[PRCo] Re: Fw: Emailing: Blue Line @ Planetarium, Blue Line outbd at Midvale Center, blueline inbd Fashion Place, Blueline outbd Fashion Place, DSC_0453_edited-1, Green Line @ Temple Square SD70, inbound Red Line South Jordan Pkwy

[Ken and Tracie]

Rich,

Thanks for the heads-up. Next time I visit Salt Lake City, I can bring the 
Department of Homeland Security training pamphlet I received from my 
employer and hand it to anybody who tells me there is a ban on railroad 
photography. Let him/her show it to me. A few additional thoughts below.

Homeland Security guidelines do indicate that people taking photos of 
trains, taking notes, etc. MAY fit the profile of a terrorist planner. That 
noted, the Department of Homeland Security has not (and probably cannot) ban 
the photography of railroads.

A coworker told me her Union Pacific engineer boyfriend took some Homeland 
Security training courses at work. He is a railfan and he was not happy 
about being told behavior common to railfans fits the Homeland Security 
profile of potential terrorist plotters.

My guess is the UTA employee you encountered was twisting what he was 
(supposedly) taught to suit whatever his motive was to harass you. The last 
time I rode the UTA lines with Fred the Third, some young motormen told us 
their trains could reach 160 mph if the gearing was changed. I have to 
wonder if the person you encountered was one of them, who had since been 
promoted to supervisor!

There are, however, some publicly owned facilities receiving heavy taxpayer 
subsidies which can legally restrict or ban photography. For example, 
publicly owned hospitals can, and must, due to Federal H.I.P.P.A. patient 
privacy regulations.

Our airport is public owned and subsidized. But if I refuse to cooperate 
with the TSA people, I don't get to the gates.

The MBTA has had photography restrictions on their property for decades. I 
do not know if the Maryland situation has or will have any bearing upon 
that.

I remember a few years ago, some NJT police or security people were 
harassing railfans by telling them they could not photography NJT trains 
from public property, such as streets or sidewalks. I believe that situation 
was rectified. At least I hope it was.

They need to worry more about children and young adults vandalizing the 
stations and equipment and not harass  rail enthusiasts photographing their 
trains.

K.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Allman" <allmanr at verizon.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 8:08 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Fw: Emailing: Blue Line @ Planetarium, Blue Line 
outbd at Midvale Center, blueline inbd Fashion Place, Blueline outbd Fashion 
Place, DSC_0453_edited-1, Green Line @ Temple Square SD70, inbound Red Line 
South Jordan Pkwy


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> try again!
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> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: Richard Allman=20
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org ; ptc-11 at comcast.net ; Charles Long =
> ; Vigrass Bill ; Russ & Mary Jackson ; WEZRail at aol.com ; =
> Jack.May at americomm.net ; bob.dietrich1 at verizon.net ; Bruce Bente ; =
> fwschneider at comcast.net ; Charlie - Norwood Light ; Akftrain at aol.com ; =
> philgcraig204 at yahoo.com ; Miklosfrank at comcast.com=20
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 5:00 PM
> Subject: Emailing: Blue Line @ Planetarium, Blue Line outbd at Midvale =
> Center, blueline inbd Fashion Place, Blueline outbd Fashion Place, =
> DSC_0453_edited-1, Green Line @ Temple Square SD70, inbound Red Line =
> South Jordan Pkwy
>
>
> with apologies to anyone I omitted, or conversely, to anyone who doesn't =
> want these-that is why God created the delete key. Suz and I back from a =
> fabulous week in Utah. Day one, did some exploring in Temple Square and =
> some geneology where I discovered some neat things about my father's =
> family. Then off to ride UTA, including the two new lines to Daybreak =
> and West Valley Central. Although I admit to a huge bias in favor  off =
> the SD70 cars, I think that SLC, along w/ San Diego and Portland are the =
> premier LRT operations-all of which use SD70s, along w/ Norfolk. the new =
> lines are doing ok, especially the shorter-and more interesting Green =
> Line to West Valley Central. The Red Line has more modest, though =
> respectable ridership, but clearly is an investment in the future, =
> inasmuch as there is a huge amount of construction going on along it, =
> including businesses and condo developments. The airport line is =
> advancing nicely, and more slowly, work on the Sandy-Draper extension is =
> moving along, w/ some track laid. Three car types-original SD100's, the =
> ex-Santa Clara UTDC cars which are used at rush hour, and the 70+ =
> SD70's-three of which were still under wrap near Fashion Place. The =
> ridership was robust during our stay since apparently the semi-annual =
> Mormon Conference was happening, along w/ a big University of Utah =
> football game.
> Has one brief adversarial encounter w/ a transit type who informed me =
> that Department of Homeland Security bans photography of railroads. I =
> challenged him on that, w/ the full litany about the Maryland situation, =
> the Amtrak photo contest, so he changed his tune, that photography only =
> allowed on the street, since UTA is private property. I informed au =
> contraire that UTA is a publically owned agency, w/ huge public =
> subsidies(you're welcome!) He declined to identify himself and was not =
> wearing a visible name tag though he had a UTA uniform and seemed to be =
> some kind of supervisor, but he decided that it was not worth the battle =
> and told me to be discrete. A 68 year old gray haired grandfather-what =
> is more discrete than that? Otehrwise only courtesy from UTA, though I =
> probably will send the UTA GM a complaint about the harassment, along w/ =
> some photos!
> We went to Bryce Canyon which is breathtaking, drove Scenic Highway 12 =
> which is unforgetable, a night at Sundance-the Robert Redford resort w/ =
> fabulous hiking and mountain vistas. We needed that after our two nights =
> near Bryce where we stayed in a hotel not much different from Bates =
> Motel in Psycho! Only day of rain was the last one(yesterday) when the =
> attached were taken, but they didn't turn out too bad. Sunnier photos to =
> follow.
> Nest week medical meeting in Minneapolis-wonder what I will do in my =
> free time!
>
> RICH
>
>
>
> Blue Line @ Planetarium
> Blue Line outbd at Midvale Center
> blueline inbd Fashion Place
> Blueline outbd Fashion Place
> DSC_0453_edited-1
> Green Line @ Temple Square SD70
> inbound Red Line South Jordan Pkwy
>
> Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent =
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