Abrams Yard

[Alphajet81]

Has any one been by Abrams Yard lately? I have, yesterday on my way to work, I had to get fuel and figured a detour pass Abrams seemed apropriate. I was disapointed when I drove past when I saw that sitting where I normaly park my car to watch the trains being assembled was now a bunch of concrete blocks with "No Parking" spraypainted on it. It made me mad and I was fuming about it to my co workers all day. You think they would stop confusing us railfans for terrorists by now.

[GE-RULES]

You think they would stop confusing us railfans for terrorists by now.

Confusing "railfans" with something else has nothing to do with why those barriers are there and saying so is just down right asinine. What it does have to do with though is the fact that parking where you have been is TRESPASSING! In case you have not noticed, you were parking behind the yard sign and on railroad property in a location that is un-safe and could have possibly gotten yourself or someone else hurt. This has nothing to do with anything more than safety and private property. I see absolutely no reason to get mad over this since you can still watch from a safe and legal location from across the street on the sidewalk. I hope that one day some people realize that just because they are "railfans" does not give them the right to trespass on railroad property.

[Schuylkill Valley]

GE,
you must not be from the K.O.P. area, Railfans have been parking in that lot for more years then I can count on both my hands. It hasn`t been untill NS took over the Reading`s main line that railfans were not welcome any longer. I sat there alot through the years and made go friends with the yard masters that came and went, Since None Sence Railroad took over the railroad has became unfiendly with railfans. They forget that a true railfan can prevent a wreck by calling the despther on their cell phone. or in my case my radio.

Len,

[GE-RULES]

No, I'm not from the King of Prussia area but I have worked out of Abrams several times in the recent past and have seen the buffs parked along the gravel area next to the yard office, which is NS property no matter how you spin it and a dangerous place to be!

Now that the barriers are up some of the railfans have resorted to parking in our parking lot and I even saw a guy last week in a blue pickup creating a serious hazard parked in the driveway blocking access. These kind of actions only make the crews mad, and in the end makes the situation even worse for you. God forbid NS police catch you guys doing this kind of stuff, they will take it very seriously and the outcome will not be good.

I realize yourself and several others have sat there in the past but that was then and this is now. NS runs things a lot differently than it's predecessor did and that is just the way it is. Safety is a major concern of ours and it is totally understandable given the hazards associated with running a railroad. You have to remember, NS and any other railroad is not in business to please the railfans, they are in business to make money. Name calling and derogatory remarks against the railroad won't change a thing.

As far as railfans being an extra set of eyes. I agree with that, but only when observations are made from a safe and legal location. Contacting the authorities via a cell phone when something suspicious is noticed is great but I would refrain from using a radio to talk to the dispatcher or train crews unless you are a railroad employee. Doing so is a major federal offence which NS and the FCC would most definitely prosecute.

I know my comments are going to be met with disdain but sometimes the truth hurts and in the end must be faced. Unfortunately, these are the times we live in and it doesn't look like it is going to change any time soon. It makes more sense to adapt to the situation and proceed legally then to continue to violate the law.


GE try reading my rules at the top of the fourm. thank you,
Len.

PS. I`m in Ham Radio, I know all there is about the FCC.
Also the stone parking lot next to the tracks is also own by Pendot for Abrams Road is a State road. The State owns 25 feet on each side of the road.

[GE-RULES]

I apologize if I offended anyone and I thank you for taking the initiative to edit my post making it more politically correct. Sometimes I forget how fragile of a society we are that we can not handle language like that, you are a credit to censorship.

What you say about PENDOT may be true but in these times of heightened security I'm sure PENDOT has no problem with what NS is doing, especially since NS owns all the property within 30 feet of the rails on either side anyway (or up to the road line, whichever distance is shorter), gravel lot included.

That is great you are an Amateur radio operator, I am one as well. I hold an Amateur radio Extra class license, I got mine when you still needed to get it the correct way by passing the 20 WPM code. I also hold a General Radiotelephone Commercial class license along with a GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress & Safety System) license. Since you are a "ham" then you must be aware of the many times other "hams" have made unauthorized emergency transmissions or tried to notify the authorities by transmitting on frequencies not assigned to the Amateur service. You also must be aware of the penalties these people have suffered by being prosecuted by the FCC and the affected agency, even though the unauthorized transmission was made in an emergency situation. Given this fact, I doubt you would get away with it without some sort of fine or jail time. But, like you said, you are well aware of the FCC and the rules since you are a ham...

I don't expect to see this topic around much longer since it will probably end up locked and ultimately deleted since it speaks the truth about trespassing at Abrams and we all know what truth does to people. We seen an example of that here today. I will be sure to exercise censorship when posting in the future and make sure all of my comments are politically correct. Thank you again for correcting me.

[Schuylkill Valley]

GE,
your welcome to be on any of my fourms, as long as you stay with in the rules.

I don`t go on the railroad frequs. I uses Phone patch if I uses the ham.

2 meeters works great!

What is your call sign?

I have a Tech class, but I got it before nocode came in. I took my test in 1989 , the test was given to me by N3LA . I had a good friend that helped me to get into Ham radio his call sign was WA3RUW He past away in 1989 just after I past my 13 word test.

Len.

[railroadcarmover]

Do you guys ever attend Hamfests?

If so, I am the guy that sells solar panels. I have been attending these shows since 1990.

Also, Is Danny O'hara still working out of Abrams?
I knew him from when he worked Morrisville back in the day.

[GE-RULES]

No Danny is no longer at Abrams, in fact all of the management there has changed in the last year or so. I'm not sure where he went but I thought I heard he was working for NJT on the River Line as a manager of some sort.

I use to go to Ham Fests on a regular basis but since Ebay has been around the pickings have been pretty slim lately. I haven't been to one in over a year.

[railroadcarmover]

I do most of the local shows and have been doing them since 1989. I also attend Dayton.
Since Ebay came around i see a change in the hamfest market. Things are just not the same anymore. Perhaps we have spoken at a hamfest.

Thanks for the update on Danny. I knew him when he worked at Morrisville moons ago.
I have a loco i will be shipping out of the Fairless Works "former mill" within 6 months that would be coming his way, so i wanted to touch base with him. I had a feeling he was no longer at Abrams though.

[Pa_Train_Guy]

Has any one been by Abrams Yard lately? I have, yesterday on my way to work, I had to get fuel and figured a detour pass Abrams seemed apropriate. I was disapointed when I drove past when I saw that sitting where I normaly park my car to watch the trains being assembled was now a bunch of concrete blocks with "No Parking" spraypainted on it. It made me mad and I was fuming about it to my co workers all day. You think they would stop confusing us railfans for terrorists by now.

I hear you man, i live in Royersford along the old reading line, and i used to go there and they would never bat an eye, but now when i go, its like they want to get the cops on me. Railfaning has become somewhat hard in some areas anymore, it makes me upset.

[GE-RULES]

If you guys worked in the industry you would understand a lot better. This job is tough enough without adding to it the worry over a railfan in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also with heightened security concerns it just makes things even worse. The bottom line is NS doesn't want anyone there who doesn't belong on the property.

[jgallaway81]

Let me tell a tale of just after I marked up as a promoted conductor.

I was working the 14g outta Harrisburg Terminal (fuelpad relay) and was in the process of making a setoff of switcher power before continuing onto Morrisville.

As I was working the switches to come off #2 main, I saw a railfan step between the rails and stand infront of a UP unit that happened to be a widebody. Now, when I say 'stepped infront of' I meant so close he could have bumped his tummy on the knuckle. He then proceeded to stand there and take a picture looking up at the engine's cab.

What if the handbrake failed at that particular moment and the engine rolled towards him? What do you think his chance of survival would have been?

Now, as a railfan myself, I don't begrudge anyone a picture. Afterall, I nabbed one of the 4275, F-unit booster last week as it was shifted out of JBS. However, this person should have been stopped, detained, arrested, and prosecuted to the fullest extent... not just for tresspassing, but for just plain abject stupidity.

[electro soundwave]

You Ex-Cons would have hated living in an area controlled by the Southern.

Oh and for the record, NS doesn't hate railfans as long as you observe the rules The recruiter that was at the hiring session I was at even mentioned that they didn't mind railfans hiring out.

But I for one have never seen any railfans doing any of the stuff that I hear about in other parts of the country. It seems as though those of us in the South really do know more about proper railroading than most other parts of the country.

[Schuylkill Valley]

Electro soundwave Wrote,
"It seems as though those of us in the South really do know more about proper railroading than most other parts of the country."

Maybe you haven't look around much down there in the south. I been around a lot of Southern railfan areas and as a Southern you might say " A fine southern rail line" Well guess what you have just as much or more in stupid railfans as we do in the north. Just look at Richmond, VA. or Ashland or better yet Norfolk. Iv' e seen quite a few nuts around there.

The southern people has for gotten one thing " They lost the war" Now it seem their are fighting it all over it again, lol.

I get down to the south quite a bit since my Brother lives in VA. and he lives very close to Ashland were the CSX main line goes through. This is how stupid Ashland is, they made a rule that all trains going through their town " Are not aloud to blow their horn" for the four crossings that are in down town. I always thought that, that was an FRA rule that you must blow your horn for all public crossings.

I guess in the southern states it's difrent.

Len.

[jgallaway81]

Electro...

You really don't want to get into a peeing match with us yanks... (three paragraphs deleted due to sensitive nature of comments made)

However I take great personal insult in your comment 'seems as though those of us in the South really do know more about proper railroading'.

After all, wasn't it one of you southern crews that left a switch open in South Carolina a few years back? Doing a quick search on the topic led to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granitevil ... n_disaster looks like the wreck goes down in history, with its own wikipedia entry.

This thread is now locked.
It went on long enough.
Len.