them a world of good now as well as in their future lives.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:30 pm

Capture and spanking would probably do them a world of good now as well as in their future lives.

Spanking is for infants to teach them discipline (and therefore respect) - I suspect that this was not the work of infants and Their hands should be cut off!

Keith S · Post by **Keith S** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:42 pm

Hmmm. People in Canada who spank their infants are considered to be worse than Hitler and have their children taken away. That's why you see so many young people doing things like vandalising track. I suspect MDLR's vandals are young people. You underestimate the value of a good spanking, it just might be to late for that now in this case. In Canada we still make use sometimes of leg-hold traps. If MDLR is still interested in fighting the good fight, I can send him some of those. Then you can have the (near) amputation of a limb, and maybe still get in the chance for a spanking before the police show up.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:58 pm

Keith S:53865 wrote:Hmmm. People in Canada who spank their infants are considered to be worse than Hitler and have their children taken away. That's why you see so many young people doing things like vandalising track. I suspect MDLR's vandals are young people. You underestimate the value of a good spanking, it just might be to late for that now in this case. In Canada we still make use sometimes of leg-hold traps. If MDLR is still interested in fighting the good fight, I can send him some of those. Then you can have the (near) amputation of a limb, and maybe still get in the chance for a spanking before the police show up.

An excellent solution!

Unfortunately, here in the UK we are governed by a "Nanny State" authority which finds it far easier to impose a blanket ban on everything than tackle actual problems!

"Child Abuse" is a serious and terrible thing, but a parent administering discipline to a child at an early age just isn't "abuse". However, it's been banned because the authorities are not prepared to tackle the real offenders (who probably carry on offending anyway!)

The "do-gooders" of our society have steadily and systematically destroyed the impact of discipline and in it's wake, respect.
The low life can now literally do as they please with absolutely no fear of any real punishment.

Laws are meant to be put in place for the good of society, and if a person chooses to act outside of those laws for whatever reason - they place themselves "outside" the laws, and become "an outlaw".
As such the laws (ie "rights" accorded to the members of society) should no longer apply until the punishment for the crime has been administered!

Do you know that I can't buy clear meths over the counter because I might be manufacturing "Crack" (or some such crap), and according to a recent law, I can only buy one can of gas at a time - because I might be a "sniffer"!!!!!

Just further examples of the blanket being thrown that affect honest citizens and acheive squat with the actual perpetrators

I could go on, but you get my drift

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sun May 22, 2011 10:29 pm

and being able to join the Army at 16, but having to be 18 to buy Call of Duty ...........

the list of those goes on........

Well said Greg and everyone else

Mrs F Controller · Post by **Mrs F Controller** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:14 pm

Keith&Joanna:53808 wrote:you must have an idea of how they entered the garden ?

electric fences work, the buggers will only touch it once!

or you can get pretty cheap cctv these days, i bet they are local hence the hit twice, camera's whether real or not might be enough to make them think twice, especially as night vision camera's are pretty good these days.

dont give up cus of some sad scumbag.

I quite agree with all the things everyone said and try not to let the b******ds drag you down. I do think that you shouldn't give in and I think a bit of concrete and a nice bit of electric fencing would help enormously. Our electric fencing to stop the dogs/cats/foxes etc has really worked, plus it blends in with the railway nicely. I'd seriously think of giving it a go again. Look out on ebay too, you never know.

Keith S · Post by **Keith S** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:30 am

Would mains power travel in peco track without starting a fire? That would teach them a lesson.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:29 am

Keith S:53895 wrote:Would mains power travel in peco track without starting a fire? That would teach them a lesson.

It most certainly would - and even though they were trespassing, were grabbing the rails in act of vandalism and theft - the law would still be on their side!

IMHO, as soon as someone sets foot on your property without permission, they deserve all they get. Touch something that doesn't belong to them and they should be fair game, and if they steal something then they should receive no quarter.

An Englishman's home is his castle????????????????????????????

maxnod · Post by **maxnod** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:27 am

Sad news, Brian.
Illegitimi non carborundum!

Don't let them win!

Tony S

James-Buzz · Post by **James-Buzz** » Mon May 23, 2011 3:34 pm

Keith S:53895 wrote:Would mains power travel in peco track without starting a fire? That would teach them a lesson.

. It would probably melt the sleepers where the track joined.

grumpfuttock · Post by **grumpfuttock** » Mon May 23, 2011 5:48 pm

Oh Brian, I'm so sorry to read of the latest attack on your railway, and saddened by your decision to give up your railway, but I can understand your decision, I think I would too. I have seen phots and articles about the MDLR over the years, and have always found the location and railway so attractive.

Even if the track was secured in cement, it still means having to carry buildings in and out everytime the railway is used, and just someone messing up a couple of turnout blades would cause a fair bit of inconvenience.

I do love the electric fence, or electrified track ideas suggested in this thread.

I have dreaded a similar occurance here for a number of years, as our garden is easily accessible and the railway fairly visible to passers-by.
New Years Eve over here is a time when all the local and not so local kids and have a sort of licence to go around removing stuff from outside peoples houses and from their gardens... a old tradition of New Year pranks which used to be quite innocent, but unfortunately has, in recent years, turned into licenced vandalism. One time we had our telephone cable ripped out of the wall, and they also attempted to rip out the main power cable from the house.
Now I will never leave the house on New Years Eve, and end up spending hours watching the movements of everybody, ready to defend my property :( Feasible (but a pain) for just one night, but not possible all the year round

It would really serve them right if you booby trapped your garden, but I guess you could end up in deeper trouble. I seem to remember a case of a house owner in Essex who was constantly being harrassed by a gang of youths who kept breaking into his house, so in the end he booby trapped the house, and when one of them got injured and took him to court, the householder ended up with a prison sentence (as far as I can remember), where's the justice in that ?

I do hope the person / people who ruined your railway meet with a very unpleasant occurrence (put very mildly) sometime soon. :evil:

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:35 pm

It would really serve them right if you booby trapped your garden, but I guess you could end up in deeper trouble.

I've been giving this some thought, surely any injuries sustained would have to be proven to be caused intentionally?
I'm getting at the old "discarded garden rake gag" idea - if the Anti Intruder Measures were subtle enough, they'd simply be "accidents" that would have been avoided if the perp's had stayed out of the garden!?

"Sorry officer, the wire fence is just a boundry marker - how the mains feed to the nearby pond pump came into contact with it I just don't know! Perhaps the intruders did it while trespassing and vandalising my property - can I claim compensation for that?"

LMS-Jools · Post by **LMS-Jools** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:43 pm

Well well Officer fancy that bloke finding that old WW2 grenade, must av been buried in me garden since the war, an all an all.

Most surprised it was still explosive after all these years.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:46 pm

LMS-Jools:53932 wrote:Well well Officer fancy that bloke finding that old WW2 grenade, must av been buried in me garden since the war, an all an all. :shock:

Most surprised it was still explosive after all these years. :?

That's the idea! A.I.M high!

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:16 pm

Well well Officer fancy that bloke finding that old WW2 grenade .... Most surprised it was still explosive after all these years.

:D :lol: :lol: :D :D

I know this isnt a laughing matter :( but I did find that comment rather amusing :D However dont you think that if one of them was to go off within the railway boundary it do even more damage? but I suppose it would teach the yob/scum/b**tard an important lesson

:lol:

Endless, Nameless · Post by **Endless, Nameless** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:33 pm

Someone elsewhere suggested either wiring a burgular alarm either directly to the track, or to a fine wire run around the trackbed. Switched somewhere in the house so you can turn it off for maintenance/ running. Seemed a reasonable suggestion to me but does involve a fair amount of effort, since it does at the very least require jumpers across every fishplate joint- one easier to implement at the building stage than retrospectively I suspect.

Of course, if you want to run electric trains on an unusually high voltage system, that you forgot to switch off last night, sorry officer, then go for DC as opposed to AC. Prevention is better than cure

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:33 pm

And it would just hose down! - precisely what I think when the arrogant yobs insist on sauntering out into the road in front of my van expecting me to brake or move for them!

A quick message to all the DECENT youths out there who belong to or might read this Forum - "Thank You"!

Endless, Nameless · Post by **Endless, Nameless** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:38 pm

Narrow Minded:53936 wrote:And it would just hose down! - precisely what I think when the arrogant yobs insist on sauntering out into the road in front of my van expecting me to brake or move for them!

They soon stop sauntering when instead of hitting the anchors you drop a cog and boot it, not that I'd advocate such practice.

Not an option in the Land Rover, that just makes it make more noise, with no apreciable change in velocity. For some reason people don't seem keen to walk in front of it though, can't think why...

90733 · Post by **90733** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:48 pm

I'm a 'yoof', but I'm the type of youth that would be knocking on your door asking if i can run on your railway, rather than nicking it

Garden Railway Forum

Closure of the MDLR

Who is online