37905 & 37906 control cards stolen

[The Gricer]

Received this tonight. Spread the word. Someone, somewhere must know something.

Gents,

We need your help to find out who the person (or persons) are who have stolen both sets of GEC 'control cards' from 37905 & 37906. 37905's cards were last seen two weeks ago. 37906 was last used 10th April and the cards noticed stolen on Saturday 14th April.

So the question is who would want these cards as they are of no use to any other class 37 unless its is 37796-37803 or 37905-906. We would like the cards returned ASAP as our locos are of no use without them, and to replace them would cost us in excess of £50,000. Therefore would you all please put the word around that these cards have been stolen from the Severn Valley Railway (37906) and Meldon Quarry (37905).

A reward of £3000 is on offer for information leading to names of the people who have stolen them and the safe return of the cards.

IF YOU ARE THE PERSON WHO HAS STOLEN THEM, PLEASE RETURN THEM ASAP.

The police have been informed and they are taking the theft seriously.

If you have any information that may help the return of the cards, you can contact me via e-mail ([email protected]) or by phone/text (07900 13 21 28 ) .

All we want are the cards back. If you can help, please do it for the better of our locos.

Thanks,
Tony Middleton,
RUSTON906 GROUP (and on behalf of BREL)

Frank

 

[Ascot]

I'll have a look up Kiddie 2moz when i'm up, probably dropped on the floor somewhere i don't know.

 

[Muppet]

Im sure they would have checked over the locos before reporting it as a theft.

 

[Nathan]

Appologies, but what are GEC control cards?

 

[16CSVT2700]

The control cards are the refurbished equivalent of the load regulator and other components on an unrefurbished 37. The parts stolen from 37905 at Meldon Quarry on the Dartmoor Railway and from 37906 at Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway are exclusive to only 10 refurbished 37's and are of absolutely no use to anyone but the owners of these locos, of which I am one. This appears to have been pre-planned and a clear attempt to disable both locos. Who ever did this traveled 100's of miles and knew exactly what they were doing.

The cards look something like this -

http://rugbytown.fotopic.net/p40425455.html

These are the BRUSH cards in 37679. Our cards are marked with a GEC logo. Only 37796-803, 905 & 906 had these cards fitted during 1985/86. All other refurbished 37's had BRUSH cards. What you see in this pic are the front plates of the cards. They slide out of the cupboard and there are printed circuit boards on the back of them, just like in your home PC. The are approximately 10 inches high and go back into the cupboard about a foot deep and plug in at the back.

DC Pete Wilson of Okehampton CID is currently co-ordinating the investigation with involvement from Kidderminster police, for the record the crime ref numbers are:

Kidderminster 22DB-2846CJ-07
Paignton/Okehampton JO/07/350

If you wish to make an anonymous report on anything to do with these thefts, you can also call CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800 555 111 their website is: http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/

We understand the latest is that fingerprints are to be taken from inside the loco's as well. To replace these items will be almost impossible as parts would have to be made new at a cost of around £50k per loco. YES - FIFTY GRAND! The police are taking this VERY seriously and judging by other forum posts the majority of the diesel preservation movement is outraged. What makes this worse is that it is likely to have been perpetrated by 'one of our own' so to speak - maybe a diesel preservationist.

Michael Ratledge
BREL (co-owner of 37905 and 4 others)

 

[Ascot]

Probably why security was tight today then

 

[ChrisCooper]

It's such a shame that preservation so often suffers from these sort of problems that can only be vindictive inside jobs. Then again, from some of the people I've come across in preservation, both trains, buses and other forms, I can think both of the sort of people who would do this sort of thing, and also the sort who would drive people to do this sort of thing (have to say, one group I have the misfortune to be involved with if I was a different person I might have done something similar to their vehicle myself, but then I'd have been as bad as them). Then again, these are only a fairly small minority of people (although sadly, most preservation organisations seem to have one or two), yet it's the majority who suffer.
I suppose the question really is who would benefit from stealing the cards, and really it's only someone who could make use of them (seems very unlikely), or someone who would benefit from preventing or delaying the restoration of the locos.

 

[Muppet]

Appologies, but what are GEC control cards?

If i remeber correctly it stands for General Electric Company?

Its just the Generator they used.

Im not sure on that though.

 

[Ascot]

906 LIVES!!!! and she sounded dreadful!! Haha to the person who took them you didn't stop us running HAHA!!!

She can be seen running hopefully on TS1 this sunday, depends on ammendments etc.. she might be started in the yard, who knows but she's in working traffic now as she just did Bewdley to Kidderminster + a few shunts this evening

 

[Coxster]

That's good news, Ascot.

 

[Dennis]

Some of the cards were replaced using ones recovered from 37802 (one of the Spanish ones IIRC), others sourced from Railpart.

 

[Ascot]

Forgot to mention..

IT has cost us alot of money and WE STILL WANT THE ORIGINALS BACK.

So as said, needing all the help available. Even though it's running doesn't mean it's over!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Some of the cards were replaced using ones recovered from 37802 (one of the Spanish ones IIRC), others sourced from Railpart.

Yes Barcalona was the destination. Thanks to EWS as well. Just need to get 905 sorted.

 

[TheSlash]

I can understand what the true volunteers are going through. I can't understand the police, though. From when i first heard of the theft, i instantly knew there would only be a handfull of suspects, especially given the malice nature of the thefts.
Unless somebody has gone to an extreme amount of trouble to do the theft, basic stuff such as ANPR should identify the offender within days, if not hours.

 

[Ascot]

I can understand what the true volunteers are going through. I can't understand the police, though. From when i first heard of the theft, i instantly knew there would only be a handfull of suspects, especially given the malice nature of the thefts.
Unless somebody has gone to an extreme amount of trouble to do the theft, basic stuff such as ANPR should identify the offender within days, if not hours.

There's more to it than meets eye. :neutral: Just look at the loco's involved and where abouts and compare it to the times.

 

[Juniper Driver]

Appologies, but what are GEC control cards?

Can't believe i've met someone who is a Desiro nutter.Most drivers don't like the trains.

Sorry to go off topic.

What is a control card is it a circuit board?
I've been on 37's during my days at Stratford but had never heard of these.

Ooops saw the answer in one of the posts.Sorry

 

[Turbostar]

Does help if you read before making comments. :roll:

Mart

 

[Juniper Driver]

Well I did read but I missed that bit.

 

[Coxster]

I see you only joined us today, "Juniper Driver". Welcome to the forum

 

[Nathan]

Can't believe i've met someone who is a Desiro nutter.Most drivers don't like the trains.

Im quite unique, many will tell

 

[Coxster]

Im quite unique, many will tell

No need for people to be told. They can see for themselves