CNJFAN wrote:Wouldn't it be great if they would post signs welcoming railfans???
That way there would be no worries and no liability on the RR co.
Well, New York State has a law that says that if you open up your property to noncommercial recreational use, you cannot be sued for ordinary hazards. If there's a bolt sticking up out of an old concrete foundation, and somebody impales themself on it, that's automatically not your fault. If, on the other hand, you bury that same chunk of oncrete in the middle of a trail in the hopes that an ATVer will puncture his tire, that is your fault.
So, as you say, it's not cut and dried, but a railroad might be able to reduce its liability in New York State by opening up portions to recreational (in other words, railfanning) uses. There are dangerous disused elements owned by railroads which could only be removed at great cost (e.g. coal bins, ash pits, and the like), and if they can claim that a victim was making recreational use of their property, they might escape a claim. It's just a legal theory and existing case law may have already made a hash of it. Anyway, we can fantasize, right?