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Do you Remember Mr. Darius McCollum?


EE Broadway Local

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is this the original dude who stole the A train and made a few stops a few years ago?

 

No, that was Keron Thomas. He did a put in from 207 yd to Lefferts then back to 207 when he hit a timer in Washington Heights. He could not reset his brakes and was only discovered as an impostor when taken for drug testing.

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Just because he's been alive for 45 years doesn't mean his mind is similarly aged.

 

True not just for him but a lot of other people in this world.

 

His photo's in every transit crew room and every security guard shack so they haven't forgot either

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I dont know If I should blame him, or the employees for giving him keys of a M7. It sounds like the Employees played a major role in him getting things only a TA worker should have. My cousin is a T/O in the A Div and normally posts on the (4)(5) or (6) and I been in the cab tons of times and I wouldnt dare ask him can I try. As for that 16yr old kid that drove that (A) train, that is just amazing. Apparenly driving a train isnt that hard after all if a 16 year old drives a train from 207 to Leffets and back. If he hadnt hit that timer it would have went unoticed. Hell I ask my cousin all the time how in the hell do you do it and he says the samething all the time, its like driving a car and you never forget. I been in the cab alot of times and I still hang with him when I get days off.

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I dont know If I should blame him, or the employees for giving him keys of a M7. It sounds like the Employees played a major role in him getting things only a TA worker should have. My cousin is a T/O in the A Div and normally posts on the (4)(5) or (6) and I been in the cab tons of times and I wouldnt dare ask him can I try. As for that 16yr old kid that drove that (A) train, that is just amazing. Apparenly driving a train isnt that hard after all if a 16 year old drives a train from 207 to Leffets and back. If he hadnt hit that timer it would have went unoticed. Hell I ask my cousin all the time how in the hell do you do it and he says the samething all the time, its like driving a car and you never forget. I been in the cab alot of times and I still hang with him when I get days off.

 

Anyone can move handles. However he didn't know how to get his train moving again. What else do you think he might not have known? What if his train developed a serious mechanical problem en route and he didn't notice it? What if his train had gotten stuck and he had to evacuate? What if he needed to go to the roadbed to clear an obstruction off the track? What if he'd needed to do ANYTHING outside of moving handles (cuts/adds, etc.)? He wouldn't have been ready.

 

Saying that moving a train isn't hard is like saying it's easy to be a firefighter. All you have to do is turn the water on and point it at the fire right? Except there's more to it......

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Anyone can move handles. However he didn't know how to get his train moving again. What else do you think he might not have known? What if his train developed a serious mechanical problem en route and he didn't notice it? What if his train had gotten stuck and he had to evacuate? What if he needed to go to the roadbed to clear an obstruction off the track? What if he'd needed to do ANYTHING outside of moving handles (cuts/adds, etc.)? He wouldn't have been ready.

 

Saying that moving a train isn't hard is like saying it's easy to be a firefighter. All you have to do is turn the water on and point it at the fire right? Except there's more to it......

 

I know what you mean, However i know T/Os get trained stopping in stations. I just found that amazing he did that perfect. Whoever let him get control must have been training him to stop in stations and how to clear the timers.

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I heard that guy was scared to climb down on to the road bed.

 

Correction* The story heard about this kid was that when his train went into emergency, he was too scared to climb down on to the roadbed because he was scared of the mice and rats. I don't know if it was true or not, but that's what I heard.

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Contrary to popular belief, I think the MTA should give Mr. McCollum a job. As the Wiki article implies, it would be like the movie "Catch Me If You Can." Instead of spending all these tax dollars on court costs and fee's, just let the guy work for RTO in some minor capacity! Some place where he can be monitored closely, yet do what he loves to do! He could do customer service somewhere, or even give tours at the transit museum. I just think the safest way to keep watch over him, is to have him on the payroll! The guy is "special." He's not a terrorist, or some insane skitso. He's been around MTA property for 30 years! IMO, he would never do anything to hurt anyone, or harm the MTA. The TA should actually be proud of their status as one of the most revered TA's in world history! If they were smart, they would hire him, make a movie about it, and generate some much needed cash. Locking him up everytime he comes near a train wil NEVER solve the problem.

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Contrary to popular belief, I think the MTA should give Mr. McCollum a job. As the Wiki article implies, it would be like the movie "Catch Me If You Can." Instead of spending all these tax dollars on court costs and fee's, just let the guy work for RTO in some minor capacity! Some place where he can be monitored closely, yet do what he loves to do! He could do customer service somewhere, or even give tours at the transit museum. I just think the safest way to keep watch over him, is to have him on the payroll! The guy is "special." He's not a terrorist, or some insane skitso. He's been around MTA property for 30 years! IMO, he would never do anything to hurt anyone, or harm the MTA. The TA should actually be proud of their status as one of the most revered TA's in world history! If they were smart, they would hire him, make a movie about it, and generate some much needed cash. Locking him up everytime he comes near a train wil NEVER solve the problem.

 

I have to disagree with you here. Giving him access to the system and a TA pass lends an air of legitimacy to what it does and sets an example to other buffs that it's OK to trespass. Also if you give him a job, even as a cleaner, he's still going to use whatever he can to infiltrate other jobs. When he was at his peak of getting away with this, he played motorman, he played conductor, he played towerman, he played MOW worker, and he did all sorts of things. Get him a job as a conductor he'll want to move trains. Make him a T/O he'll want to work towers. Put him in towers and he'll want to inspect track. He's a loose cannon. Plus imagine the liability if the TA hires him and something happens where people get hurt because of him. This is a guy that was quoted as saying that he "operated fast" because he thought it was better that way. What if he's operating too fast and hits some worker on the roadbed and they find out he was the one running the train? That's got lawsuit all over it.

 

He might not intend to hurt anyone but his actions may do otherwise. He doesn't understand the seriousness of his actions and that trains are not toys. Yeah he's "special" all right but that doesn't make what he does OK. What he really needs is psychiatric help and medication of some kind, or whatever they can do for his Assperger's but putting him in a position where he has an employee pass is the worst way to go. And someone like that can't give tours or deal directly with customers anywhere because both of those require people skills something many people with serious Asperger's don't have.

 

He needs psychiatric help, not a job with the TA.

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I have to disagree with you here. Giving him access to the system and a TA pass lends an air of legitimacy to what it does and sets an example to other buffs that it's OK to trespass. Also if you give him a job, even as a cleaner, he's still going to use whatever he can to infiltrate other jobs. When he was at his peak of getting away with this, he played motorman, he played conductor, he played towerman, he played MOW worker, and he did all sorts of things. Get him a job as a conductor he'll want to move trains. Make him a T/O he'll want to work towers. Put him in towers and he'll want to inspect track. He's a loose cannon. Plus imagine the liability if the TA hires him and something happens where people get hurt because of him. This is a guy that was quoted as saying that he "operated fast" because he thought it was better that way. What if he's operating too fast and hits some worker on the roadbed and they find out he was the one running the train? That's got lawsuit all over it.

 

He might not intend to hurt anyone but his actions may do otherwise. He doesn't understand the seriousness of his actions and that trains are not toys. Yeah he's "special" all right but that doesn't make what he does OK. What he really needs is psychiatric help and medication of some kind, or whatever they can do for his Assperger's but putting him in a position where he has an employee pass is the worst way to go. And someone like that can't give tours or deal directly with customers anywhere because both of those require people skills something many people with serious Asperger's don't have.

 

He needs psychiatric help, not a job with the TA.

 

You do have a point there. But from what I have heard, he has very good people skills. And I do see the implications of what signals hiring him may send to other "rail buffs." I was just thinking that he could do something where they could keep watch over him, and it wouldn't do too much harm. Oh well. It is what it is I guess.

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