A British approach to 'Enthusiast Trespassing'
You know, the guy with the camera who thinks its OK for him to be on the track because he's familiar with trains and knows the safety rules and besides its an important shot...
http://www.prclt.co.uk/Trespass-Rogues-Gallery.html

Thank you for posting this.

The writer's choice of words is very effective. Note he first refers to the steam tour "industry" and then later on to the rail "fraternity." IMHO that's the right way to think about it. The needs of the industry trump the needs of the fraternity when it comes to safety.

There has been a lot of discussion on RYPN over what lead to the end of the NS steam program (swamp or yard incidents). The chances of either of those happening again are slim. The chances of some moron getting clipped trying to get the wedgiest 3/4 of a steam train seem much more likely.

I like the idea of the community policing ourselves.

Rob

The inquest was just held here in New Zealand for a "foamer" who got knocked down and killed by a K class 4-8-4 in 2013.

It was concluded that he miss-judged just how close he was to the locomotive because he was looking through the viewfinder.....

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/1070404 ... hing-train

TH

This reminds me of something I saw from a guy who came with me and my best friend when we were chasing N&W 611 through Florida in the late 1980s (I was a teen, Mark was in his 20s and my pal Bob was in his early 30s. Bob and I had been around a lot of trains, but Mark hadn't). We were at the Suwannee River bridge at Fargo, Georgia, waiting on 611 on a NS run to Valdosta, a couple of hours early. This is where they usually did the photo run by on those runs, so we knew we could get ahead of the train from there after getting our photos. Mark was not a rail fan but he knew photography and didn't want to be left behind for the day. He didn't want to risk getting in the way of Bob and me, so he went to the other side of the tracks. Bob and I used a large signal box as a base to shoot from. Soon, a NS freight came across the long bridge. Bob and I snapped our shots, and then we noticed that the freight was blowing for the grade crossing behind us, only the engine's horns were not giving the normal signal for that. The engineer was leaning on the horn and we had no idea why. Bob later swore he heard a muffled cry nearby as the six-axle EMD units roared past at speed. After the train cleared, we saw Mark on the other side of the tracks, much more pale the normal with a dazed look. When Bob asked Mark what had happened, Mark said, "I got the train in my view finder and it just kept getting bigger and BIGGER…" Realizing he must have been in the open near the tracks, we asked where he had been standing. He pointed straight down, at the end of the ties! Had he not jumped out of the way, that EMD would have been wearing a Mark-colored smear on its pilot when they got into Valdosta! We noticed that Mark was well clear of the tracks for the rest of the day, having by then realized he almost got creamed by a diesel going at Run 8. I recently found the negative I shot of that train, which I really should get a good print of to remind me of that day.