Kelly, crazy idea for you... Ever thought of setting up an "I chased the train, here's a few bucks" ticket / donation / whatever on your online ticketing site? Not suggesting you issue official "chaser passes" or anything like that. Just a way to make it easy for a guy to toss $10 or $20 in the hat without having to park and maybe risk not getting a shot, etc. Kind of a virtual tip jar if you will.

Another easy option for that is to just go online (comp or phone) and buy a regular coach ticket for their regularly scheduled train that given day. ...Same price as for the mixed: $15 coach. If you know in advance you're going to chase, buy one for that day....If you don't know in advance, buy a ticket for the following day, since they don't do same day online sales.

I don't believe they can accept donations as they're a for profit business.

If memory serves me correctly, wasn't it mentioned a little bit ago here on RYPN that there was a "dormant" non-profit arm of the SRC? If so, perhaps that can be brought back to life for things like this.

But how do you differentiate between the revenue sources on the same trip. It's not a photo freight or a special run for the benefit of raising funds for a particular non profit project....It's a revenue freight train with revenue passengers, err, donors "on board" who are actually chasing it?

I don't know but I'd think there'd be many complications for them to even warrant it's use.

Easiest thing is to go online and buy a ticket if you're chasing. It's revenue for them, which they need in order to keep their business going.

I like this idea, not just for Strasburg. How about listing SRO tickets with the other tickets on your website, with the explanation that it would allow an honest train chaser to throw in some money for the operation without taking tickets away from someone who wants a seat and leaving an empty seat on a sold-out train? Perhaps even a "choose your price" option if that is possible.