Trespassing & filming questions

[MEC407]

I'm not saying that we shouldn't talk about this issue; I'm saying that I don't want people to come on here and brag about some great shot they got and how they had to wander into the middle of a yard or climb up a signal mast to get it. You're new here so I don't expect you to know about it, but people have made those types of comments in the past, and it's something I'd prefer to avoid because it gives people the impression that trespassing is no big deal.

Basically what I'm saying is that some of our members are going to trespass, and if they choose to do that, that's their business but I don't want them bragging about it and showing it off.

[Vakharn]

Ah, ok, that makes sense.

Climb up a signal mast... heh. It's people like that who get us called foamers

[ridintherails]

This movie posted on youtube should sum up why railfans should NOT film train crews while on duty... whatch the full video and read ALL the comments underneath it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FF6OLmV6S8

[MEC407]

The author of that video, "Boxcar Frank", is a real piece of work. I've seen some of his comments on other YouTube videos. He's a know-it-all who thinks he knows everything there is to know about railroading. I would suggest ignoring him; he doesn't deserve the attention (positive, negative, or otherwise).

The video in question is just plain disrespectful. No matter whether you work in an office cubicle, a classroom, a McDonald's or anywhere else, how would you feel if a complete and utter stranger came to your place of employment, set up a camera and filmed you?

[charlie6017]

The video in question is just plain disrespectful

I agree..........I feel bad for the engineer who ended up taken out of service pending a physical.

Charlie

[Tracer]

This movie posted on youtube should sum up why railfans should NOT film train crews while on duty... whatch the full video and read ALL the comments underneath it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FF6OLmV6S8

That video is a disgrace. The guy who made it is a real piece of work.

[Vakharn]

This movie posted on youtube should sum up why railfans should NOT film train crews while on duty... whatch the full video and read ALL the comments underneath it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FF6OLmV6S8

Wow... yeah, that's pretty bad. Even I would have recognized the pure disrespect he was showing that man by uploading that video without knowing that it could get him in trouble with the railroad. Knowing about that now just makes it far worse.

[Mikejf]

Why would someone even post a video as lame as that. Shows a couple of guys finishing their run. Yawn. I would have rather watched the locomotives come to a slow stop than that.
Mike

[ridintherails]

Maybe re-watching the video will change your opinion as it relates perfect to the subject matter. You clearly didnt pay attention to what was going on.

[gprimr1]

I work in the IT field and I do a lot of end user support, usually on site. I can personally say that I hate it when people are constantly watching me working. I am sure it's the same for railroads.

When I take pictures, I just go by the rule of thumb "If I was the employee, would I want my boss to see this?"

I think part of the problem is a lot of people don't realize that the management of these companies has the same internet access we do.

Why would someone even post a video as lame as that. Shows a couple of guys finishing their run. Yawn. I would have rather watched the locomotives come to a slow stop than that.

I agree, at least it wasn't shaky though.

Where I think the debate gets interesting is in the middle of nowhere trespassing.

[Trainman101]

Maybe re-watching the video will change your opinion as it relates perfect to the subject matter. You clearly didnt pay attention to what was going on.

Geez, seeing the guy struggle at the end me thinks they should put elevators in locomotives.

[toolmaker]

The engineer was having severe difficulty and the video should have not been rolling or shared. If a trucker was in this poor condition I would be worried having him on the road. I found this discussion interesting how would you know if this cameraman was trespassing?

Here's a youtube video link showing crews in action from 30 years ago. I had no idea the crews would exchange while still rolling through a yard. This is done in good taste and am glad it was shared.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO_F2oQxHBk&NR=1

[edited toolmaker]

[MEC407]

At one point in the UP video, one of the railroad employees asks "Boxcar Frank" why he's filming them. "Boxcar Frank" mumbles something about "enjoyment." Uhhh... you get "enjoyment" from watching a tired old man struggle with five heavy-looking bags? WTF?

And check out "Boxcar Frank"'s profile page. He's a bus boy at a restaurant. I suspect he wouldn't appreciate it if someone came into his restaurant and followed him around with a video camera for "enjoyment." He also describes his YouTube channel as "YouTube's most popular railfan channel" -- which is either a lie, or a very sad commentary on railfans.

I'm not familiar with the area, so I have no idea whether "Boxcar Frank" was trespassing or not, but I think the point "ridintherails" was trying to make by posting a link to that video is that photographing/filming a train crew while they're outside the locomotive is a bad idea and can have unintended consequences.

[Vakharn]

And check out "Boxcar Frank"'s profile page. He's a bus boy at a restaurant. I suspect he wouldn't appreciate it if someone came into his restaurant and followed him around with a video camera for "enjoyment." He also describes his YouTube channel as "YouTube's most popular railfan channel" -- which is either a lie, or a very sad commentary on railfans.

He has over 1300 videos on youtube... Over a 3 year period (his oldest vid) that's an average of more than 8 videos a week. That's probably why he claims to be the most popular railfan channel, because he's got a lot of views. That tends to happen when you spam videos that much.

[QB 52.32]

Filming rules violations or foolish trespassing and publishing or posting it for public consumption makes me cringe. The worst one that I have seen so far comes from the Exteme Trains series episode about the UP/CSX perishable train to Rotterdam, NY. A conductor is shown on the hind end of a car during a shove. I'm not qualified to say for sure if it is allowed in the situation shown, but that's usually a big no-no being aired to a wide audience.