During the mid 80s I used to railfan with a Pentex 6 x 7, which I dearly miss today. Anyway the Southern Pacific had a minor derailment on the west end of Sparks yard. I wanted to get some shots of an un-rebuilt SD45 on the point of a train framed by the two rubber tire crains being used for clean-up.
Well I drove up got out walked over and took my shots. After which I thought hey you need to get shots of the track gang working, which I did. I stayed on public property for all the photos among firemen, policemen and SP "White Hatters" supervising the clean up. Guess they all thought I was from the Reno Gazzet-Journal, the local fish-wrapper. Then I walked over to a local TV news crew, bid them a greeting. Flash another idea came, hey get some shots of the news crew shooting the derailment framed by the crains with wreckage in the background. I did just that. When they noticed me shooting them they stopped there filming and started to stare back at me. I waved, but they didn't wave back. Then they huddled and started talking in lowered voices each glancing at me from time to time for about 5 minutes. Suddenly they broke from there huddle packed there gear and hastly fled to there Suburban. I have often wondered when back at that spot if they thought, because of the size of my camera, that I was an an agent from the SP checking on them. These young men were fresh out of college and perhasp a reading of the "Octopus" was still fresh in there minds. Or maybe I'm really that ugly! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nevada Rails http://pages.prodigy.com/jbryant ---------- From: Joel G. Kirchner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: SPORRS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: SPORRS: A Case of Mistaken Identity Date: Tuesday, February 17, 1998 6:31 AM I was chasing a UP detour train over the SOO in the Quad Cities (Davenport, IA) and wanted to get a shot of the UP units passing the John O'Donnell Stadium (minor league baseball). As I set up in the parking lot a car pulled up next to me. On the door was printed "Quad Cities Times". Apparently this writer thought I too was a member of the media and wanted to know what "Big Story" if any, I was after. Well, he was rather disappointed when I told him it was only a train. On a related note, crews, at least on the UP, are a bit apprehensive about people around the tracks. This is due to Uncle Pete's management tactics. The lower-level managers are out performing "efficiency tests" on the train crews. There are several "pet" tests that they like to perform. One especially is wearing an orange vest and standing near the tracks. The engineer is supposed to blow the whistle to warn the pseudo workmen. Just dress as yourself and take pictures. If you must trespass, get permission. In my several years of photographing trains, I can count the number of times I've been asked to leave on one hand. I have one question for those who "dress up" as someone else What do you plan to say when your identity comes into question? I would think that such a "scheme" would more likely land you in jail, than be asked to leave. ----------------------------------------------------------- Joel G. Kirchner [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://miso.wwa.com/~jgk/index.htm ----------------------------------------------------------- -> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs -> Message © SPORRS® 1998 - All Rights Reserved ---------- -> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs -> Message © SPORRS® 1998 - All Rights Reserved
