I caught this in an article in the Newark Star Ledger.

"A bill to prevent terror attacks on railroads by making a person convicted of trespassing on railroad property guilty of burglary was approved by the Assembly yesterday.

Sponsored by Assemblyman Fred Scalera and Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, the bill (A929) would subject anyone trespassing on rail road property to up to five years in prison and $15,000 in fines.

The maximum penalty would rise to 10 years in jail and $150,000 in fines if the offender purposely, knowingly, or recklessly inflicts, at tempts to inflict or threatens to inflict bodily harm.

"Railroads and rail yards, by their very design, are hard to secure and are more vulnerable to criminals and the threat of terrorist attacks than other modes of transportation," said Scalera (D-Essex), the chairman of the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee.

The Assembly passed the measure 76-0 and now heads to the Senate."

So, knowing how NJ Transit feels about railfans, want to bet that a lot of railfans in NJ will be charged with a felony if the Senate passes this piece of garbage?

While that does seem a bit harsh, it looks like it only applies if you're convicted of trespassing. What is the current penalty for being convicted of trespassing on NJT property? (i.e. How much of a change, if any, is this?)

Hard to convict a Canon with a 300 zoom and 2x multiplier with trespass!

One would suspect that the NJ authorities would be reluctant to use expensive jail space for someone just out taking train pix and not doing anything suspicious or stupid. It may be "selective prosecution" but in the real world people step on RR property many times a day, and if they're told to leave, and do leave, that's usually the end of it. On the other hand, many years ago we had a notorious railnut here in Southern Calif. who not only entered the [then SP] West Colton Yard, he rode a boxcar down the hump track, taking pictures on the way. Back in the 70's I was asked to leave the SP Bakersfield Roundhouse area by a Special Agent, who told me, "If you had to deal with dead trespassers as often as I have, you'd be keeping unauthorized people out of our yards, too."

As one of the many who left the Peoples Republic of New Jersey, there are plenty of better reasons to stay out of New Jersey. It was New Jersey's tax practices, especially notorious Hudson County that brought most of the railroad's in this state to their knees. Every class one that operated in this state went bankrupt in the 60's or 70's (Chessie didn't really operate in NJ, its trains were operated by the Reading/CNJ in the state or tiny Staten Island). While the state kept thinking up new and exciting ways to increase taxes on the railroads it prevented them from reducing their money-bleeding passenger services in any significant amounts until the mid-1960's and then still taxed stations and passenger facilities as it they were profit generating centers.

This whole discussion (here and elsewhere) suffers from some pretty shoddy wording by the Star Ledger in its reporting. The state's legislative page on the bill reads as follows:

"This bill amends the current burglary statute to include the act of trespassing in or upon railroad property with the purpose to commit an offense."

Railfans don't enter the property with the intent of committing burglary (okay, the camera-toting ones don't; I won't say anything about the screwdriver-toting ones). From the typical railfan standpoint, this new bill has pretty much no effect (except that some cops who will read the newspaper account and not read the actual law might try to hassle someone).

Stay informed and know your rights.