Question About Train Tracks

You should not be standing on any tracks, the reasons should be obvious, but yes, you can be fined and/or arrested.
http://bonellphotography.blogspot.com/2013/06/train-track-sessions-are-illegal.html

Mostly it is stupid but other than that it is private property.

You can safely take pictures of trains or tracks, but you may not go onto the railroad's property. That would be trespassing. You could be fined or arrested, as Louise wrote above.

FAA will sell everything they can, whether it has a legal origin or not. The only time they will take images down is by written request of a copyright holder.

Murray is correct. Railroad tracks and the right-of-way alongside is private property, owned by Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, etc. There''s no law against taking photos of trains and tracks, but there are laws against being on or near the tracks because it is DANGEROUS!

I subscribe to Yahoo news alerts with the keyword Amtrak. Every day there are news stories about some numbskull walking the tracks or trying to beat the train at a crossing and getting splattered about the countryside. Recommended reading: http://oli.org/

I believe that the main concern is safety. Trains are big and weigh tons, plus they can out run people or anything else in the way. They also can't slow down in a really short period of time. The next concern is, what are you up to? If needing to get permission, it's probably best to request it ahead of time. If getting a chance, always be aware of one's surrounding and take caution not to get stuck on the tracks.


Peter

Don't stand train tracks that are in use. You will have a very short career. If you have to shoot train tracks find some that are no longer in use, like at a museum.

"train tracks" is always an interesting topic. I've lived around them, train tracks, all my life - grew up within 100 yds of one. Now it's a little more than a mile to the nearest one - although when the trains pass, especially in the night, you can hear them giving their warning horn blasts as they approach the road crossings. I walk about 200 yds down one spur from the main track (it's much safer than walking the edge of the US highway that parallel's the track) - in 3 years I've seen two train engines - none close enough to see any detail - just that you know what it is with the central headlight on. There is another track, going north, that joins the main east west track, that has a train that runs perhaps once a week - great place to take train track photo's. I've driven along that track for over 20 years and only twice have I ever seen a train moving on it - there are no passenger trains on either the one I walk nor the one going north - both are freight lines. All the same - yep - it's trespassing to be on RR property - the track or even the right of way - and legally - you could be cited and fined for that trespassing. ( I doubt you'd be arrested unless you were doing more than just trespassing - like putting things on the rail or pulling spikes or something). About RR tracks - don't be stupid.

the tracks themselves aren't illegal, and you can get them on dead rails, museums etc. the problem comes in when you go to stand on the rails, or pose models on live rails, that's an issue. but they would have to catch you doing it. they couldn't just send you a fine because you have some. standing on a bridge is another good place to get them and be safe (unless it's a train trestle).


---Mike Savad

@ Louise - Excellent article. I learned something new this morning because of what you wrote. Thank you.

~ Bill

Denyse, I think if you want to take pictures of train tracks you should for the sake of the ART, just be familiar with the area your entering, and be safe, if it's posted with signs be cautious. As kids we played on the railroad tracks all the time, not just the tracks but in the train tunnels, on occasion we would jump on the trains and once it picked up so much speed we were stuck on it until the next town over, had to call parents, and yeah we got in trouble. I am not suggesting you totally disregard the law and but yourself in imminent danger. Use common sense and extra caution. As for fear of being arrested, don't spit on the sidewalk because that's against the law also. Happy picture taking!

I have heard of some people getting visits from railroad police well after the fact. They will post the photos on line and if the railroad can ID where the shot was taken and they knew who took it, they may look you up. I've heard that most times it's along the lines of "hey, don't do that" but sometimes they write a ticket or at least a warning.

I hear a lot of people talk about certain tracks and then say, "in ten years, I've never seen a train on those tracks." This could be a grave error. On a Flickr shot of a train on this bridge



I got that comment from someone. Thing is, I know for a fact that probably 12 to 14 trains a day cross this bridge. But this one guy things it must be way less than that just because he himself has never seen one. I've seen folks walk out across this bridge or take photographs from the tracks looking out across. There are not a lot of road crossings nearby so trains can sneak up on you. And if someone gets caugt on the bridge, good luck jumping and not killing yourself on a rock.

Look up Operation Lifesaver for more tips and stats. http://oli.org/

Keep in mind, too, that ALL railroad tracks are private property. Even on abandoned tracks, the land rights may revert back to the landowner, but someone still owns the land. Not far from where I live is the famous Saluda Grade. At one time, it was the steepest railroad grade in the eastern part of the nation. The tracks have been out of service since 2001, so last year a few friends of mine decide to hike the tracks to see a washout and how bad it was. Naturally they came back and posted the shots to Facebook and Flickr. And yep, they heard from the railroad. No ticket, no threats, just a reminder than the tracks are private property.

Here is an Operation Lifesaver post titled "Operation Lifesaver urges professional photographers to stay safe, stay away from train tracks"

http://oli.org/news/view/operation-lifesaver-urges-professional-photographers-to-stay-safe-stay-away

You also can't always tell when tracks are in use and when tney aren't. Look at the tracks under this train

With all that said, I went out and shot this about an hour ago. LOL



But, I assure you I was safe AND legal.

Section of track at the end of a Rail to Trail bike path. A short section of track was left as a museum. I would NEVER do this on a real track.

Don't go by what you see on FAA. There is no filtering of any kind here.

I thought about this thread when I ran across this video. It was frightening to watch and I already knew the women survived.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/unbelievable-video-train-runs-over-women-attempting-to-cross-railroad-bridge-women-survive

The patriot act has some say here. On a rainy night here in Long Beach I was taking this shot right next the metro. Inland security came storming out of nowhere. I was told I needed a permit to shoot any form of public transportation.. After some sweet talking and sharing stories the officer let me take 10 minutes of pictures. I was instructed to not show and must photoshop out any scheduling, numbersand/ or time references on any of my shots. I wrote in more detail about the ordeal in the description...

Denise, those cops were BSing you. Nothing in the "Patriot Act"-Homeland Security-prohibits the taking of photographs in a public place.

Reminds me of seeing the story of the bleached American flags on the news last week. The guy in charge of bridge security sales, "at least the top of the bridge is not the most crucial area to protect" and the interviewer says "what is the most vulnerable area of the bridge?" and the guy actually explains!

Tracks can be dangerous, but I wasn't too worried about anything coming down this short section of track: :)

Denise, those were some overzealous LEO's, over-stepping their limits. Did they produce any ID so that you know they were supposed to be there, as in, were they actually in law enforcement?

WARNING ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS - STAY OFF THESE TRACKS



The picture is not illegal and you have to assume the tracks were not active or you have permission. But after I take one I need to post something warning others not to use tracks for photo sessions so there would be less competition.

Denise;

Those Homeland Security guys were full of it. And what numbers were they telling you to photoshop out? It happens though, but you should keep Bert Krages' print out handy for next time.

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

Denise, Inland Security is a private security company. Those rent-a-cops were way overstepping their bounds and had no authority to tell you what they did. But that's pretty common with cop wannabes. Photography is allowed on the Metro with specific, very reasonable guidelines, as it is on most passenger lines nation wide.

http://www.metro.net/about/filming-metro/metro-filming-photography-guidelines/

Great shot, BTW!

I agree with the previous comments about BS-ing rent-a-cops. Here's a guide to your rights as a photographer written by a real lawyer http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

Here is a humorous site about railroad safety but it gets its point across....

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/RailroadAnecdotes.htm

As for photography of trains from public streets or other public property - there is absolutely NOTHING in the Patriot Act that prohibits it....

@Denise - your story sounds like what happened to someone in New York a few years ago. He was taking pictures of subway entrances and ended up being detained and questioned for 20 minutes. The NYCLU filed suit and he was awarded a settlement of $31,000 ($1,500 per minute of detention).

At least in NY the NYCLU and NPPA are very aggressive in fighting for photographer's rights

For those who have not seen this - here is a report about a railroad photographer was arrested by Amtrak police several years ago. Watch it - it never gets old :)

Following this report Amtrak reached a settlement with the NYCLU and the NPPA clarifying its photo policy. It now clearly states that passengers can take pictures of trains while either waiting for a train or after they have disembarked from one. The photographer in question also received a five-figure settlement from Amtrak.

One casualty of the incident was that Amtrak never again held a photo contest

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