Railfanning at Route 128 Station and Security

Hello,
I'm going to be in Boston next week. One of the afternoons I plan to railfan part of the evening rush hour at Rte. 128 Station. What are my chances of being asked to stop what I'm doing there? Thanks.

I've photographed there a few times and have never been hassled but i've never stayed more than 15min. After the bombing up here thou there's probably a good chance you will be questioned if your flashing a camera around to much. Unless they've changed there schedule there's a decent chance of catching a csx local that serves the industrial park next to the 128 station(usually about 3pm weekdays).

Imho a much better place to rail fan in that area is Readville (one station north of 128). A couple of rail lines that head to Boston come together there and more importantly no one will bother you.

Route 128 is an Amtrak-owned station and thus you'll have to play by Amtrak's photo policy, which generally requires you to have a valid ticket. Might be worth buying a one-way Interzone-2 MBTA ticket for 3 bucks (valid for a trip to Hyde Park, Canton Junction, or Canton Center) so you can present that. Amtrak in my experience is very tolerant of railfans as long as you play by the rules.

Readville is a neat place to railfan; you get the NEC plus Fairmount and Franklin trains. Amtrak trains use the center and NB platform tracks. (Note that no trains normally stop on the NEC platforms).

Hyde Park, a mile to the north, is NEC/Franklin only but you have a mile of perfect visibility to the south.

Canton Junction is definitely worth checking out as well. It's MBTA-owned and their photo policy is looser (though a valid ticket may still be a good idea). There's a beautiful old station building, and nice views from the footbridge. You also get Stoughton moves on and off the mainline.

I will definately be using MBTA to get around, so I will have a ticket.

I'm going to be photographing at Mansfield for the most part.

I have heard great things about Canton Jct, but I will most likely do that another time.

I have been to Readville before and I really like it there.

I may go to Hyde Park one morning.

depending on what time you are in Mansfield, you may also catch the daily CSX local that works between the Framingham Secondary (located at the switch just off the mainline...leads to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and points North to Framingham) and a few sidings they service on the Mainline, but a good distance from the Mansfield station, depending where they go...takes them a few hours to do their thing, but best best to catch them is between 11a-3p. And of course you have Amtrak's, MBTA. Also, this is the fastest stretch of track in Massachusetts for Amtrak, exercise caution as always.

How safe is the neighborhood around the Attleboro Station? I may look into going there. Thanks.

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:Hello,
I'm going to be in Boston next week. One of the afternoons I plan to railfan part of the evening rush hour at Rte. 128 Station. What are my chances of being asked to stop what I'm doing there? Thanks.

Why would you be asked to stop? Are you doing something illegal?

-otto-

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:How safe is the neighborhood around the Attleboro Station? I may look into going there. Thanks.

You won't have any troubles in Attleboro, safe station. Attleboro has 4 tracks, the 2 middle tracks are for the Amtrak's, 2 outer tracks for the MBTA commuter trains. The Inbound platform still has the station open, 5-noonish?? and was recently remodeled as part of the historical society and funds from TIGER federal funds. Maybe able to catch a daily CSX freight coming off the Middleboro Secondary (located at the interlocking at the far East end of the inbound platform) but odd schedule as of late, tough to pin point.

Otto Vondrak wrote:

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:Hello,
I'm going to be in Boston next week. One of the afternoons I plan to railfan part of the evening rush hour at Rte. 128 Station. What are my chances of being asked to stop what I'm doing there? Thanks.

Why would you be asked to stop? Are you doing something illegal?

-otto-

No, but T cops have a history of selectively forgetting the photo policy. Although that's much much more on the subway...very rarely happens on Commuter Rail, and rarer still out in the 'burbs.

If you want to cover your butt airtight, just keep a copy of the official photo policy--p.2 covering "personal use"--in your pocket: http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/About ... 202012.pdf. They never overstep their bounds once they know you've read up.


128 is an MBTA-run station, so the T's policy trumps whatever Amtrak may have.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:
128 is an MBTA-run station, so the T's policy trumps whatever Amtrak may have.

Is jurisdiction based on ownership or administration?

The EGE wrote:

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:
128 is an MBTA-run station, so the T's policy trumps whatever Amtrak may have.

Is jurisdiction based on ownership or administration?

Both. The original station was deeded outright to T ownership from Penn Central in 1973 when the T bought all the southside commuter physical plant. That sale trumps all Amtrak ownership and admin claims, including on relocated stations like this where the original service transferred intact to the new location. Amtrak actually doesn't own a single MA station outright (not even Springfield and Pittsfield, which are owned by the local RTA's); they only get first dibs on dispatching and NEC track structures. T rules, regulations, and administration are in effect at all stops, even on others in the system that have privately-owned, still-active station buildings or are wholly owned by out-of-district RTA's. Rhode Island is the only place where they cede admin jurisdiction at stations to outsiders (for obvious reasons).