larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) (10/03/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0421m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> roy%phri@uunet.uu.net (Roy Smith) writes: > Then again, maybe it had nothing to do with the strike -- > Metro North (Amtrack commuter service into Grand Central Terminal) > reports continuing problems with people stealing the copper cables > used for their low-voltage signal lines (there is a big black market > in stolen copper, be it stolen cables or copper plumbing stripped from > abandoned buildings). During the 1970's there was a particular problem with thefts of telephone cable in the southwestern U.S., especially Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The target was aerial lead-sheathed toll cable in remote areas of these states. AT&T Long Lines was a particular victim. The modus operandi was for the perpetrators, under cover of darkness, to first cut the suspension strands and remove the lashing wire from a mile or so of cable, allowing the cable to drop to the ground. This portion of the act, being the most time-consuming, did not break electrical continuity and therefore set off any carrier loss-of-pilot alarms. The next step was to cut one end, and then begin cutting the cable into lengths to be loaded into a truck. With several perpetrators, a mile of cable could be cut up and loaded onto a truck LONG BEFORE anyone could localize the fault and dispatch a repair crew. I can just imagine the expression on the faces of a Long Lines crew when they find a mile or so of cable has simply *vanished*! The profit from this enterprise was tempting. A typical lead sheath toll cable, like a type S-54 27-pr 19 AWG, yields about 1/2 pound of copper and 2 pounds of lead per lineal foot. Using late 1970's prices, a 5,000 ft section of cable would yield around 2,500 pounds of copper and 10,000 pounds of lead, with a total metal scrap price of at least $ 3,500.00. Not bad for an evening's work with little risk of apprehension. The combination of some arrests, burying of cable, and declining lead and copper prices caused this activity to diminish, although the problem does reappear from time to time. <> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp. <> UUCP {allegra|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <> TEL 716/688-1231 | 716/773-1700 {hplabs|utzoo|uunet}!/ \uniquex!larry <> FAX 716/741-9635 | 716/773-2488 "Have you hugged your cat today?"
ee5391aa%hydra.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) (10/04/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0425m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> kitty!larry@uunet.uu. net writes: > During the 1970's there was a particular problem with thefts of >telephone cable in the southwestern U.S., especially Arizona, New Mexico >and Texas. The target was aerial lead-sheathed toll cable in remote >areas of these states. AT&T Long Lines was a particular victim. There is a town called Las Vegas, located in northeastern New Mexico. A few years back, when the price of copper was rising exponentially, one of the phone people was driving out to do some routine maintainence on some lines south of town. From up on a hill, he saw four turkeys (human variety) in a pickup truck taking down the copper lines on part of the local distribution net for that rural area. He "phoned home" on the radio, and the Sheriff was dispatched. They caught three of the four without difficulty, but the fourth had disappeared. After a few minutes they found him hiding under the truck. I never heard what happened to those guys, but maybe I don't need to know. Phone home, d "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." -- Mack the Knife Duke McMullan n5gax nss13429r phon505-255-4642 ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu
cramer@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Clayton Cramer) (10/04/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0425m01@vector.dallas.tx.us>, kitty!larry@uunet.uu. net (Larry Lippman) writes: > The modus operandi was for the perpetrators, under cover of > darkness, to first cut the suspension strands and remove the lashing wire > from a mile or so of cable, allowing the cable to drop to the ground. > This portion of the act, being the most time-consuming, did not break > electrical continuity and therefore set off any carrier loss-of-pilot > alarms. The next step was to cut one end, and then begin cutting the > cable into lengths to be loaded into a truck. With several perpetrators, > a mile of cable could be cut up and loaded onto a truck LONG BEFORE anyone > could localize the fault and dispatch a repair crew. A similar problem, though with different motivations, bedeviled the U.S. Army's telegraph lines in the same area in the 1870s and 1880s, and led to the Army's experiments with heliographs. Hostile Indians in the remote parts of the West would cut the Army's telegraph lines. At first, they would just cut the lines and let them fall, but a down line was immediately obvious, and quickly repaired. After a while, the Indians would cut the line, and use strips of rawhide to hold the wire in place. At first glance, it wasn't obvious whether the Indians had cut the wire, or whether a broken wire had been spliced by the Army. Hence, the heliograph. Clayton E. Cramer {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer "The tree of liberty must be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants and patriots alike. It is its natural manure." -- Thomas Jefferson Disclaimer? You must be kidding! No company would hold opinions like mine!
gideony@microsoft.UUCP (Gideon Yuvall) (10/10/89)
Similar things happened in Sinai: the Bedouin would pull out Israeli 'phone-lines, and sell off the copper. One of their lawyers argued that it was unclear who owned Sinai, and that therefore nobody could outlaw this practice. He won the case; after that, the Bedouin would be charged, not with stealing the copper, but with smuggling it into Israel. Gideon Yuval, gideony@microsof.UUCP, 206-882-8080 (fax:206-883-8101;TWX:160520)