After all the uproar over this, it may not be true after all. I’ve been checking both UP’s and Metra’s websites - nothing has shown up about it on either. Nor has there been any mention in the “Chicago Tribune” or the “Sun-Times”. After one last webcheck this morning, I phoned Metra and…
My first conversation was with John Gottlieb, Metra’s Manager of Special Services, among whose duties is handling commercial photography at Metra facilities. He had not heard of any such “photo ban” and said non-commercial photography is absolutely allowed under the following conditions:
(1) One photographs from public access areas only,
(2) Stays at least 15 feet from the right of way, and
(3) Carries proper identification, prepared to present same to any law enforcement officer.
Any photography, videotaping, etc., for commercial purposes must be handled thru Mr. Gottlieb’s office, as permits are required.
As Mr. Gottlieb’s office isn’t directly involved with Metra law enforcement/security, he referred me to the office of Chief James Sanford of the Metra Police Department. I spoke with Commander Dorsey there who confirmed everything that Mr. Gottlieb had told me. He further said that there had been no contact with the Metra PD by the UP and that he doubted UP would try to put such a ban in place without notifying the Metra PD.
Bottom line, as far as Metra is concerned, railfan photography is fine as long as the rules are adhered to. Both gentlemen were quite helpful and gave permission to be quoted in this post.
So, is the “photo ban” just a rumor or, even worse, a hoax?
From what I heard it was not a hoax. A reliable source told me that he had been in contact with the UP about this and apparently there was some sort of specific threat in that area. I doubt the special agents want us to know much more about it.
Sounds good. If you’ve heard it from Metra, and they said no bans have been issued, then I don’t think we have anything to worry about! Now, if you called UP…that’s a different story; who knows what they could make up. [}:)]
New here and new to photographing anything railroad related. There has been some talk in photographic forums about photographers being asked not to photograph certain RR areas/cars/switches, etc. Is this a line by line decision made by whoever is in charge of the “rules”?
Should I call ahead and ask the RR yard about their rules before I go out and take some pix?
I live in Lima, OH and we have a rich RR tradition that I would like to record.
Welcome to the board Kilroi. Photographing trains from public areas is not illegal. Unfortunately there are a lot of clueless, overzellous law enforcement officers out there. And from time to time they do harass railfans and falsely tell them photographing trains is illegal. It’s not true though, they just try to use this terrorist thing as an excuse. I for one don’t back down. I know my rights and if I am wrongly harassed you can bet I am going to react, not by getting mouthy but by going to the cops superiors and not letting them bully me. Haveing said that let me say that I have run ins with security and law enforcement fairly often and I haven’t had a bad encounter sience 911. Actualy most have been rather plesent and a few times I have been allowed to go places I otherwise couldn’t because I was civil and asked.
Now if you are tresspassing that’s another story and you can get thrown in the slammer and / or ticketed for the offence. And it may not always be posted but if you are on the tracks / right of way or in a railyard you are tresspassing if you don’t have permission to be there. With this UP / Metra ban thing it’s a kinda blurry line. Yes it is an area where the public is allowed (or ticket holding patrons anyway) but it is still private property (I think UP owns it). We’ll have to see how this plays out. NJT tried to ban photography on there property but that didn’t fly and they reversed there decision.
Our lead post has someone who actually signs his name, cites names and officers in Metra, and says there is no problem. I can check him out and verify what he says.
Then I can look down the line and get statements like “A friend of mine said”, and “There are a couple of people on rail websites that say…”
If you honestly and truthfully believe in everything you read on the Internet, I have some swampland- oops, I meant ecologically correct wetlands- in Florida to sell you. A really reliable friend of mine tells me that there is a 30 foot gator in there, too. And there’s a couple of websites on the net who think they saw it too!
Before you go into how much the government is keeping you down, and how many cops you think are facists, please check your facts. And present them in such a way that an independent witness can check them. Like our first poster, who did an admirable job.
If anyone doubts the veracity of my post, I’d invite them to call Metra at (312) 322-6777 and speak to Mr. Gottlieb and/or Commander Dorsey. My only reason for the post is that on the forums I participate in, no one reported having contacted Metra to get their response to the “ban”.
Thanks for your reply…I had seen the terms “troll/trolling” before but had to email someone to find out what they mean. That made me curious as to whether my post was the one referred to.
From what I read, so far UP hasn’t posted any signs at the affected Metra stations prohibiting photography, so I don’t see how they could possibly enforce it, legally, that is.
They don’t post “no trespassing” signs everywhere either but they do enforce it at places where no sign is posted. I don’t think having a new policy necessitates a sign. But perhaps that’s just another nonsensical statement.[;)]
Well, call me nutty, but I think a new policy necessitates something.
Know this: No formal announcement has been made ANYWHERE in the entire Chicagoland area. No informal announcements, either. Nothing in the newspapers or on radio or TV. No signs posted at Metra stations. Nada, nyet, ought, naught, cipher, zero, zippo, blank-o, nitz.
So while I agree all areas don’t have to be posted for enforcement, any law enforcement entity would be quite hard-pressed to make such charges stick since the only place this new restriction has been publicized is the Trains.com Newswire.
Yes I agree signs would be helpful…and maybe the trespassing is a whole different deal as far as the practicality of placing signs everywhere they would need to be. All I really meant was it would seem that two of the posts indicate that since there is not yet a sign, then that was possible proof that there is no new policy.
I can cite 2 instances of railfans receiving warnings from authorities while they were in places where the general public is not warned and where there are no “no trespassing” signs. Obviously there is a no trespassing deal in place, but it’s not posted. I personally do not have a problem with the authorities so don’t assume that I do.
Also when I was in Chicago in 2003 I was verbally warned that I could not take photos on the CTA platforms but I don’t recall seeing any signs stating that there was a policy. So I’m perhaps pointing out the obvious but I would not assume that just because it’s not posted means that there is not a ban.