Be careful out there...

[Chris Starnes]

From an email list this morning:

> At 0735 MT Friday April 8th a railfan on BNSF property shot photographs of
> an eastward train on Main 2 near East Peach Springs, AZ, and was killed by
> a
> westbound train travelling on Main 1. This is doble track ABS territory on
> the Seligman Subdivision which averages about 80 trains per day.
>
> The train was delayed about ifve hours for investigation, clean up and to
> provide a relief crew from Needles, CA (the original crew was granted
> trauma
> relief).

[Joe]

And that's why you should NEVER stand on the tracks to take photos of a train on the other main. Very sad that this railfan didn't respect trains' awesome might and size.

Hopefully it wasn't Ween.
http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=2544
Whew, he has some photos from yesterday.

[Ru1056]

This is why I feel a photo should be rejected if it was taken on RR property or compromised the safety of the photographer or train crew. This promotes commen sense photography and will foster more respect from the RR's I feel.

Billy

This is why I feel a photo should be rejected if it was taken on RR property

Nothing to do with this case but, station platforms are railroad property, but they are public areas. I think you need to be more specific - I have taken pictures safely on RR property with permission and from public areas.

And how are the screeners to know where you are standing or if you had permission?

[Ru1056]

Your right, I should have said what I meant which was "right of way".

Maybe put in the photo remarks you had permission to be on RR right of way? Or the more blatant cases of trespassing could be rejected. I do not have a handy answer that covers all angles.

I would hate to see this hobby become more difficult or non-existent because of some screwballs' foolishness. If the RR's feel that the photographer's are endangering themselves on RR property, or endangering the crews (remember the thread about the strobe lights?) or interupting business I could see the RR's clamping down. The sad part is the clamp down would be on EVERYONE, not just those creating the problems.

Billy

Actually I never meant the actual RoW! Specifically (locally) I was talking about few old station areas which were demolished and are now just empty fields next to the tracks owned by the RR.

I would hate to see this hobby become more difficult or non-existent because of some screwballs' foolishness. If the RR's feel that the photographer's are endangering themselves on RR property, or endangering the crews (remember the thread about the strobe lights?) or interupting business I could see the RR's clamping down. The sad part is the clamp down would be on EVERYONE, not just those creating the problems.

I agree 100% with this.

[cmherndon]

Well, you know if the guy was wearing his sign, someone could've stopped him. Or maybe he said to someone, "Here, hold my sign..." This makes the 99.9% of us who are actually responsible look bad.

Originally Posted by Ru1056

I would hate to see this hobby become more difficult or non-existent because of some screwballs' foolishness.

I agree. We're already looked at as "potential terrorists" now. This incident doesn't help matters much, and in my opinion, makes things worse.