ok so i was listening to @CHAPOTRAPHOUSE's latest episode and was delighted to hear that steven seagull had thought to include the greatest railfan/right wing nutjob crossover in "the way of the shadow wolves": the FEMA "white boxcars with shackles" conspiracy (tiny thread)
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sometime around hurricane katrina, word began to spread around railfan forums that FEMA had ordered "102,000 white boxcars with shackles and guillotines" presumably for the transport of patriotic prisoners to "FEMA death camps"
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images like this were sent around as "proof" of the existence of FEMA boxcars, despite the equipment in question being a tri-level "AUTO-MAX" autorack and not a boxcar. clearly the reason why they have slots is for ventilation for prisoners, not to save on material costpic.twitter.com/5HDfy7jRhH
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to put it in perspective, in 2017 the ENTIRE US boxcar fleet stood at 108,000 boxcars. the US does not have the manufacturing capability to build 102,000 boxcars in a reasonable period of time, nor an amount of rail yard space to store them.
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this conspiracy theory still pops up in railfan forums from time to time, to the point where it is explicitly banned discussion in most forums, along with the Amtrak Turboliners. anyway that is the FEMA "white boxcars with shackles" conspiracy hope you enjoyed
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Replying to @alon_levy
strong disagreements between members between whether the state of NY wasted too much money on them or if they didn't waste enough money on them IIRC they were completely rehabbed and then never used, now rotting away in Bear, DE
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lemme update this thread now that i RT'd it: the turboliners are being scrapped as i write
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