Last night I was on a coal train going thru Omaha. A little after 10pm on the west side of town we went past a person who evidently was out doing a little night photography. We were on main track 2 (south track) and this person had his tripod set up between the rails on main track 1 (north track).
Because of a grade at this location our speed had dropped to about 40mph when we went past this person. My conductor said to me, “Did you just see that?” Neither one of us could believe it. To make matters worse, this person was dressed in mostly dark clothing and we really didn’t see anything until we were practically on him.
We of course turned this person in to the dispatcher. My conductor said he would probably be gone by the time someone got out there to check. I agreed and said he also probably had a scanner and I hoped he would hear that he was being reported.
If you’ve ever wondered why some railroads or railroaders are intolerant to railfans, it’s because of people like this person.
[2c] Jeff, you klnow how i feel about FRNs, As long as they are off the property and a safe distance take all the photos you want, And knowuing Jeff as I do, I know this bothered him alot. Its stupid and very insafe and it not only endangers himself but the crew will have to live with it if this moron is hurt or killed while doing this. Be safe when you are railfanning . we would rather talk to you then about you OK I am off my soapbox Larry[soapbox]
Based on some of what I’ve seen and the stories I’ve heard, I really can’t blame some railroaders for being intolerant of railfans. However, I do believe that the majority of railfans are responsible and do what is necessary to keep themselves and others safe while they’re railfanning. There are always a few that ruin things for the rest of us. I would hope that your opinion of railfans in general is not too adversely affected by the minority that act like idiots.
Just out of curiosity, were you westbound or eastbound through Omaha?
For what it’s worth - [2c] - I fully support what you did in that situation, and your post above. Thanks for taking the time to do so.
“Sheesh - what a moron !” - Bugs Bunny.
The dope was lucky he didn’t get hit, and probably that he wasn’t busted. If so, maybe just hearing it on the scanner might have been enough to teach him the lesson - we can hope so, anyway.
Not to ‘second-guess’ you guys at all, so - Could your conductor have called the UP police or the City Police at 9-1-1 on a company cell-phone instead, to avoid tipping him off via the scanner ? I’d say in view of where he was, that would have qualified as a valid 9-1-1 emergency call.
I could say more, but others already have, or proabably will. It’s too bad that you have to put up with that kind of stupidity on top of everything else that your job entails. But thanks again for posting, and in doing so helping both sides to understand the experiences and positions of the other.
It is egotistic thinking. “No, officer, you and all the others don’t seem to understand. It’s all about me tonight. I desire this image, and you have to respect my need to get it by whatever means I deem necessary.”
Stupidity knows know bounds–whether it be geographical, occupational, ethnic, moral, or social.
I am frequently amazed that such stupid people exist; I would have thought that the stupid gene would have died out millenia ago as the forebearers of people like the one mentioned did the prehistorical equivalent of standing on the tracks-at night-on a high speed main, and would get eaten by the lions.
I image UP is the same way, but we do have a 1-800 number for the railroad police, as well as, a land line to the dispatcher. If you remember the radio code, we can also access the company phone lines from the radio.
Although announcing it on the radio may tip off the trespasser, it also tips off other trains in the area, and if there happens to be a Railroad Special Agent around, to look out for the dude.
Normally, though, I do make my trespasser reports by phone. It’s easier to give the location, and description of the person and answer any questions without stepping on anyone.
Willy, we were eastbound. The location was out about MP 14.8 or .9. I don’t know the streets of Omaha well enough but there is a small shopping center with a Hy Vee grocery store north of the tracks.
Paul, I thought about having the conductor turn on his phone and call someone so as not to alert the tresspasser. But a few events that I have heard of recently, where an employee thought he was doing the right and safe thing under the circumstances but was overruled by managers and assessed discipline. Cell phone usage right now is a big no-no. There is too big a pool of furloughed trainmen and set back engineers to risk our jobs because some manager, who’s job could be cut too, decides to show his/her importance by charging us with a rules (and Federal) violation.
I don’t know what kind of shot that fool could get up close instead of off the ROW-unless it was a nice headon of the train that was about to run him over.
From time to time, my wife quotes her first husband as having said, “Nature has limits, but the stupidity of man knows no bounds.”
Perhaps the stupidity gene is recessive, and not dominant, so it does get passed on. I’m not sure about the ego gene, which may be linked to the stupidity gene.
After seeing the behavior of some people at Train Fest 2009, not much would surprise me. I was yelled at several times for walking into someone’s shot, and some were downright rude if you might possibly ruin their perfect shot (never mind that there were hundreds there trying to get the same shot…)
We have a slightly different problem - hikers. It’s a popular activity where we run, and it’s not unusual to encounter some on or near the tracks.
Back when I was scanner-equipped, I heard a CNW crew that had stopped its train in one of the neighboring suburbs (won’t mention the name, but the high school is pretty close to the tracks) because there were a lot of kids running on the tracks. Conductor talked to them and said that they were the cross-country team, and their coach had told them to use the tracks as part of their run! The dispatcher was on the phone right away, and I’m certain that someone received a talking-to before those kids even got back to the building.
The thing that I see too much of when out with railfans, particularly the younger ones, is roughhousing around the tracks between trains. I know that such behavior is prohibited by rules governing employees, so employees just don’t appreciate seeing it. There are no trains in the vicinity, and they’re never in the unsafe zone for more than a couple of seconds, but believe me, sometimes that’s all it takes. A fall against a rail or onto hard ballast wouldn’t be pleasant–I’ve been there, in the course of my duties. So if anyone resembles this remark, please don’t do it where I can see you! I’m not likely to say any more than I just did, but if I just walk away you’ll know why.
I haven’t read everyone else’s posts, but I’ll offer my input:
Returning to Cedar Rapids from a trip to Wisconsin, I decided to take the Hwy. 30 route west. It was in Agnew, IL, where Hwy. 30 crosses-over the (then) CNW main on an overpass. I saw a lot of people on the bridge and in the nearby town crowding the ROW, so I stopped (with no film in my camera left) to see what all the fuss was about.
Soon I heard the steam whistle and I could see the steam billowing-up, and it was an eastbound excursion train pulling some UP and I think a few MILW passenger cars (I can’t recall the type of locomotive and not being into steam that much I didn’t ask about it).
Some jackass had his tripod set-up just like the poster here described, only on the tracks the train was approaching over! He picked-up and moved, after getting his all-precious shot with the locomotive maybe 30 yards away. We on the bridge were all ridiculing the idiot as we watched the train roll by at around 35 MPH it was estimated, but he sure seemed to get a chuckle from his posse’ on the north side of the ROW. He looked to be a middle-aged moron with about 45 RR pins on his baseball cap from what I saw through the binocs.
Why risk dying for a photo of a steam engine approaching that’s being photographed by 40 other people at the same place and by hundreds of people on the same day? What’s more - why die for a picture of a UP unit coal train, the likes of which you can see literally everyday?
I thought that might be the case, but didn’t want to presume that - and that’s why I asked, rather than do the '‘Monday-morning-quarterback’ act. For sure, that’s a ‘crazy-making’ situation to be placed in - don’t call, and maybe a brother hits the jerk, and for sure the company suffers the delays, etc., or make the call and get disciplined - and you have my sympathies. FWIW, then, you did the right thing anyway. Someone that dumb is not worth risking even a single paycheck for, let alone the job.
[(-D] But zardoz, there are 2 minor flaws with your analysis, which I think pretty much ‘nails it’ otherwise:
Mother Nature constantly mutates the genes in new ways, and so the gene pool gets replenished with new stupidity, and new kinds of stupidity. That way, as a zookeeper once told a 5th grader during a tour: ‘Well, kid, the cat has to eat, too !’’
Sorry to be late to the party. This guy is an idiot. Reporting him was your only option.
A few years ago under similar circumstances I was riding a shove on a running track on the perimeter of two yards with a double main running down the center. A fan had his tripod set up in the gauge of the runner taking photos of a visiting steamer at the engine house across the main (and four other live tracks) After yelling to him to get off the track and being ignored I stopped the shove and phoned the local police and the terminal superintendent. The individual was arrested and charged with trespassing, interfering with railroad operations, interference with governmental administration and resisting arrest after a brief argument with the cops over his photographic rights. The train was delayed by about 20 minutes in our interchange work. Shortly thereafter a railroad police officer was assigned to the yard. We hadn’t had one for a couple of years.
Amazing how just one incident can color your perception of fans. Oh, and I got a little grief for calling the cops before calling the superintendent, but sometimes you gotta do what works…
There are several good quotes on this thread, but that one summed up my feelings best.
When Light Rail Transit arrived in Calgary about 1980 I could not believe the way people were moving and acting on the platforms. Like kids in daycare not holding on to the rope on field trips! Clearly they didn’t grow up having their Mom and Dad telling them where they should be when trains were moving past the station platform. [:D]
But as the years pass it became very clear that these people were involved in themselves and their own issues. The idea that even if they were brushed back by a passing LRT car, it was going to hurt them bad, didn’t seem to enter their minds. Let alone jumping and jostling on the platform and risk falling on the tracks.
Today I simply try not to think about or watch too closely what other people are doing on the platforms because I simply have too much of an understanding of the ways things can go horribly wrong. Ignorance may not be bliss but it certainly reduces my stress level.