Railroad Forums
Moderator: David
2005Vdub wrote:took a drive down there today and was hoping to catch a train going over ak. Didn't see anything going on while there. I could not find one place to try and pull over close to the water to try and get a pic of the train going over the bridge. Does anyone know if its possible to get this shot without having to be on a boat?
Storknest wrote:Posting this as a warning to anyone taking pictures on the Staten Island rail line.The PANYNJ is notorious for being paranoid. If you were on a public right of way, you're fine. Cops like to bluster and fake s**t, take their badge numbers and try to continue.....
With the opening of the SI rail services, I decided to take pictures of the new line. My first day, most of the pictures came out bad because my hands were not as steady and I forgot how some things work on my old manual camera. Went Saturday with a tripod and found one out of the way road that ended near a rail crossing on the West Shore. Took a picture on the road some distance from the rail ines of a bridge when the police came by asking about my activities and saying the road was abandonded. I told them I was just taking pictures staying off rail and private property and there were no signs on the road about its state, it looked well paved. Went today by the Goethals Bridge and took one picture of the bridge across the highway when I was called over by Port Authority Police. They also inquired about what I was doing, I explained to them and they said they had reports about me and didn't want pictures taken because of the terrorist threat level so I left.
I feel bad, I was taking shots because I was proud that freight rail had come back and to relearn how my camera worked since I hadn't used it in some years and now I can't. And the terrorist thing just felt wrong. I'm thinking of writing somebody about creating some sort of guide to taking pictures if they even allow it. It just stinks that I can't do any picture taking at all.
So a friendly warning to anyone who wants to take pictures of freight rail on Staten Island.