Last weekend I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the railroad tracks not far from home in White Marsh. I had my camera with me, and a lawn chair, so I parked my keister a good 20 feet from the tracks and waited. Sometimes train-watching is like fishing. You never know how long it will take to get a bite. Anyway, soon after a train passes an all white van with no lettering comes by. He asks if I work for CSX, and I tell him "no", and I ask if there's a problem (being a good railfan, I always stay away from the tracks, and had always figured that if this kind of thing happened I would be friendly and cooperative). He identifies himself as CSX police, and I tell him I'm just railfanning, and that I think I'm far enough away from the tracks. He tells me that in this area CSX owns beyond the 18 foot limit, so I offer to move. He tells me I'm ok- he was looking for some kids on ATVs though- had I seen any? I told him I saw 3 kids earlier- they often ride beside the tracks. He gave me his card and asked if I ever saw any problems to give CSX a call. Now that's what I call playing it right. There are a lot of us railfans who want nothing more than to watch a train go by safely. We can serve as additional "eyes" for CSX. There was at least one time where I shooed a couple of kids away from the track when a train was coming. I may've even gotten those kids on their ATVs to leave- they never came back after I staked out a spot to sit. I hear horror stories about CSX police. The few times I've seen them around I've never had a problem. It's a shame in a way- the areas I railfan are classic old B&O areas- and in the old days, the B&O wouldn't chase you away as long as you stayed out of the way. However, I'm wondering if that one train crew reported me?
Maybe the train crew is supposed to report anyone "observing" in more than a casual manner? It could be some kind of rule.
I cant think of 1 time that a COP chased us off. Me an my mom at one time was in a very"GHETTO" area and the cop just came up to us and said you might wanna move from this area cause it is a bad area. But he was nice cause he gave us INFO on what trains where leaving and all that stuff. Mostly every crew in our area no us pretty well. We normally always get a wave or a toot. But on monday we went railfanning and one of the engineers on a CSX train that was stopped came out and talked to us for awhile cause he was waiting on a runner to come pick em up. He was a cool guy! Shoot I have talked to a few crew members in my area on here. There is alot of nice fellers in our area.
The CSX police I have talked to have been professional, and very understanding about us (railfans). The only problem I have ever had has been with well meaning CSX employees - maintenance crews mainly - who just are doing what they have been told. On the other hand there are some real knuckle-brain people out there, such as the encounter I had with an "official" from Heinz (I won't use the Heinz name to avoid embarrassing them) who approached me on private property a few years ago while I was video taping. The individual in question stated that I had to shut my camera off, as I was not allowed to video tape the train approaching the Heinz Pickle Factory in Holland Michigan (again, I won't mention the Heinz name). I had to remind this fellow that I was on private property that I had permission to be on, video taping a CSX train that was passing through Kolen Park - a public park, and that I did not have to shut off my camera because it was within my right in public domain to do what I was doing. I did tell him that I wasn't the slightest bit interested in what Heinz did - maybe he was afraid that I might be documenting illegal "guest" workers that it is rumored locally that they use - but I won't mention the Heinz name in case the rumors are false - which I trust they are...
Alex, the CSX officer in our area is a railfan himself. In fact he is the secretary for the L&N Historical Society. He used to come in the yard when he was a county officer in his unmarked cruiser and take pictures. He is a really nice guy.
Steve, Yes I belive i know who your talking about. When he goes by normally he'll stop for a second to talk to us. I swear I think Louisville has to be the best railfanning place. Its not just CSX thats nice. Its also NS,P & L,L & I!
Here in Cincinnati I have worked hard to cultivate a productive relationship with CSX and NS Police. We stay outside the boundries that they establish and they provide us with emergency numbers and in the event of something special going on, access to it if circumstances permit. So far, we have netted two graffitti tagging arrests AND CONVICTIONS thanks to railfan action and evidence. The police have returned the favor in kind by supervising "special access" to the property when something neat has been in the yards. Communication and transparency is the key to a mutually advantageous relationship. They know full well that we railfans can be a valuable asset in protecting the railroad.
Did you come to Louisville on derby day? I think I know who you are and I belive we talked for awhile one day.
