http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...ht-train-near-chamblee/ar-BB18ZTFp?ocid=ientp While this person was probably not a railfan, this will make it worse for railfanning the NS in the Atlanta area for a while.
Hmm, why would this incident make railfanning the NS worse in Atlanta? If railfans aren't trespassing on railroad property to take photos or video, there's not a problem. Special agents can grouse all they want, but if a railfan is on public property, they can't legally interfere with that activity.
True. But there have been a few instances in the Pacific NW, where RR representatives get a bit "frisky" and harass people who are clearly off property.
Especially in the last 2 years, we've had 3 "death by train" suicides between Seattle-Tacoma with the commuter trains on BNSF's rails. There are alot more cameras in many areas and the BNSF Police are pretty quick on site to investigate. You really have to be aware of your surroundings and not get close to railroad infrastructure.
I haven't been out too much lately trackside, but I've heard from a few railfans that track inspections are up due to the protests recently here in Seattle, random fires allegedly being set, (there was a bad one in Sumner that was really close to BNSF's mainline and a crossing bungalow deliberately set on fire in Covington), so there's alot of "eyes" out there.
There has not been a crossing bungalow set afire in Covington, deliberately or otherwise. But the old, abandoned North Portal west bungalow was a bit afire this weekend. Not sure how the perps expected concrete to burn, though.
Here in the ATL, I try my best to avoid downtown where the main yard for NS is these days. It feels like taggers rule but if you have a camera, you are a target now days down there and the NS police have no problem calling the local PD to report you as loitering and they will come along and ask you to be on your way. With all the protest stuff, it has just gotten even worse down there. I remember when no one would even give you a second look even though it's always been a questionable area. Maybe it's just me getting old.
I've laid low from railfanning for several months now. I had a recent episode where a railroad employee pointed out an animated supervisor and said, "He'll call the police on you", so I left. I've never had a hint of trouble there before, so I chalked it up to current times. Too, COVID economic declines have thoroughly messed up train local schedules and resulted in more movements in darkness. Meanwhile, I'm safely enjoying old memories with my slide scanning.
Me honestly, I been doing photography from my car at grade crossings. Though there’s a few railfans in the area that personally know the crew of the Mississippi Export and the local CSX crewmen. They have been hand in hand with them. I guess that if you are buddies with the crew or railroad itself this would help. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk