By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: Aug. 4, 2012
Thieves targeted the West Coast Railway Heritage Park again, and took off with copper worth $5,000 from a heritage train.
The thieves cut and removed valuable copper cables from the undersides of a coach, disabling the electrical systems that provide the power for the train’s lighting and ventilation systems.
This would be the eighth instance in a string of incidents in which the thieves have targeted copper, a metal whose soaring prices have made it an easy target for thieves across North America.
Earlier this year several other coaches were stripped of their cables, and subsequently repaired at substantial cost to the nonprofit society.
The volunteer nonprofit society is again struggling to find the funds needed to make repairs.
“This latest break in continues to frustrate our staff and volunteers, all of whom work hard to preserve our heritage”, said WCRA President and CEO Don Evans.
“Stealing from a charitable organization and the people who donate their time and expertise is about as low as anyone could go”.
The society is continuing to work on several new ways to better secure the 12 acre Heritage Park site.
Evans said some of these measures are costly, and could not be divulged.
The theft at the West Coast Railway Park wasn’t the only copper theft in the community.
On Thursday, July 26th, police received a report of the theft of copper wire from the Roger’s Tower in the Smoke Bluffs.
Due to the isolated location a potential time of occurrence was not available.
BOAT STOLEN
On Sunday, July 29th, police received a report of an inflatable boat having been stolen from the Yacht Club. The 9.5′ “AB” A1275 boat had a 15 horsepower black and red Mercury outboard attached.
The boat was originally grey in colour but had been painted white and the hull had stripes painted on it. It has an Italian flag was attached to it. It was worth $3,000.
BUSINESS BREAK & ENTER
On Sunday, July 29th, police received a report of an alarm at the Ashlu Creek Hydro Station compound. A fence was cut to gain access and damage was done to numerous cables at the site, possibly with intent to steal wiring.
A 21-year-old Squamish male was arrested a short distance from the scene in possession of property stolen from the location.
The man’s vehicle was seized as it was not insured nor had license plates.
The police investigation in the incident is ongoing.
MichaelL65 says
Does the Railway Park have any security cameras installed? Maybe this is something that the community can help with?