Great group of railfans over there and they will tell you all the hot spots in Charleston. I was born in Charleston and lived there for over 25 years–its is an excellent place to railfan. The ultra-busy CSX A-line from Florida to the Northeast runs right through there and you will see every kind of traffic possible: passenger, coal, freight, intermodal, etc. Also Norfolk Southern does a lot of automotive, intermodal, and import/export coal in Charleston. Both railroads have large yards there and the tracks are for the most part readily accessible by roads. Plus you should have good weather this time of year (the skeeters haven’t come out yet).
Also, you wil have absolutely no trouble with a scanner in the state of South Carolina. In Georgia I am always beside the tracks with scanners and have discussions with the local cops about trains and other stuff. Got a few “get out of jail free” cards out of those encounters to boot!
The subjects in these two photos are trespassing on railroad right-of-way. The property line is not indicated by the physical location of the sign. Aside from the danger of putting a child next to the tracks, you could easily be arrested an charged with trespass. And since your only defense would be ignorance of the law (“I thought the sign was the boundary!”), you’d be guilty.
When you do foolish things like this, you make it tougher on all of us.
The bottom line is, there is no law of any kind that prohibits railfans from listening to scanners in SC, which also means, police are not going to be looking for you just because they “hate” it. They can “hate” all they want (if that’s even true–you provide no evidence of it), but also long as it is legal to listen to railroaders, there’s no reason to worry.
According to some people in MN there are laws that disallow use of the scanners in your vehicle but that may be more because they may fall under some kind of anti personal communicative device regulation in a motor vehicle act. That would be a different matter. Up here we are not allowing the use of scanners in tow trucks or such because the operators of such frequently would show up right after an accident and garner business that way. Sort of along the line of ambulance chasers–
That is the point–to know those rights. Most of these ‘laws’ have more to do with operation of a motor vehicle and using things like cell phones et al. and scanners–in some places–got thrown in there i guess. But really, most of the time there is really no need to worry.
I go down town and order a pizza, sit outside and wait. Or go downtown and order breakfast, sit outside and wait. Or I sit out on the back porch with a cup of coffee and wait. At any time of the day, we see a couple of trains an hour on the NS mainline in Easly SC. No scanners, no schedules, just living life. It took a few years to find the sweet spot, but it’s worth it.
See the other half of that post. several many eyewitnesses, the majority of them I know to be credible, and a listing of several states that have rulings on such matter are provided for your reading enjoyment. Yes, no law in SC. I get that. But the blanket statement being thrown out that there’s no concern about scanners is completely wrong. It’s not the railroaders they are concerned about. It’s the other channels one can hit with them. And the simple fact of the matter is if the police feel that somethign could interfere witht them doing soemthing that isn’t directly on the books, they can act on it. That’s why there’s courts. And the above links provide eyewitnesses and legal precedents from other states that scanners can be and are such a concern. So the bottom line is, the OP might want to run it past the local constabulary to make sure they don’t have any qualms AND know explicitly what it is he’s doing.
Just how big is Charleston then? The only track I saw in Chalreston was that of the port. But there was a lot going on around what I thought we were in North Charleston
Oftentimes a police dislike of some activities that are legal may be just personal reactions and feelings of discomfort experienced by individual police officers. Sometimes, they may approach you - say for example, while using a scanner - if doing that is upsetting them - and talk to you in a way that is designed to intimidate an individual into desisting from operating their scanner.
It is prudant for all of us who embark on some activity or other to aquaint ouselves with any local laws that may effect our enjoyment of our chosen interest. Knowledge is power and it pays big dividends when it comes to dealing with police and private security people as well.
All of this is especially so in today’s troubled times when security of industries of national importance may, or at least could be, targets for people who have evil on their minds. Folks wandering around railway tracks located in remote era’s carrying picnic bags and camera equipment are a natural cause for suspicion by the authorities.
My personal circumstances prevent me now from any railfanning other than that which is possible from the drivers set of my car - even then I have been challenged by police officers wanting to know why I was taking photo’s of railroad equipment and did I have any “legitimate” busness other than enjoying my hobby. I hadn’t realised that an old man in a battered Oldsmobile S/W could cause so much worry to those officers. [sigh]
OK, I understand the scanner deal. Most often if you commit a crime or are assisting in a crime, the use of a scanner to locate police or learn of their doings it’s illegal and in SOME states it may be illegal to possess one outside the personal residence etc.etc.etc. What I don’t understand is the OP’s request. Is it an Excursion trip you are wanting to participate in or are you wanting to watch trains run from the sideline so to speak? Many good suggestions for the rail fanning from the sidelines here, but there are no real arrangements to make unless you plan on going with a group. (thatI‘ve ever heard. Possibly though). If you want an excursion trip then maybe Charleston being the town it is, (beautiful I might add), I would assume the local tourist info people may have some direction for you to take or even maybe a rail road company nearby, Amtrak station? One of those I would think would surely know if such a thing in your area exists. Good luck and have fun whatever you do!
Personally I don’t understand all this hoopla about watching trains roll by. Standing around or driving looking for some old dirty train to go by just doesn’t…Oooh, oooh, Gotta go I just heard a horn. That means the UP freight will be here any second (SLAM!)
Besides all the legal beagle BS that is flapping around created by various fear industry types I have a favourite spot involving a footbridge that we, as kids, would go over when heading to school. That and double track mainlines. Did not take long to get pix of trains—now, if only I can locate them in these dang file boxes—[:-^]
Red indicates use illegal without an FCC license, or permission.
Orange indicates legislation is being proposed, but use is currently legal.
Green indicates use illegal in furtherance of a crime.
Black indicates pause for thought.
What does this mean? Well, for most of us, we only need to pay attention to those states marked in red. For all intents and purposes, the rest can be considered “black.”
WOW…put up a simple (but mis-stated) post and I really opened up a can 'o worms!! I learned my lesson. Obviously, I did not have a proper definition of railfanning…but I do now! Sorry to cause all the discusions about scanners, et. al. What my original post had intended to ask was, how do I go about arranging an EXCURSION. I (imporperly) assumed that railfanning meant riding along on a train with the crew. To be perfectly honest, at this point in my knowledge of the hobby, sitting around snapping pix of the trains wouldn’t do alot for me, since I have no idea what type of loco each one if them is…no idea what the signals mean…no idea if a particular freight car is “rare” or not, etc. Having said that, I can DEFINATELY see where I can get into it…just don’t have the time for it right now, since I’m trying to squeeze in the building of my layout into every spare moment I have., while at the same time, running my business and raising 2 daughters (one teen and one pre-teen that spends 14 hrs/week in gymnastics!!)
We have a local Mead-Westvaco lumber mill site about 2 miles up the road and I’m sure I can get some photos of that one day, but not now.
What I wondered in the original post is if there were trips that one could take on a local freight train. My original thought was "surely not, with the company’s liability issues and, in these post 9/11 days, surely nobody would allow that any longer. BUT, after reading some of these posts, I got the impression that some were able to do it, so I wanted to know how.
Fortunately, there are “official” excursions and trips that allow us to ride along (sometimes even in the cab, if you pay a premium rate).
These take place around the country, and are almost always a part of a historical society or museum event (sometimes a “fan trip” or on a tourist railroad). Here’s one example: http://www.royalgorgeroute.com/rates_cab.aspx
You can use Google, and I am sure more people here will post examples.
Skip,I have visited several short lines over the years and have always checked in to the office and sign releases to be on the property…One short line invited me to to join the crew for a day-that was in 2003…Of course I had to sign releases releasing them from the begining of time to judgement day but,it was well worth the 10 hour day spent riding with the crew.Kinda like old times when I worked as a brakeman.
No problem, I should be sorry to have started the scanner issue, but I wanted yu to beware. Enough of that though,
Best bet, as said above, is to ask a museum. Might cost. I have gotten to arrange a trip, I did a school project and he was nice enough to offer me a ride-along. That reminds me, I need to follow up. That was with a regional. Others I know did lettering for models for the President of the above regonal and got a ride. If you make yourself known as an interested party, and ask politely, they might do, but it may take a few visits and ralrfanning. Thing about railfanning, borng it may be. But it is also soothing. They can’t just give a ride to anayone, but someone that becomes a friend of the company, they might lend a favor. Great People, rail people are.
How many times have we read about people being told that taking pictures of trains is illegal?
Approve or not, if there’s no ordinance against it, they can no more stop you from taking pictures than they can stop you from listening to country music (a crime in my book, to be sure )
Fortunately here in Ohio I live near two railyards owned by the Wheeling & Lake Erie and I can catch plenty of trains going in and out of them. Gambrianus yard in Canton and the yard in S. Akron. Then I am also close to a NS mainline rail and catch some thoroughbreds running on them.
I found several spots were you can get great pics & videos right along the mainline. I know I might get into big trouble but haven’t so far. The RR police are jokes. I really don’t know if they have the authority to arrest me but I have been approached several times in mainline places were I was sure I wasn’t supposed to be and nothing was done. Now these guys were by themselves and I am a big boy but they never even tried. In fact the BIG Altoona yard is a great place to climb through and into some engines and old cabooses. I am by far a safe railfanner.
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