(as cross posted from my post at Trainorders.com) with all this talk about the general public and law inforcement not knowing/understanding/comprihending the whole Idea of the RailFan/Buff perhapse it is time we all unite in some kinda project to make ourselfs more known about to the general public? Perhapse some kinda national club (simular to ARR, only railfan run and not a business venture). What's ya'll's thoughts or comments on this.
Sounds like a good idea, I'm game Hey if he didn't want us to do this he wouldn't put these on here now would he? lol
Starting a club or advocacy group? OK... here are my thoughts. 1.) What is it's purpose? What, literally, will it do? And perhaps more importantly, 2.) What does a person get for joining? There are soooooo many organizations for this or that who's only benefit is a lunch meeting or a golf outing or a free t-shirt and some vague "networking" thing that never materializes. There has to be some genuine benefit to the individual for joining. Or it will wither away. Now onto some good points. Yeah, I read that horror story on TO about tower 51. ****! I mean, wow! Now, to the credit of the police & FBI, the FBI warning clearly stated that "Al-queda operatives of Western appearance would be undertaking these operations. However, you and I know these guys were not terrorists.... This whole "lets crack down on railfans" thing is ridiculous. Now, if there are real jerks out there, yeah, nab them for gross tresspassing and irresponsible behavior. But to me, railfans can be the railroad's best friend. Isn't there some way that could be communicated to the railroads that we can be their partners, their eyes and ears? Engineers can't be keeping track of every tresspasser and fan, they have a railroad to run. But you can bet that if someone is messing around with a bridge or something, the first guy to call it in will be the camera jockey waiting to shoot the southbound BNSF stack train.
I've been kicking this idea around for a couple of years, but have found limited support for it among other railfans. One part of such an organization should be a code of conduct, in writing, signed by each member. I'm not saying it could ever be binding, but it would get railfans thinking along the right lines. Another aspect that would help is to get somthing approaching a unified voice with industry. Perhaps if such an organization were formed through or with Operation Lifesaver it might help. It would be nice to convince the railroads that railfans can be of value. I don't remember how many times over the years I've called into BNSF to report malfunctioning crossings, dragging equipment, etc. Just my $.02
Why is it that good ideas never occour until you hit the "Add Reply" button?!? A parallell to a railfan organization just occoured to me. In many citys there are organized fire buff groups very similar to what our railfan organization would be. Instead of chasing trains, they go to fire scenes and take pictures. In many areas these people have a close relationship with the Fire Department and are widely recognized as being a positive (if a little strange. heard that one before?) group. The reason for this is that the see a lot of things including suspicious people, re-kindling of fires, hazardous situations, etc. There have been incidents of fire buffs starting fires, but these are seen as the exception rather than the rule.
I saw something on the news a while back- about a fire support organization that had just such a code of conduct for their members. It was signed, notarized, and enforced legally through breach-of -contract litigation if necessary. I wish I could remember what it was, but I think it was back east somewhere. The club did things you guys mentioned- took pics and video at fire scenes (in which several arsonists had been identified, etc, and which had been used in court, even). They had a very good relationship with their affiliated fire dept, and got a lot of cooperation from them. Good luck in that vein with the railroads, though-or any other type of transportation service industry - especially with all this terrorism scare going on. And especially now that they have identified specific threats against rail service. They are really jumpy right now. I have an acquaintance who got questioned by railroad police and city police for just sitting in a parking lot at a fast food place in Arlington, TX taking photos (he spotted some interesting MOW equipment he hadn't seen before)....and he wasn't even on railroad property at any time. It's getting ridiculous, but maybe that's what's needed right now. Don't be caught dead around an airport or (especially) a military base, either, if you don't have a really good reason to be there.
Chris: Maybe the best way to do this would be organize locally and then hook them together. For example, getting a national org together may be hard, but down here, I could see putting together a "friends of the Portland & Western". The main idea would not be extra access, but that the railroad would get to know us, be aware of us as individuals, so if they see a guy in a red raincoat with a camera lurking about, they know that that is me, and not some terrorist wannabe or theif or vandal. In return we would privde them with some kind of support. Keeping eyes open for damage, vandalism, and suspicious activity, dangerous tresspassing and transient camps trackside, that sort of thing. We'd have a book of phone numbers at the HQ of who to contact for what, such as: IF YOU SEE: Overhanging brush that is a fire hazard: CALL John Smith at 541.XXX.XXXX Brush on Fire: CALL 911 & PNWR Dispatcher at 1.888.XXX.XXXX That sort of thing.
That is a good idea...............Mainly because of the scrutiny railfans are now undergoing, but as in this link i got from the rail newsgroup, railfans CAN be a help in the fight on terrism. This is an outstanding article, and is so very true. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56984-2002Nov14.html
