Historical societies try to preserve history, but police said thieves stole some history in Union County.
Police said thousands of pounds of materials were taken from the National Railway Historical Society.
Reuben Brouse and many of his friends are train enthusiasts. They belong to the National Railway Historical Society in Union County. Recently members noticed railroad materials were missing, thousands of pounds of materials.
"One guy in particular, he did a lot of re-arranging of this stuff to get an idea of exactly what we have. He noticed that, hey, the pile is gone," said Brouse.
He added some of the items taken were tie plates and some connector bars. Brouse said those connector bars weighed as much as 130 pounds each.
"When you have a stack about three to four feet off the ground, you don't get rid of it in a few minutes. It takes a while to get them out," Brouse said.
State police said the railroad materials were taken sometime over the past month and were worth several thousand dollars. A neighbor believes the items were carried through his property, and put into a vehicle that may have been parked on the on-ramp to Route 15 North near Watsontown.
Brouse said the historical society must now replace the materials.
"We wanted to lay down some more siding track. It makes a hardship on us," Brouse said.
If you have any information about the theft of the railroad materials you're asked to call state police at Milton.