Well, it’s happened again. Sunday night I was photographing the eastbound Empire Builder passing the Sounder commuter train from a parking lot at the station in Everett, Washington. After taking two pictures, I was approached by a security guard and was told photography of trains is not permitted.
When I questioned the guard about the public property issue, she called her supervisor to verify the fact and responded that the security company has been instructed to tell everyone that photography of trains is not allowed. The supervisor also responded that the parking lot was private property and not public property. (This is a public park and ride lot used by Amtrak and Sound Transit as well as several local bus transit agencies.) All in all the security guards were very polite.
Interestingly enough, I have researched the Sound Transit passenger conduct rules on their web site and in their timetable and have found no mention of photography at all.
Well you either are the most unlucky train fan in the USA or you either look like some sought of sinster train fan that makes people think you are doing somthing illegal. Just look at my web site & see all the trains I saw & all the places I have been & NEVER once have I been bothered or stopped from taking pix.
Everette must be on the stupid side of Seattle. The Olympia/Lacy station, which is about an equal distance away but on the other side of Seattle has a 24 hour web cam which can be found at the TrainWeb. com site. Duh.
Apparently in the last 3 years several terrorist suspects were observed photographing Amtrak and Commuter trains along several spots along the northeast corrirdor, including large stations.
This is why Amtrak personnel may be “a bit on edge”. On another railfan photo related thread here, some posters stated comments about “Freedom, rights, we’re letting the terrorists win”, etc. etc.,
However, after the train bombings in Spain and London…can we really blame railroad personnel and securtiy forces for being “abrasive” sometimes?
Sorry about what happened to you. It is good that the security personnel treated you with respect. Not excusing your being stopped from photographing trains as I have many railfanning photos. But this is a reality of life today whether we like it or not.
I’m planning on taking photos of trains again as I’ve been on a hiatus. But I’m going with the attitude that I may be challenged by police or railroad personnel, even if in a public place. I plan on keeping a cool head.
Just pack up and move on to the next location. Trust me! There ARE other locations that no one can bother you at all. Just remember one thing…Stay clear out of view from the Public’s eye. Once they see you,They got you. Allan.
That is the + about Olympia-Lacy w/cam. The - is it only refreshes every 90 seconds. I was there last May & took pix of several trains breezing by & nobody bother me whasoever. Thae same goes for Tacoma, Portland & all along the I84 along the Columbia river & La Grange & Hinkle. The starter of this thread must provoke some kind of reaction from non rail fans when it trains fan or is just the world most unlucky person. Just look how close I got the trains & not 1 engineer reported me. At one time I was within 2 1/2 miles of a BNSF office & every train stops there to check the brakes before the upcoming downhill from the summit of the Cajon Pass. Just look at my web site to see all the trains & all the places I have been with no difficulty.
Sorry see my web site. I do not agree with your contention. When I am at Riverside or Colton those are areas where you are ALWAYS interacting with the PUBLIC & have never been bother when I have been there. In fact when the Police need a break they sit under the I-10 overpass in Colton to get out of the California sun & have seen me several times & NEVER bother me or ask what I am doing. I guess my tripod & digital camera gives me away.
About your interaction with the public when trainfanning to reinforce what I posted earlier here is a message I received in my guest book on my web site.
“It is nice to see folks enjoying the area and taking pix in both Riverside and Colton along with the Cajon Pass. I especially have to chuckle since your one picture caught my old office in Riverside in the background where I could watch the trains all day long”.
from that Email you can see there are biz offices at Riverside with windows overlooking the tracks.
In some ways it’s probably better to photograph trains right in the middle of things. If you do it way out somewhere or where you know most people won’t see you, you’d think that would be what some terrorists would do. Right now I’m in to taking video of trains but so far I haven’t brought my video camera on a national train like Amtrak or any light rail system. Probably, though, taking video is less likley to be considered what terrorists would do anyways.
The author states that this is private property. Hence, they have the right to not let people do whatever they want on the property, be it take pictures or loiter or whatever.
Re-read the posting. Just as private as railroad tracks. And if the security works for a private owner, who leases the property to another entity - the owner still has the right to say what will and will not go on, on his property.
You should find out who really/truly owns the property. You cannot expect the supervisor not to back up the person chasing you. If as Mookie says it is private property then yes you are actually trespassing & if they represent the owner then they have the right to chase you. Go to the tax rolls of the city involved & check for the rightful owner. If the city owns it which sounds plausable as it a park & ride lot then whomever has no right/power to chase you. [:o)][:p]
I’ll agree with what was said above. Do a little checking, find out for sure whether the lot is public, find out who hired the security company and whether what you were told was true (I doubt it). If there is a valid reason for the prohibition of photography, so be it, but if there is not make sure you know who to contact on the spot.
Might not be a bad idea to get a legal protection plan too, they’re not that expensive and are really worth it!
When challenged by security/police/whatever, I found it does NOT help your case to say “Abduhl is going to be ticked off if I don’t get these pictures”.
Ive been there i was videoing a train by my house and when it passed a
cop came up and asked what i was doing and i told him i was taping
a train and after that he said ok as long as i wasn’t doing anything illigal
“this was right after the lasers being shot at airplanes”
Oh well wasn’t in troble and still enjoying trains.
The station and surrounding land is owned by the City of Everett. The guards were hired by Sound Transit and had nothing to do with the City of Everett.
Also, the city is evidently not too worried about pictures as they have posted a 9-page photo gallery of the station including site and floor plans on their web site. Some of those pictures even show trains!!!
Very similar to what happened to me. I was videotaping trains on the BNSF transcon and a BNSF policeman came up and asked what I was doing. I said I was videotaping trains and he didn’t say anything more except saying that I was doing everything right and he appriciated it!
This raises the legal issue whether railroad stations and their parking lots, etc. that are owned or supported as taxpayer financed public entities are really public property in the same sense as sidewalks and parks.