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Models stolen in Bolton


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That's a very interesting and revealing list Jenny. If I were a thief I don't think I would have bothered at all with the wagons - I would have gone straight for the locos. This either looks like a planned heist or the thieves had no idea what they were doing. Two ends of the spectrum there!

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I'm very, very sorry to hear of this Jenny, and despite working in the business of young offenders myself have little to add to the advice above from several persons who are also obviously well informed.

 

Having being burgled ourselves (when we lived in the UK - it's a very rare occurrence here) I fully understand the extreme emotions that will be coursing though you both right now, I wish I could do more to help than scanning e bay - if the crime was over here we would have a pretty good idea of the perpetrators.

 

Humanity is a let down, sometimes.  I'm so sorry this has happened.

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I've repaired the fence and barbed wire where they gained access into my garden and have basted the top of the fence, all barbed wire and also tree branches on my side of the fence with some horrible paint I made from mixing used engine oil with some old gloss black paint so that it never quite sets. If they try for a second go at the shed they will get an unexpected gloopy repaint. Not to mention the fact that the shed has been emptied of all remaining goodies. Thanks for all the words of support. Hopefully the thieves will get caught, though as to what state my stuff would be in if recovered would be another matter. 

 

The insurance looks like it will pay out no issues, though it comes to an eye-watering three grand estimate so far according to the loss adjuster. 

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Maybe these lowlifes know you somehow Jenny. They knew to break in to your shed and when they also knew what was in there! It's also why they were in such a hurry to leave when you returned!

 

My thoughts also... I hate to say this, but, have a look around you, locally. Who knew of your model railway ?, the rolling stock, and where ?. Your post #23 says that the caravan was raided first. Was there anything stolen from it ?

If little, then, the shed was next (not an afterthought), and, possibly,.. your house. 

 

Looking at the list, it seems to me, that the model railway items were priority. They came equipped,.. tools, gloves, crates / sacks and getaway.

 

Another (dark) thought... It could be possible that these thieves were being paid to do so,  by some B*st**rd with a cruel intention ?

 

Jenny,....I wish you Well.

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I was always very careful not to draw attention to the contents of the shed. No-one who knows I have it quite knows where I live. All the videos that are on youtube always are careful not to give any view of what is outside the shed so that no-one can work out where it is. 

 

I've just had a call from the Police to say that they have managed to get fingerprints from the tools that the thieves managed to drop. Despite them having worn gloves, it should only be a matter of time before the Police get a match on their fingerprint database if they are known criminals. I'm about to email them the above list so that if items are recovered, even in unrelated operations, they will be able to identify where they came from. 

 

Fingers are crossed. I've just added an extra heavy duty bolt and padlock to the shed door. It's a pain getting the screws in without my battery drill and screwdriver attachment which the b*st*rds stole. I've also used my soldering iron and some solder to fill in the heads of the screws so it cannot be just unscrewed. 

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Just a side thought have you got round head bolts/have filled the screw heads in on the hinges on the other side as well? Because I have seen a neighbour lose the contents of his shed that way espite 4 cracking locks on the door side.........

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Just a side thought have you got round head bolts/have filled the screw heads in on the hinges on the other side as well? Because I have seen a neighbour lose the contents of his shed that way espite 4 cracking locks on the door side.........

The hinges were all treated to bolts that can only be undone from the inside of the shed on both the frame and the door when I fitted out the shed for the railway

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My garage is fitted out with a home made alarm system that cost about 15 quid. Basically it has a relay powered by a transformer that if the ciruit is broken a battery powered alarm bell goes off! Only problem is, it goes off during power cuts!

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Really sorry to hear about this, having been a victim of a workshop break in myself in the past. As well as your door security, I would recommend some form of alarm inside the shed. I have a simple infra-read shed alarm similar to this that saved much going missing during my break in. Luckily I had cleared out my most valuable tools as I had come home to find my side gate kicked in and the Police advised they would most likely be back in the night so I made sure the alarm was set with fresh batteries and it was enough to scare them off with just a couple of items where-as they could have had a lot more from there had they not been disturbed by the alarm.

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Really sorry to hear of your break-in Jenny, certainly food for thought for all of us using a shed for hobby purposes.  Just a further thoughts on places to look for items for sale, there are lots of "Things for sale in/around xxxx" groups on Facebook that it may be worth keeping an eye on locally.

 

Colin

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 hate to say this, but, have a look around you, locally. Who knew of your model railway ?, the rolling stock, and where ?.

My hunch would be it wasn't planned by someone who knew Jenny. Round here, the scrap-merchants drive around with someone standing behind the cab so they can look over all the garden walls.

There was a case locally a few years ago where a couple of young lad, sent out on their first "round", were convicted of stealing a roll of wire from an electrician's shed. They'd seen the shed, looked into it, took what they saw. It wasn't planned, it was just opportunistic.

I imagine Jenny's break-in was too. After all, lots of people store valuable tools in their sheds. It's too inviting a target, and is rarely as well-defended as a house.

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Hi Jenny, sorry to hear of this disturbing loss of yours, have you sent your list to all the local Modelshops who trade in 2nd hand, that may be worth a punt, people such as the one in Horwich, Jim at The Loco Shed Whitefield, and others you may know off who trade 2nd hand models for cash.

 

Hope you get a successful outcome.

Craig.

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My hunch would be it wasn't planned by someone who knew Jenny. Round here, the scrap-merchants drive around with someone standing behind the cab so they can look over all the garden walls.

There was a case locally a few years ago where a couple of young lad, sent out on their first "round", were convicted of stealing a roll of wire from an electrician's shed. They'd seen the shed, looked into it, took what they saw. It wasn't planned, it was just opportunistic.

I imagine Jenny's break-in was too. After all, lots of people store valuable tools in their sheds. It's too inviting a target, and is rarely as well-defended as a house.

 

Maybe ?, I am a tad prejudiced, but, in the past, the two burglaries, here, were carried out by, one, a neighbour, and the second, by someone working for a local, well known, builder who had been maintaining our property.

The items stolen in the second theft were recovered from a 'Garage sale' held by the boss's Son, in his Dad's own garage...!!!

 

My ol' Pappy used to say  "90% of thefts are done by folks you know, or know you"

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My daughter in law just mentioned something called Gumtree; it is some sort of sales sight.

P

Yes, worth a look on there, i found my old layout on there for sale in london, using my description and pictures lifted word for word off ebay, at the time the layout was still sat in my garage waiting for the new (and still current) owner to have his house built before he took it off my hands

 

The thing with gumtree is its local pickup and pretty much cash on collection

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Deffo worth looking on Gumtree, but beware using it to sell anything because its collection in person; I've heard of several people burgled shortly after flogging things on there, including my estranged wife, who sold a gas fire, then shortly afterwars lost her extensive DVD collection, a load of CDs, a lap top etc. It may have been a coincidence though...

 

Pete

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