Metal Thieves Sink To A New Low in Dudley
Another dispicable act which makes me wonder what the world we live in today is coming to. Not so long long back the Midland Metro was targeted by copper metal thieves stealing the overhead power lines and I wonder if Nottingham Express Transit Tram system could be next.
On my last visit to my old haunts I decide to Visit the Black Country Museum in Dudley and noticed that the resident trolleybuses weren't operating. Normally I would board a Walsall or Wolverhampton Corporation trolleybus down to the village but on this occasion I walked down alongside the trolleybuse route. What I noticed was sections of the overhead removed in places and just assumed that the museum's linesmen were carrying out maintenance.
Recently much to my horror, I learned that the trolleybuses were operating until the beginning of 2011. In January 2011 an unscrupulous gang of metal thieves broke into the museum and stole sections of overhead running wire to both the museum's tram and trolleybus routes. These unscrupulous characters should be named and shamed. A few months inside with porridge for breakfast doesn't deter them.
One idea of mine would be to have the current switched on. They would think twice if they received a 550 Volt Direct Current electric shock. No doubt they would get round this by wearing heavy duty rubber gloves. My only real answer if they haven't already done so is to have security cameras installed. Although the museum's tramway has now resumed operation, there are no signs in the forseeable future of the trolleybuses resuming service at the museum. This is sad because much hard work has gone into this lovely museum in every way.
Last edited by ronald224 : 16-03-12 at 01:39 PM.
Reason: spelling correction
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16-03-12, 07:48 AM
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