Well I got something that really annoyed me when I was on my vacation. As I said in my last post before I went on vacation, I said I was going to San Diego and was going to try to ride the Coaster Train. I did get to ride it but something struck a nerve while I was over there. Most of us train fans love to take pictures of the trains we are fans of or that we had just rode on. When I got off the Coaster I tried to take a picture of Amtraks Surf liner that was on track 2 and guess what happened. I was stopped by a cop that was standing on the platform. It seems that the only thing that this police officer did was to make sure that NO one took pictures of any trains. I am a little disappointed that I didn't take any pictures of any trains while I was over there. At the end of my trip I went to the Santa Fe station and I got talking with one of Amtraks Conductors and sure enough he told me that California had a law against taking pictures of the platforms. I know what the reasoning for this was, I am sure we all do but I was not trying to take a pictures of the platform but the train. If anyone this has happened with anyone else I would like to know that I am not the only one out there. Thanks. Train Head
I was a Fullerton for about 4 hours at the end of July and no-one said boo. I then caught a train to LAUPT and went up to the Gold line platforms (The old tracks 1 & 2 I believe) and stood there for about an hour and photographed and video'd the gold line and Metrolink trains during the afternoon rush and again no probs. In Chicago I video'd the CTA loop line (near the diamond x'ing) security people walked past and didn't say any thing. I am quite surprised to keep hearing these stories about people being chastised by security but in the 2 weeks that I was in the US spending the whole time taking pics and vid of trains and transit systems the only time I was chastised by security was at the airport when trying to leave the country
I rode the Coast Starlight about three years ago from LA to Oakland. I took several pictures of the the train as well as freight trains. The only inconvenience was that the trip took 14 hours!
I have plenty of Pictures at the Old Santa Fe depot of Surfliners and I have never seen a cop there. Heck, I was there about 2 weeks ago no problem. I've also sat at Fullerton for hours on end snapping pictures of it and nobody said a word. Of course, I do most of this on Sundays. Day of the week may make a difference.
It suprised me too. Every where else I have been no one has ever said anything to me. I even had my Amtrak hat on. Next time I am out that way I will go on Sunday or try to stay away from the platform areas. Thanks on everyones replies. Train Head
