I had a day off today so I decided to go to one of my favorite spots as a child, LaGrange Crossing. I hadn’t been there in a year and my father took me there when I was in grammar school and we used to climb up on the BNSF (then BN) bridge and videotape trains. Well today I didn’t think twice about climbing up there to take pics and after about an hour and a half a BNSF, IHB or CSX (I couldn’t tell which) track crew that was driving by reported me to the LaGrange P.D. A short while later a squad car showed up and I came down off the bridge where I was promptly issued a trespassing citation. I was clearly a railfan taking pictures and had the camera to prove it but the cop didn’t ask to see them and I didn’t want to argue so I just kept my mouth shut. Now I have to take a day off and go to court for this and who knows what the fine will be. Attention LaGrange railfans, STAY OFF THE BRIDGE.
BTW: pics from today’s adventure can be seen in the latest album on the website below…
Also, before any of you holier-than-thou types get on my case, I know I was in the wrong, I was just hoping the cop would let me off with a warning.
I never go on that bridge because it is trespassing and the police have been writing tickets for that since the late 1960s when I moved out that way. Doesn’t matter what you’re doing – has nothing to do with 9/11 or Freedom of Speech rights. Has everything to do with trespassing on railroad property. I know of at least one person killed after being struck by a train on that girder bridge.
You gambled on getting a warning and didn’t win. I can imagine your chagrin. Thanks for the heads-up. Let us know what the fine is these days. Used to be $50 a long, long time ago.
BTW – it is posted up there. Did he write you for simple trespass or criminal trespass? I think the latter could earn you (in the right instance) up to six months and a $500 fine. If you trespass on a farm with your vehicle it jumps to $2500, I believe.
I don’t see it as either/or. The bridge was out of bounds years ago, and will be until it is torn down. So, what freedom? Wasn’t free access yesterday, and apparently not today. Where did 9/11 enter the picture in PZ’s earlier times?
Private property is just that. It was the same in feudal times. Trespass at your peril.
I only saw one shot taken from an elevated position in LaGrange, so I’m assuming that’s where you got caught. In that shot, there’s a public bridge in the background. Is there no sidewalk there? It would seem to be a whole lot less hassle to get a shot there if there was…
I think the sidewalks on that bridge (Ogden Avenue), Chris, have chain link fence extensions to prevent jumpers – or jerks from dropping stuff onto the trains.
Sounds like you are lucky you haven’t been fined before this. I’m not holyer then though, I have tresspassed myself, but when you do that getting caught and fined is part of the risk. This isn’t rocket science.[(-D]
The top of the bridge is not posted, the IHB has the pillars posted at the bottom. Regardless, it doesn’t matter, I got pinched. It was a simple citation, he just wrote the ticket and we were both on our way.
I have been taking pictures forever (Like 15 years) at CP LaGrange… Never once went on the bridge. Always thought it would be a cool perch for a shot, but didn’t feel like getting busted for trespassing. I use Ogden Ave. bridge for bridge shots. It’s not a bad perch…All the cars make me nervous, though.
On another point that bridge has always and forever been off limits, even when my dad used to take us there back in the mid 70’s. Trespassing is trespassing pre - or - post 9/11.
Much better shots of the BNSF line and shots of the IHB from above. The Ogden Ave bridge is fenced on the side with the stairs. To me the Ogden Ave bridge is much more dangerous with a constant stream of vehicles going by but where I was is railroad property and I learned the hard way.
Hmmm…chain link fences are no fun…but here’s a couple methods of dealing with them (and I employ these all the time):
If you’re lucky enough to shoot Pentax Digital, you have the option of buying their DA Limited Pancake lenses. These things are tiny. I have the 21mm, and hope to get the 40mm very soon. My 21mm can shoot through the links on a chain link fence. This is an example:
Even if you don’t shoot Pentax, other brands also make small lenses. Check into your brand and see if there is an option that could work for you.
If you have a fast telephoto lens handy, you can pull a David Copperfield on a chain link fence and make it disappear! Check this out:
Sorry for the non-train content. Couldn’t find a good train example at the moment.
So here’s how it works. You put on your fast telephoto (in this case a 300mm f2.8…don’t worry lesser lenses can work, too) and get as close to the fence as you can. The closer the better. If you can get right next to it, that’s the best of all. Next be sure that your subject is as far away from the fence as possible. The farther the better. Having the subject at the infinity mark on your lens is the best possible option here. Then, simply shoot wide open (or not…this shot was actually taken at f5.6!). The shallow depth of field will magically make the fence disappear.
If you look closely in this shot, you can see some remnants of the back part of the fence in the bokeh (out of focus areas) in the background here. Had I been shooting at f2.8, those wouldn’t be visible either. However, with moving critters, I like to have a little depth of field in case I don’t get the focus
This has been a most pleasurable security thread to read. No legal arguments, complaints, recriminations or second guessing. All civilized discussion by people who know the area, as well as some sound advice.
The only thing I’ll add, SWChicagoRailfan, is that Police are not paid to issue warnings. Sometimes they do and then it’s gravy. When they don’t it can cost, but I hope it’s still in the $50 range.
I know this is sort of OT, but I could have sworn I remember seeing somewhere that there is a vehicle bridge over a yard, and the bridge has a sidewalk, with a chain link fence. There were holes cut into the chain link specifically for railfans to take pics. Does anybody know where this is? I believe I saw this in a mag, possibly Trains.
“I never go on that bridge because it is trespassing and the police have been writing tickets for that since the late 1960s when I moved out that way. Doesn’t matter what you’re doing – has nothing to do with 9/11 or Freedom of Speech rights. Has everything to do with trespassing on railroad property. I know of at least one person killed after being struck by a train on that girder bridge”
Papa Z: I would respectfully disagree about 9/11 affecting our past-time, and our access in and around various activities. I feel on the contrary that it has affected our access to locations we were able to access before 9/11. Places such as this bridge might have been posted for some time, but rail employees might not have been as sensitive to a railfan taking a picture from such a vantage point.
I used to stay at 5800 Pulaski; many times I rode with the van drivers out to pick up, and deliver crews to their jobs while I laid over on a week-end. I could just about promise you that activity would not be allowed now. My reference to 9/11 was meant to address that activities we used to be able to follow while pursuing our hobby are now out of the question. Any presence, around railroad activities while simply watching or taking pictures is most surely to attract attention, and if you think having a camera sparks curiosity, just be seen making notes in a notebook, that will really draw attention. It was our sensitivity to security where before there was only mild or no curiosity about an individual who MIGHT only be up to mischief, to our full-blown national paranoia and its attendant affects on our freedom of movement/presence in following our hobby/avocation.
Sam, if you look again at my post, you’ll see I was only speaking about this one bridge – and someone was killed on it years ago. That may account for the no-tolerance (no warning) policy.
I worked for a newspaper that covered the Village of LaGrange from 1985-1991 and if you go back and look at the police blotter from those back issues you’ll find incident reports of people being cited for trespassing on that same bridge. It is the only bridge we are talking about in this thread.
The LaGrange police do not even like people hanging around the two grade crossings a quarter-mile to the west. They average about one train-involved suicide there a year.
Of course 9/11 has affected our pasttime. I doubt anyone here would argue that point.
BTW – You and others may reference the nation’s heightened state
Speaking of the Ogden Avenue bridge, this photo was shot through the chain link fence. I use a Fuji S5000. I get my camera right up to the links and I can shoot through them.
The photo is a bit bright, but, shooting from that bridge isn’t too bad, if you don’t mind the cars…
Oh yes, and one more note about that BNSF bridge over the IHB.
Back in 1971 the bridge was destroyed, when an Amtrak (I believe) rear ended a BN freight train, causing a derailment, and I believe wrecking the bridge. My dad had newspaper articles and photos from that mess. I was only 5 at the time, so I don’t remember. I ran across the newspaper that had the stories and photos in it when we were going through all of his things after he passed away. I am going to have to see if I can dig it back up, and post it somehow.
