UK rail theft 'to order'

[John Ashworth]

£80,000 worth of metal track stolen from railway

Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Published Date: 27 April 2009

Thieves are believed to have plundered about £80,000 of metal and cabling from Northampton & Lamport Railway over the course of a week.

A massive haul of railway equipment, including 1,200 metal track plates, 900 cast iron brace plates and 500 cast iron point chairs, as well as "several miles" of steel signalling cable, has been reported missing.

Northamptonshire Police said yesterday scrap metal dealers and heritage railway organisations around the country should be on the lookout for traders offering them similar equipment.

A spokesman for the force said: "The items were all stored on pallets in fields off Pitsford Road, Chapel Brampton. They would have had a massive combined weight, though the offenders may have returned over the course of a week – between Wednesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 22 – taking their haul bit by bit.

"These items had been stored by the railway to use in any repairs that are needed in the future.

"Police are asking scrapyards whether they have been offered these items for sale and are also appealing to other heritage railways to be vigilant to anyone offering to sell them similar parts."

It is estimated the haul was worth between £70,000 and £80,000. The theft comes two years after £3,000 worth of damage was caused when burglars broke in to steal copper cables.

John Gardner, who volunteers each year to portray the Fat Controller at the attraction's Thomas the Tank Engine events, said the theft was likely to have a big impact on the future of Northampton & Lamport Railway.

He said: "£80,000 is an enormous amount to lose and I'm very sad that this has happened again.

"The railway is run by a wonderful band of people who do it voluntarily for the good of local families and children, and they have to contend with setbacks like this.

"I know several events had to be put back when the copper cables were stolen, but this amount far exceeds that and will have a massive impact.

"Replacing this stock will now, I suspect, have to take precedence over a couple of other things which I know were in the pipeline for this year."

Lamport railway theft 'may have been to order'

Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Published Date: 29 April 2009

The theft of £80,000 worth of metal and cabling from Northampton & Lamport Railway could have been carried out to order, the attraction's manager has claimed.

Railway equipment, including 500 chairs, 900 cast iron brace plates, 1,200 metal track plates and several miles of steel signalling cable, which were stored on pallets in Chapel Brampton, were stolen from the site, and police suggested the items could have been taken over the course of a week because of their massive combined weight.

Northampton & Lamport Railway manager, Simon Crow, said that without the items which were taken the organisation would now be unable to finish the railway's southern extension.

He said: "With the way it's been done and the things which have been taken, we think it's been done to order. They obviously wanted specific items and stepped over other items to get to them. We don't think it's for scrap.

"We're absolutely gutted about it but it won't affect our operations in any way.

"We're insured for a certain amount of money but we think if we get anything at all from the insurers it'll probably be £5,000 or £10,000, which leaves us about £65,000 short.

"Some of the items we won't be able to replace because they're pieces that Network Rail no longer produce. It's absolutely despicable. I can't put it into words."

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said the force was still investigating the crime, thought to have taken place between April 15 and April 22, but no arrests have been made.

He said: "Our inquiries are continuing. The incident would have taken a team of people and they may have had to do it over several days."