There seems to be a lot of angst about railfans.  Yet little mention seems to
be made of all the bullet holes in RR signs on RR equipment etc, maybe from a
Canon but not a Nikon, LOL.  I wouldn't want to mention all the times I have
seen fisherman on trestle piers walking along tracks to their favorite spots and
often casting from just off the tracks with kids dogs etc. nearby.
Then there are the snowmobilers with documented cases of derailments as they
pack down the center of the alignment.   Now we can add in kids just hanging out
or taking short cuts, playing chicken etc.  Then add in the artists or maybe
there is a thought the graffitti just appears.   I see so many overpasses with
chainlink barriers, from railfans throwing concrete blocks on passing
trains????  Now we can add all the suicides, cars running signals etc.

I am not saying railfans should not be more polite and respectful but to single
them out as public enemy no1 is ranting.   They are a convenient target because
they often look and act a little dorky and to many the hobby at least in its
extreme forms is a sign of some type of syndrome whose name escapes me now(form
of autism).  Besides being more respectful of property they should be more
discreet and I realize they can be annoying as they sometimes act as they own
the place.   Again this can often stem from the social behavior problems some
associated with the hobby.

But again with suicides, vandalism, deaths, criminal behavior(other than simple
trespass) I think a dork with a camera stepping on a rail shouldn't be priority
one.

Bob

--- On Mon, 7/13/09, BPRR3000@... <BPRR3000@...> wrote:

From: BPRR3000@... <BPRR3000@...>
Subject: [LAL_RAIL] Railfans
To: LAL_RAIL@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, July 13, 2009, 3:37 PM

















The sad part is that so much of the WNYP is PUBLICLY accessible. Having to

trespass in the yard (with permission or not) wasn't really a necessity to

get those photos. I remember that I had several people walk the grounds at

Falconer without checking in first. Here is a railroad that laid out the red

carpet for fans and these maddening individuals still thought it was their

right to just show up and walk around. It sounds like that hasn't changed.



It burns me a little bit to hear that maybe its because of management

changes. Paint scheme changes, employment changes, seasonal changes are NO
reason

for fans to act inappropriately. You'd think that fans as a whole would

understand that at some point. But it keeps happening again and again and

again, all over. And fans want railroads to take them seriously and use them for

security?



If this sounds like a rant, it is. I think most people would agree with me,

that it's a shame one of the few friendly railroads is turning their back

to fans. I enjoyed going there and meeting employees, and getting nice

photos. I always treat railroader kindness as a privilege and not an

entitlement. .. I treat fans the same way, if they are kind and cautious, I'll
chat and

look the other way. If they are causing me or my crews grief, you can bet I'll

be calling them in...



Mike Z.



> Also keep in mind that the LAL went under a significant management shake

> up

> at both the operational and board level last year. So these changes

> shouldn't come as a big surprise either.

>

> .........

> The new management team has been as tolerant of railfans as the old team.

> Like someone said, it took only one incident of bad manners to ruin it for

>

> all.

>



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