Photography Permission

I'm aware that you're prohibited from taking any photos unless you have a permit. Any idea on how to obtain one?

see http://www.panynj.gov/pr/contact.htm

It's to bad that you now need a permit as well. Harrison was a very nice place to railfan, now, pretty much ruined.

I suppsoe that depends on how easy it is to get the permit and how long it is valid. NJT rules essentially only restrict photography to the extent that it interferes with passenger flow. That seems to be a reasonable compromise.

Photography has always been banned on the PATH system... and I've never heard of them issuing permits for such (but it may be possible). I have been able to take pictures at Harrison for years without a permit, however. PATH restricts photography of THEIR equipment, they can't do anything if you're shooting the NJT and Amtrak trains that roll by, right? If you're just passing through, I would still visit Harrison and take pictures until the police ask you to leave (which is not too often).

-otto-

Back in the 1990's, I took lots of photos on PATH from both Harrison and Journal Square platforms. No one ever said anything to me, and I'm not aware that it was illegal. The only exception was one time maybe 10 years ago, when I took a photo thru the front window of the train, and the conductor came up and politely asked why I was taking photos. He was buff friendly, and we actually had an interesting conversation about their signal system. So I'm surprised to hear that photography was ever prohibited, in the pre-9/11 era.

I took photos from the PATH Harrison platform on Thanksgiving eve from about 1970 to 1990, and occasionally during the summers. Pennsy G's, Reading Budd cars, CNJ GP35s and GP40s. monitor tops, GN coaches, NJDOT Southern Railway E-8s, you name it, it rolled by.

PATH K-cars, two door and three door cars, real seats and subway style. In 20 years, I'll bet 20 cops and conductors rolled by, said hello. Nice people, always interested, only challenged for ID once or twice.

I think the enforcement of PATH's photo rule is stupid, but I'm not gonna tell that to somebody who lost a buddy or a brother. If it means enough for them to chase me off, I'll go...

I've just found out elsewhere about PATH's detailed regulations concerning photography. They're towards the bottom of this Web page:

http://www.panynj.gov/path/complete_pathrules

Not only do you have to have a permit, you have to be escorted by a PATH representative who is supposed to prevent you from taking pictures that could be used in planning a terrorist attack.

I wonder how many railfans have actually carried out this procedure.

I went to that website and might I say some of those rules are pretty off the wall. It says that it bans anyone from cooking on the train. Who would cook in a train? I have never seen this "rule" in MTA or NJT's rule books.

No cooking allowed? That's not as farfetched as you think. The NYC Metro area is full of immigrants from many diverse places in the world. And I'll bet you that in some faraway places, cooking on a train using your own hibachi stove might not be unusual. Yes this is America, but some newcomers might not know it isn't done here as a normal practice, & might well carry a hibachi onto a train and start cooking. I guess PATH thinks of everything!