NS/CSX Pittsburgh + Mon Line!

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Thanks for all the info guys! I really appreciate it! I went out and railfanned for a little bit today over at Cal U and boy let me tell you, it was not pleasant. Meaning, cops. I was sitting in a PUBLIC parking lot right next to the tracks with tri pod out, camera in hand (it was windy, didnt want my brand new camera to fall) and there is no traffic. So im sitting there for about half an hour, didnt have to go to work for another 5 hours so i just waited out. Then i see cal u police, coming up the parking lot, he parks his car, aiming it towards me just sitting. I don't do good with cops, not at all, i see one and i just get all anxious and start shaking, i can't afford a ticket ( i dont speed or never do anything illegal and i let people push me around something i need to work on) so i get so worried. I just packed up and left. he didnt follow me or anything. Was what i was doing illegal? Taking pictures on public property? Tomorrow im going to monongahela, there's a park right next to the tracks, im afraid that my worry about cops will ruin my enjoyment. It has already........what do i do if i get questioned? I know be polite i always am but i dont want to arrested. Im planning this big railfan weekend with a buddy of mine this weekend and i dont want it to get ruined.

Mine #84 is NOT closed. NS is loading an average of 5 trains a week.

i was just about to say, they're closing pretty soon tho, thats the trouble with me not living in town anymore so i didnt know

benpsut wrote: Was what i was doing illegal? Taking pictures on public property? Tomorrow im going to monongahela, there's a park right next to the tracks, im afraid that my worry about cops will ruin my enjoyment. It has already........what do i do if i get questioned? I know be polite i always am but i dont want to arrested. Im planning this big railfan weekend with a buddy of mine this weekend and i dont want it to get ruined.

Ben, you need to carry this with you. In no way were you doing anything illegal, and you should tell the cop to take a hike, although perhaps their property isn't truly public in this case. If he has the right to ask you to leave, than you should, but if it was a public park, for example, then you should have every right to do what you are doing.

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf

Also, check out these links...

http://www.trainweb.org/eastpenn/pitt.html

http://www.trainweb.org/eastpenn/ettindex.html

and finally, I think these are all of the timetable's you need...

http://www.trainweb.org/eastpenn/cripitl.html

Good luck, stay safe and know your rights!

BWP

THANK you so much for the info. I went to that park today and not one train. Shire Oaks must have dispatched them all this morning and must be setting out empties this evening (When im at work bummer) Funny thing is the park is right next to a NS Crews building and 100 yards down the road is the police station lol. i got worried when i first got there but then i just settled down and enjoyed the view of the river waiting for some sort of train. But nothin, oh well. I think im gonna wait until my scanner comes in the mail before i go out again so i can get a better idea where they're being dispatched. Thanks again BWP!

hey bwp, you wouldnt happen to have any Mon Line timetables would ya?

Check this out:

http://www.railsandtrails.com/ETT/Monon ... /index.htm

You need some sort of DJvu plug in that I can't install it work, but it seems like it should be fairly easy to set up is you have user rights on your own PC.

I hope that is what you are looking for.

Also, this:

http://www.wvrail.railfan.net/mga_district.html

BWP

thank you brooks, very much!

benpsut wrote:Thanks for all the info guys! I really appreciate it! I went out and railfanned for a little bit today over at Cal U and boy let me tell you, it was not pleasant. Meaning, cops. I was sitting in a PUBLIC parking lot right next to the tracks with tri pod out, camera in hand (it was windy, didnt want my brand new camera to fall) and there is no traffic. So im sitting there for about half an hour, didnt have to go to work for another 5 hours so i just waited out. Then i see cal u police, coming up the parking lot, he parks his car, aiming it towards me just sitting. I don't do good with cops, not at all, i see one and i just get all anxious and start shaking, i can't afford a ticket ( i dont speed or never do anything illegal and i let people push me around something i need to work on) so i get so worried. I just packed up and left. he didnt follow me or anything. Was what i was doing illegal? Taking pictures on public property? Tomorrow im going to monongahela, there's a park right next to the tracks, im afraid that my worry about cops will ruin my enjoyment. It has already........what do i do if i get questioned? I know be polite i always am but i dont want to arrested. Im planning this big railfan weekend with a buddy of mine this weekend and i dont want it to get ruined.

Don't get worried. I had the PD called on me as a suspicious person. The cop said that he knew what I was doing, but had to check it out since someone called it in. No biggie. I'm guessing that some Joe Public that has never seen a railfan before called you in. The cop was probably just checking you out to make sure.

Doubtful, but maybe the cop was a railfan too? I have ran in to railfan/cops once, and my brother ran into a PSP Trooper once. My experience, I was sitting in a refinery parking lot waiting for the local to leave and go to its next customer. I see a guy walking toward me from within the fence. He said that the seurity guard in the shack asked him to check onme since he was coming up into a "safe zone" for a smoke anyway. We started BSing and found that we both have an accuaitence. Well, I guess technically not a cop, but close enough. Technically, I was trespassing since I was in the parking lot, but he didn't ask me to leave. I've been back to that lot since then, and 1 of the times I got a wave from within. Out of respect of them not asking me to leave, I don't photo here. It is one of the "photo sensitive" locations In my brother's encounter with a PSP Trooper, he was chasing a different local. He was at a crossing watching them switch out a customer. Like you, he got worried when he saw the cruiser coming up the road toward him. He said the Trooper got out, and LOL his unifirm was unbuttoned 1/2 way, and his tie was off to the side. My brother said that the cop asked him if the local was on the way in, or on the return. The Trooper gave my brother a few other spots to catch it at too. From my brother's description, I recognize the Trooper from a local modal RR club in my area.

On another note, if there is somewhere that you want to watch from that would normally be off limits, find someone with autority from that business and ask. I have even went as far as getting permission to watch a local RR from behind a Bilo Grocery from the dock area, and I have never been turned away from somewhere that I ask first.

I have even been in the yards and shops area after asking at a few RRs. I usually get the I can't tell you that you can explore, but don't go here...here... or here. I comply with their requests for letting me look around. Iy is usually on weekends too, when the brass isn't that high around there. At the one RR, they normally have you fill out a release from liability form incase you turn an ankle or something. The RR official could not find any forms for me, so he just escorted me through, and showed me some things that the form fillers don't normally get to see. The above yards and shops were not Class 1 RRs though

dyardmaster1 wrote:Mine #84 is NOT closed. NS is loading an average of 5 trains a week.

It is supposed to be closing by the end of the year, at least that's what I've been hearing.

lukerice wrote:

dyardmaster1 wrote:Mine #84 is NOT closed. NS is loading an average of 5 trains a week.

It is supposed to be closing by the end of the year, at least that's what I've been hearing.

Still a shame no matter when it's closing. There are some nice out of the way where no one is looking type places along the line so no one will bug you. I used to live in bentleyville along the branch up the hill from the tracks and remember watching trains every day go up and down the line, about 2 or 3 a day in conrail blue. Was nice. Don't get me wrong seeing NS going up and down the rails is nice too but there arent as many as there used to be. Production just got slow thru the years. But yea, we have no cops in bentleyville anymore and its all country on the line so its a great place to railfan if you love chasing trains because the roads follow the line from Monongahela all the way to the mine, take 481 all the way out but dont turn left to keep on going 481, go straight and you'll follow the line all th way out to the mine. It's pretty neat.

Is there ANYTHING else on the ellsworth secondary besides 84 mine and that chemical plant (flexsys I think it's called)? I know Maple Creek mine (closed now) had their prep plant on the main line. I also heard that once they shut down their longwall operation at 84 mine, they may have small crews mine out the pillars, so maybe they will still see the occasional train

Well, today was the day i was going to pittsburgh. i did, but it wasn't as great as i planned. We went to homestead and at first we viewed around 10 trains. They go in spurts apparantly. After no action we went to eat, and NOTHING. I mean......nothing! it was horrible. we went to the north shore, nothing coming off the oc bridge so we didnt get to see anything. went back to the mon river and didnt see much of anything. just 2. but oh well, it was still fun. wish i had gotten more than 3 pics out of the whole railfan day. there's always next time right? thanks for all the info in this post guys!