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| Caboose sits outside the Rail Center south fence |
The rail center is just a hop-skip-and-jump from the big field that used to be the candy building, which is next door to St. Anne's Center. While we have a fence around the south end of the center, there isn't enough room in the center to put everything behind the fence, which is not hard to get around or over anyway.
While I have the utmost sympathy for the homeless, it is a sad truth that people who hang around the St. Anne's Center, not to mention gangs and kids who live nearby, have been known to vandalize things, steal metal to sell and tag with gang symbols.
So protective surveillance is a good thing, although just how closely the dispatchers can watch the rail yard is unknown.
It's a big city, they have a lot to do.
OPD has cameras all over Ogden as part of its effort to keep an eye on crime (Standard-Examiner had a story in 2011-click here) and even wanted to put a blimp in the air with a camera at one point in time. But unless someone sees the crime happening, and sends a cop, the camera doesn't do much good except document what happens and, it is hoped, make the vandals feel a little self-conscious..
Still, the Utah State Railroad Museum has a lot of valuable stuff in that back lot, keeping it safe is a good goal, we thank the OPD for helping out.
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| Back end of the Golden Spike Centennial car |
I was down there last week, and was wondering between trains, when a bum crawled out from underneath one of the trains. I about dropped cameras and all gear right there. But the real disturbing thing was; the bum didn't run off, he just stood there, staring. Fortunately I was not alone. There was so much activity, down there, that day; w/ weddings, Prom, and tourists, I was very shocked to see a facsimile of older days on "2 bit street". In this case; I hope Mr Big has all eyes everywhere.
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