CopCarSS wrote:Wow...I just posted a quick note warning railfans to watch where their feet resided while partaking in our hobby and it's turned into a political discourse again.
I'm sorry. It's probably my fault.
As anyone can tell, I feel very passionate that we are on the wrong path, but I did not intend to hijack the thread. That is why I have not responded to recent conflicting opinions.
Mea culpa.....
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
hey selector any time we get a conversation going and if it dont go along with your way of thinking, or it dont paint a colorful and happy picture you lock the thread if someone dont agree with a comment spoken and disputes it with common sense and facts you lock the thread. Or when the true railroaders say the truth you lock the thread. I have only 2 things to say .... Bergie screwed up when he left you in charge, and lock the thread.
Harry_Runyon wrote: Does anyone else get tired when these so-called libertarians throw these mind-numbing quotes around?Enough already!
Does anyone else get tired when these so-called libertarians throw these mind-numbing quotes around?
Enough already!
I am not surprised that those simple quotes numbed your mind...I would imagine that happens quite often to you.
By the way, thanks for the compliment.
Thank you Carl. Poke me with a fork. I am done!
Mook
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Mookie wrote: Going back to the original topic - I have a question from The Driver: You can go to Rochelle, cross the tracks at will, stand right next to the tracks, and, having been there, watch the BNSF go through there at a fairly high rate of speed. No one patrols there. No one makes you get back 100 feet. No one even seems to be all that interested in what is going on except the devoted rail fans. So this is different from our watching on private property within the 100 foot requirement, how?Don't need an argument, just a polite explanation. Mook
No one patrols there. No one makes you get back 100 feet. No one even seems to be all that interested in what is going on except the devoted rail fans.
So this is different from our watching on private property within the 100 foot requirement, how?
Don't need an argument, just a polite explanation.
Jen, there may not be a legitimate answer to your question, except that some employees in the other places are being "pro-active" (don't particularly like the term, but can't think of a better one).
There have been many times when I've been to Rochelle and have seen action that makes me cringe. If it doesn't make other railroaders (i.e., the ones who are on duty and passing through there) cringe as well, I'd be surprised.
Since you and Ed last visited Rochelle, some rules and appropriate signage have been prominently posted, prohibiting children from going too close to the tracks. I've not seen anything enforced by anyone except parents so far, but one of these times a child in an adult body is going to either come to grief himself or will cause somebody else a bit of grief (or maybe just an upsetting, scary moment). If that happens, you may see the railroad's police descend upon the place from time to time, protecting the interests of their respective companies.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Harry_Runyon wrote: Does anyone else get tired when these so-called libertarians throw these mind-numbing quotes around? Enough already!
Hey Harry, long time no see. How's things in Bala Cynwyd these days?
CN is free to protects it's private property. So go away if you don't like it. Maybe a hobby like collecting toenail clippings would be less stressful for you?
zardoz wrote: WIAR wrote: "Pit of paranoia" we're descending into? Have you read the papers lately? Maybe if people had been just a little more "paranoid", the scum who commandeered those planes on 9-11 might have been investigated before 3000+ people died. Perhaps if imbeciles would quit shootin'-up shopping malls and schools, and committing every other act of savage violence we get to hear about on a daily basis, and innocent, law-abiding citizens wouldn't have to worry about gettin' clipped by some baboon who thinks the thug-lifestyle is glamorous, we wouldn't need cameras in every corner and you wouldn't have to be disgusted.Dude, may I suggest you stop watching Fox news so much. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.ConfuciusThe most terrifying words in the English langauge are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Ronald ReaganAny nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too. W Somerset MaughamNo man is enitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation. Douglas MacarthurI believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. President James MadisonA free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it. Frank Lloyd Wright
WIAR wrote: "Pit of paranoia" we're descending into? Have you read the papers lately? Maybe if people had been just a little more "paranoid", the scum who commandeered those planes on 9-11 might have been investigated before 3000+ people died. Perhaps if imbeciles would quit shootin'-up shopping malls and schools, and committing every other act of savage violence we get to hear about on a daily basis, and innocent, law-abiding citizens wouldn't have to worry about gettin' clipped by some baboon who thinks the thug-lifestyle is glamorous, we wouldn't need cameras in every corner and you wouldn't have to be disgusted.
"Pit of paranoia" we're descending into? Have you read the papers lately? Maybe if people had been just a little more "paranoid", the scum who commandeered those planes on 9-11 might have been investigated before 3000+ people died. Perhaps if imbeciles would quit shootin'-up shopping malls and schools, and committing every other act of savage violence we get to hear about on a daily basis, and innocent, law-abiding citizens wouldn't have to worry about gettin' clipped by some baboon who thinks the thug-lifestyle is glamorous, we wouldn't need cameras in every corner and you wouldn't have to be disgusted.
Dude, may I suggest you stop watching Fox news so much.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.Confucius
The most terrifying words in the English langauge are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Ronald Reagan
Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too. W Somerset Maugham
No man is enitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation. Douglas Macarthur
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. President James Madison
A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it. Frank Lloyd Wright
Phoebe Vet wrote: Selector:I don't know about the others, but I, for one, do NOT think the old days were more innocent or more friendly. In fact, I think just the opposite. I believe that we are in no greater danger now than we have ever been, and that the climate of fear that currently permeates our society is completely groundless.Does any rational human actually think that a loosely organized band of primitive religious zealots is a greater threat than the "cold war"? Is the thought of Iran having a couple of Nukes even remotely in the same class as when the USSR had THOUSANDS of nuclear intercontinental Ballistic missiles, and hundreds of submarine based nuclear missiles all carefully aimed our way?If you think crazy people with guns are something new, then you weren't black in the south in the '50s.As far as your prediction that future generations will not understand my generation's concerns about loss of freedom, you are probably correct. You tend to not miss what you never had. The current crop of young people (under 40) have been having their lockers, book bags, backpacks, and pockets randomly searched since the third grade. They tend to be less disturbed when the government wants to do it to them as adults.What is really different today is that we have competing 24 hour a day news media, who overly dramatize everything in the never ending quest for ratings. Burglaries have become "home invasions", cars no longer have accident's, they "slam into each other", and crimes are generalized to make the danger seem much worse than it is. If an illegal immigrant drives drunk and is involved in a fatal auto accident, the news will point out how many thousands of aliens are illegally here and lead the citizens who tend to not actually think things through to believe that the roads are therefore overrun with drunken aliens. Child predators are lumped in with tens of thousands of people who have been convicted of some kind of crime that involves sex, so that people think that there are thousands of evil sex offenders prowling the streets hunting our children.The fear is paralyzing our society, and causing us to give up everything that made America unique.Now, since this has really strayed from the trains subject, I will not post anything else on this subject.
Selector:
I don't know about the others, but I, for one, do NOT think the old days were more innocent or more friendly. In fact, I think just the opposite. I believe that we are in no greater danger now than we have ever been, and that the climate of fear that currently permeates our society is completely groundless.
Does any rational human actually think that a loosely organized band of primitive religious zealots is a greater threat than the "cold war"? Is the thought of Iran having a couple of Nukes even remotely in the same class as when the USSR had THOUSANDS of nuclear intercontinental Ballistic missiles, and hundreds of submarine based nuclear missiles all carefully aimed our way?
If you think crazy people with guns are something new, then you weren't black in the south in the '50s.
As far as your prediction that future generations will not understand my generation's concerns about loss of freedom, you are probably correct. You tend to not miss what you never had. The current crop of young people (under 40) have been having their lockers, book bags, backpacks, and pockets randomly searched since the third grade. They tend to be less disturbed when the government wants to do it to them as adults.
What is really different today is that we have competing 24 hour a day news media, who overly dramatize everything in the never ending quest for ratings. Burglaries have become "home invasions", cars no longer have accident's, they "slam into each other", and crimes are generalized to make the danger seem much worse than it is. If an illegal immigrant drives drunk and is involved in a fatal auto accident, the news will point out how many thousands of aliens are illegally here and lead the citizens who tend to not actually think things through to believe that the roads are therefore overrun with drunken aliens. Child predators are lumped in with tens of thousands of people who have been convicted of some kind of crime that involves sex, so that people think that there are thousands of evil sex offenders prowling the streets hunting our children.
The fear is paralyzing our society, and causing us to give up everything that made America unique.
Now, since this has really strayed from the trains subject, I will not post anything else on this subject.
The one problem I see with this line of thinking is that the leaders of the USSR, up until Gorby, lived through the horrors of World War II, and they saw the unbelievable devastation that was delivered onto their homeland. The Soviets lost somewhere near 30 million people, and their leadership had those very real visions of the effect of "total war" ever-present in their minds as a very sobering factor. The Islamic militants of today have no such experiences - not even close, and they have little interest in understanding such realities. That's all I have to say on this subject, since it's off th topic of railroading.
Interesting how all the people you quote are dead, and therefore not here to comment on the world as it stands today. Sorry, stick your own head in the sand and go on dreaming that if we all just hold hands and sing, "We Are The World", we'll achieve Nirvana. Nope. If the railroads want to enforce their policies regarding trespassing, and their reasons are centered on Homeland Security or any other factor(s), then I have no problem snapping my pictures from a safe distance. If you honestly believe this heightened attention to trespassing is some further evidence of a vast right-wing conspiracy to deprive you of your non-denominational-all-inclusive-non-culturally-specific-deity-given right to complain, well, I guess I have little to say to convince you otherwise.
Going back to the original topic - I have a question from The Driver: You can go to Rochelle, cross the tracks at will, stand right next to the tracks, and, having been there, watch the BNSF go through there at a fairly high rate of speed.
Folks, whatever we like/don't like about the present, wait for it. It'll be a fond memory in just a few short years. Every generation laments its own passing. Rose coloured glasses and all that.
When you consider what we feel were more innocent or friendly times, and that we are not special in any way, think about how shocking it would be for us to be parachuted into the next century and realize what change really means. Think about what the experience of the last World War was like and how it changed us. Now we are learning about other ways for humans to treat each other, and we will adapt. More to follow.
-Crandell
SFbrkmn wrote:This is something that I wouldn't be too worried about and lose any sleep over. As a property owner, CN has the right to protect their property the way they see fit. The rr most likely is fed up w/folks coming upon the property, such as walking between rails, between tracks, too close to tracks, etc. .
So true. In fact, in their desire to protect themselves from lawsuits, it makes sense that they would enforce this rule. I am not worried about it because there are plenty of platforms, bridges, and other public places that I can shoot photos from, and not have to worry too much.
RABEL wrote: Mr_Ash wrote:What about if your sitting at a passenger station? I go and watch trains with my sisters kid up at my towns passenger station on the BN racetrackI spend endless hours at various Metra Stations on the BNSF with my Grandson.The one and only time we've been approached was by the Ticket Agent at Stone Av.where I informed her we were in a Public access area. She threatened to call the Police,I replied use my Cell. No action taken. Metra has a lienient policy concerning rail fanning from platforms.
Mr_Ash wrote:What about if your sitting at a passenger station? I go and watch trains with my sisters kid up at my towns passenger station on the BN racetrack
I spend endless hours at various Metra Stations on the BNSF with my Grandson.
The one and only time we've been approached was by the Ticket Agent at Stone Av.
where I informed her we were in a Public access area. She threatened to call the Police,I replied use my Cell. No action taken. Metra has a lienient policy concerning rail fanning from platforms.
Yeah nobody has said anything to us yet in the year or so we have been going up to the Clarendon Hills stop by our house mostly park along Burlington Ave and sit back on the car hood or on the grass near the platform or if the stations not busy with passengers waiting to go downtown we go across the tracks and sit on the benches by the station.
I remember one summer when I was in 10ish back in the 80's me and two of my friends built a lemonaid stand on a wagon that was equiped with two big coolers of lemonaid and brought it up to the outbound platform and setup next to the shelter with the benches for the evening rush we made soooo much money that summer nobody said anything and we even sold one glass to a conductor off a passenger train and clarendon hills police officers on a few diffrent days every time they walked up we were all like "oh no were busted!" and they just asked for a glass of Lemonaid that we offered to them free of charge but they all insisted on paying lol wonder if that would fly these days
Phoebe Vet wrote: It's just the latest step as our fear based society slowly descends into the pit of paranoia.A few months ago our local Gestapo detained a guy for a couple of hours while they investigated why he was taking pictures of tall buildings. Turned out to be a tourist. Think he will visit our fair city again?There is a woman in my neighborhood who sits in her car on the street and watches her children at play, afraid to let them outdoors unsupervised, lest one of the predators is about.Every shopping center has cameras covering every corner of their parking lots. Police use cameras to monitor city streets.I personally think it's disgusting.
It's just the latest step as our fear based society slowly descends into the pit of paranoia.
A few months ago our local Gestapo detained a guy for a couple of hours while they investigated why he was taking pictures of tall buildings. Turned out to be a tourist. Think he will visit our fair city again?
There is a woman in my neighborhood who sits in her car on the street and watches her children at play, afraid to let them outdoors unsupervised, lest one of the predators is about.
Every shopping center has cameras covering every corner of their parking lots. Police use cameras to monitor city streets.
I personally think it's disgusting.
I find that if I can discreetly and unobtrusively approach a 'rail' away from the yard where he is less likely to be watched by his superior(s) s/he's more likely to be at least polite in their responses to inquiries. That approach has gotten me some nice access, info, and pictures.
I usually don't have problems near the CN in my area, but I don't get too close (IMO) and always try to err on the side of caution anyway.
Dan
gardenengineer wrote:At sporting events, fans who enter the field of play are subject to ejection from the ballpark. The same rules apply for railfans. I don't think it matters if you are taking photos or not. Trespassing is trespassing. Stay in the bleachers and enjoy the game. If there are no good seats left then go find another game to watch. If you want special access, then ask for it. If you are that insistant on getting a good shot you might be surprised to find out that if you ask permission first then it might be granted.Pete
At sporting events, fans who enter the field of play are subject to ejection from the ballpark. The same rules apply for railfans. I don't think it matters if you are taking photos or not. Trespassing is trespassing. Stay in the bleachers and enjoy the game. If there are no good seats left then go find another game to watch. If you want special access, then ask for it. If you are that insistant on getting a good shot you might be surprised to find out that if you ask permission first then it might be granted.
Pete
RudyRockvilleMD wrote:It's my impression that railroad rights-of-way can be up to 100 feet wide nevertheless staying at least 100' from the nearest track is for one's personal safety even though one might be on railroad property. Another tip is not to go too close to the crossing gate if you are the first car in line when the gate goes down.
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