FBI called for taking pic's of Amtrak

[robscaboose]

[?][?][?][|)] I got a phone call this evening from an FBI agent, as someone saw me taking pictures of an Amtrak Train. I told him that I belonged to several railroad museums, & that I am the president of the Coles County Historical Society & that am trying to restore the ICRR Depot in Mattoon Illinois, & that have a caboose in my yard. The agent was very nice, but still wants to see my picturess along with the negatives. I arranged to meet him at the RR museum where I'll be working this weekend. I will bring a copy of the most recent trains mag.

Rob

PS my wife says that I'm grounded

[jeaton]

Rob

Sounds OK, but remember to send us a card when you get to Gitmo.

Or, maybe he is a railfan.

Jay

[FThunder11]

You (i)must(/i) be a Terrorist, all thoes clubs and whatnot. People Are stupid...(meaning the person that called the FBI)

[AntonioFP45]

Wow! For me this evokes mixed feelings.

I still like to take photos of trains and would feel a tad "bugged" if an FBI agent called me.

But in thinking rationally, I would gladly cooperate. This tells me that more Americans are alert, which is great!!

Trains are incredibly easy targets. One evening in 1979, I saw a kid go up to a Center Flow hopper car on a siding at the Purina Feed plant in Tampa. He climbed up on the ladder on the ladder and turned the brake wheel. I heard a clank and the car started to roll towards the switch leading to the mainline that Amtrak ran on! Before I yelled at him, the kid immedietly turned the brake wheel and stopped the car. He must have been about 12 years old. Just a kid! Imagine what a real wacko-nut- job today could do!!!!!!!

Some of the "civil libertarians" here would disagree with me, but IMHO many of them forget that terrorists don't care about civil rights, search and seizure, etc. Their only interest is to kill us......period! The London trajedy, God Bless those victims, has been a wake-up call.

Cooperate with authorities, show I.D. They're usually cool. If the guy happens to be a jerk, don't argue....explain that you're a railfan, and you will gladly report anything suspicious.

Peace out.

[AntonioFP45]

FT Thunder,

I'm not criticizing you, but why is the person that called the FBI stupid?

Remember, London trains have been recently blown up. IT's likely that this is fresh on the mind of the person that called! Law enforcement is at the point now where it can no longer ignore calls like these. Especially since our "facts twisting" news media is ready to criticize the FBI and police in a heartbeat for not following up on potential threats.

Guys, most non-Railfans view us as a little strange. Many people are unaware of the existence of shutterbug railfans. We shouldn't be upset by this but be glad that some citizens are keeping an eye on our "very vulnerable" rail lines. Remember, that to this day the derailment of the Sunset Limited out in an American desert a decade or so back remains unsolved. People died.

Roger that.

[Anonymous]

Did you make yourself look like an Muslum when taking your Photo?

[Junctionfan]

Poor FBI agent too; I'm sure the FBI are busy enough without being bothered with someone who could have easily just been reported to local police.

I know it isn't politically correct but logic and common sense rarely are but aren't they looking for people that look middle eastern that are being suspicious?

[Anonymous]

I sit listening to NPR's report of the shooting of a "terrorist" in the London subway system this morning. May we live in interesting times ... scary. I guess my thoughts on the FBI calling wanting copies of your photos has nothing to do with "you", but rather your photos of the train that might help find or keep track of someone else. Keep up the good work and let us know how Cuba is in late summer!!
Will

[Anonymous]

Timothy McVie didn't look Middle Eastern. Some Middle Eastern folks don't look Middle Eastern. How would you define the look?

Of course anyone taling pics of a railway operation for subversive reasons is using a cell phone camera.

I agree with Antonio. At this point the law enforcement people are not going to lay back on anything. They don't care if it's a Dash-anything that you need a picture of. People are upset. The law has to do its job. There was a shooting in the London Subway this morning. During WWII you weren't going up to Horseshoe Curve to get pics either.

It would be different if one needed a picture of a certain train. But we merely want them. That's not enough to convince a frightened public to turn their backs on our activities as unpleasant as that may seem.

I personaly don't think terrorists take pictures of their targets, but who's to say? What would the press to to law enforcement that didn't check someone out and that person ended up taking out a bridge as Acela sped over it?
I can see the headline now...

"OFFICER IGNORED PHOTOGRAPHER THINKING HE WAS A TRAIN BUFF"
And that would be it. They'd come for our cameras, they'd come for my razors, timetables would become secret information to say nothing about the tragedy itself.

Mitch

[Junctionfan]

Not just that; I remembered that Walker guy who went to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban and he wasn't middle-eastern decent.

[dknelson]

Yikes! Well maybe one "advantage" of shooting Kodachrome slides is that it is now about 3 weeks before I get my slides back, so if the FBI asked to see them there would be a nice long wait. Maybe the G-men could help me get faster service?
Dave Nelson

[jsoderq]

Actually terrorists do take pictures of their targets. There were many pictures of New York found after 9/11.

[Anonymous]

We do what we have to do as everyday normal Americans. I guess loosing our freedom is part of us being safe in this country. Well not exactly true though. Allan.

[gabe]

Sorry, but the resident skeptic has to rear his ugly head:

How did the FBI person or person who saw you taking pictures know your name and how to locate you? It seems to me that if the person knew you well enough to know your name, they would know what you were doing?

Were your near your car? Maybe they got your license plates?

Just curious as to how that process works.

Gabe

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by artmark

During WWII you weren't going up to Horseshoe Curve to get pics either.

Mitch

Mitch is right, I think people are forgetting just what restrictions had been put in place during WWII. This new war is being fought in our own back yards. If we have to lose a little everyday rights we have come to expect to counter the terrorist fringe, I think this is all part of our duty as US citizens to cooperate and help our government better see those that shouldn't be doing what they are concerned about. I think, though it may be a while, we will return to our open access and freedoms, it did return after WWII and will after this is over.

I know many feel we are losing if we are asked to give up our rights, but if you want to win this war, which is what this is, we have to sacrafice some freedoms, our troops are giving up much more then we are to keep the US free.

Dave

[ALCOC415]

Rob,
Maybe they can ask for idetification from all the little kiddies getting there pics taken with the little engine that could. Sorry guys private joke between Rob and I.
Dave

[ALCOC415]

Also my wife agrees with Bambi.
Dave

[owlsroost]

QUOTE: Actually terrorists do take pictures of their targets. There were many pictures of New York found after 9/11.

Have you ever tried using the Google 'images' section to search for pictures of New York ? - it turns up 1.75 million of them.
If you search for 'empire state building' it lists 19,000, 'new york subway' nearly 7,000, 'jamaica station' over 500.

The point is that in today's internet age, there are millions of pictures of all sorts of places already readily accessible to anyone in the world - that genie was let out of the bottle long ago....

As someone else has pointed out, one good reason FOR taking pictures is that they can be useful to investigators later - the Police in London have been appealing for anyone with relevant photos and video of the areas around the recent bombings to send them in, in case they might have caught one of the bombers or their associates on film.

Tony

[spbed]

Were you packing when they saw you? [:o)][:p]

Originally posted by robscaboose
[

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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