Missed History – Revisited

I had originally wrote this piece for the railroad photography magazine CTC Board – Railroads Illustrated  at the request of then editor Paul Schneider (CTC Board had since been sold to White River Productions, where it’s now called simply Railroads Illustrated ). It appeared soon after I wrote it in the September 2005 issue of CTC Board. A scanned version of the article & photo can be found here if you’re curious. Anyways, it’s an opion piece I wrote concerning increased actions of law enforcement and security officials towards railfans, espeically those who are taking photos of railroading operations. My largest concern is the potential gap in historical coverage if for some reason rail photography was deemed to be illegal (which it’s not), and I took a metaphorical photo depicting that potential lack of coverage.  I just wanted to share my thoughts – which have not changed in the year and a half since I put them down on paper. Feel free to fire off any comments you may have, either here, or privately via email – whichever you prefer.

Thanks!
Tom

Missed History

We all have hobbies. Some folks enjoy gardening, some enjoy stamp collecting, and others take up yodeling. The possibilities are endless, and the only requirement is that your hobby makes you happy.

Other than my family, I enjoy two things: trains and photography. From the first time I rode the Essex Steam Train in Essex, Connecticut in 1977, I knew I loved trains. Later, when my father bought me a basic darkroom kit for Christmas in the early 1980’s (thanks Dad!), photography got in my blood. Only recently have I put the two together, making for the rewarding and satisfying hobby of photographing trains and other railroad subjects.

Lately, though, thins have changed, and not for the better. In the post-9/11 world, railroad photography has come under greater scrutiny by the authorities. Since the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, law enforcement officers have approached me on two different occasions at trackside and asked what I was doing. Both times the officers were courteous and professional; in fact they stepped aside while I took my photos and continued the conversation after the train passed. Unfortunately, other railfans haven’t had the same experience. They have reported being forcefully ejected from public areas near railroad tracks, had their digital photos deleted against their objections, and even been arrested by city or railroad police officers. And the scary part is that these stories are becoming more common.

The stories I’m referring to are all firsthand accounts told by the railfans themselves. One was a 60-year old gentleman who was arrested by police for simply asking permission to photograph a locomotive during an Amtrak station stop in New Orleans. Another was a photographer who was removed from the Brunswick, Maryland MARC (Maryland Rail Commuter) station by Brunswick City Police after being told that it was illegal to photograph trains inside the Brunswick city limit. I’ve always understood that you can photograph anything that is visible from any public location, whether it’s a park, sidewalk, roadway or a publicly funded transportation station. Either this has changed, or some of our law enforcement officials need to be updated on interpreting the law.

Yes, the police have a job to do, and I’m not going to stand in their way, but common sense needs to enter into the situation. It seems that with the threat of a terrorist attack, the authorities have taken an all-or-nothing attitude. Sure, nobody wants to be the one that lets a terrorist slip past, but why single out rail photography? Railfan photographers generally tote around a ton of gear; I know I usually go out with at least one camera, a bag full of lenses, a tripod, a scanner, and several timetables. If a terrorist is indeed scouting a potential target, I’m sure he or she won’t be found walking around with a single lens reflex camera sprouting a bulky telephoto lens. More likely, they’d be using a more inconspicuous camera phone or other small, concealed recording device, blending into an already bustling scene.

Those of us who photograph railroads are doing something important: recording our grandchildren’s history. If rail photography becomes illegal, this period in railroading will pass unrecorded. That possibility inspired me to take the photo seen here, one I call, “Missed History.” The empty bench overlooking a passing Providence & Worcester freight train represents the potential end of our hobby, leaving no one to record today’s railroading for the benefit of future generations.

Let’s do everything we can to keep that bench filled. The first step is to call your elected officials, both local and federal, and tell them there has to be a better way to keep rail travel safe. As Founding Father Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1760, “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Two hundred and fifty years later, his words seem more appropriate than ever.

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