Solidarity with #NoDAPL: How to Block Trains

from Montreal Counter-Information

Trains are one of the main ways that oil is transported across Turtle Island. Physical blockades of the tracks have been used effectively many times to hamper ecocidal projects of “resource extraction”.

We can also block the rails in a sneaky way: by tricking the signalling system into thinking there is a train on the tracks. This trick will force train traffic to come to a halt until the signal blockage is cleared. It can be done in under a minute, and repeated many times to have a significant impact on train circulation. It can take hours to find and remove this blockage, stopping all train traffic in the meantime.

Here’s how their system works:
A low velocity current runs through each rail. The electricity runs across the junctions of an individual rail with copper wire connections. When a train passes, it forms an electrical connection between rails and signals its presence.

Here’s how we can block the signal:
Get some 6-gauge booster cables. You can paint the wire black to make it harder to find. Rust on the tracks can prevent a solid connection, so connecting directly to the tracks might not work. To avoid this problem, find a section of rail where two junctions are side by side, and connect the copper wires with the booster cable. You can hide the wire with snow or rocks. The connection will lower railway crossing barriers that are nearby.

 

9 responses to “Solidarity with #NoDAPL: How to Block Trains”

1. Tzindaro says:

   December 14, 2016 at 10:38 am

   Brilliant! This is the sort of ecotage that there should be more of.

   But now, expand the concept to multiple simultaneous use of this tactic on all commuter trains in and near major cities. Imagine if all the office workers and executives who live in the suburbs around New York and Washington couldn’t get to work one day! If they tried to drive, there would be massive traffic jams and no place to park. If they stayed home, the government and all the banks, brokerage houses, etc. could be shut down.

   A few fast-moving teams with good planning and a little research could take out the whole economic system and Federal Government in one night!

   Turbat Mundum!

   Reply
2. BigFatLoserDude says:

   April 20, 2017 at 8:45 pm

   Irresponsible terrorist. Thats all you are.

   Reply
3. BigFatLoserDude says:

   April 20, 2017 at 8:52 pm

   Irresponsible people who don’t consider how you actions negatively effect others lives or your own cause for that matter. Self absorbed persons bent on pursuing your own entertainment of causing others hardship.

   Reply
4. Lower Fry says:

   April 20, 2017 at 9:19 pm

   Just keep in mind that there are lots of other kinds of signalling equipment in North America and all over the world. So you have a chance of getting hit while playing with your little wire almost anywhere, not to mention the trains that can’t stop in time while you are playing on the tracks.

   Reply
5. Rush Is Right. says:

   April 21, 2017 at 7:40 am

   Fucking environmentalist whacko geniuses. Railroads have signal maintainers on duty 24/7/365 to troubleshoot issues like track circuits and keep trains moving on any given operating subdivision. I guess what you don’t understand is regardless of what you’re jumpering out there, trains can still move down the line. But keep thinking you’re out there to give the railroads a hard time. Hint: Go back to the coffee shops and keeping serving the java. Let the railroads deliver the goods that keep our capitalist society alive. Get a life.

   Reply
6. Bl@ckc@p says:

   April 21, 2017 at 11:51 pm

   “A low velocity current,,,” That should read: “A low voltage current”.

   Reply
7. Olympia, WA: Train Tracks Sabotaged To Stop Fracking Equipment says:

   April 23, 2017 at 9:20 pm

   […] This action and actions like it are quite easy to do yourself. This only took a few hours and a little bit of planning. The hardest part was calming our nerves. Particularly easy was placing wire on the tracks to send a signal to the train company that the tracks were blocked. This action can and has been easily repeated wherever train tracks are. For more info on how to do this check out this explanatory video. […]

   Reply
8. Nice try says:

   April 24, 2017 at 5:56 pm

   Lol if theres no reason a train should have a red signal, the dispatcher will have a crew sent out to find the problem, and in the mean time simply give trains authority past it. Try again.

   Reply
9. jel82 says:

   April 25, 2017 at 12:18 pm

   I’d say the people doing this are idiots but that’s far too tame a term for this level of stupidity. Tampering with railroad tracks or signals is a federal offense for which the penalties are very harsh. Messing with signals will slow trains down, but it won’t stop them. Not to mention the danger you put yourself in by standing between the tracks. Trains can be deceptively fast and quiet and can be right on you before you know it.

   Reply