Overzealous Railfan Gets Busted and Misses 4449 at Pasco, WA

This is a great shot, I think, of eastbound 4449 rolling off the north end of the Columbia River drawbridge at Pasco, WA on July 3rd, 2009. For me, the best part is seeing the overzealous railfan, who thinks he is above the law and can take a photo from anywhere he damn well pleases, get busted by the local BNSF cop and miss out on the shot he was thinking he could take. For the rest of the railfans that were maintaining a respectful and legal distance, the best part was that he got chased away just in time for everyone else to get our shots of the Daylight exiting the bridge without that idiot in them. Dude, if that was you and you ever read this, you're lucky he didn't ticket you, because you really deserved one.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Idiot
• Railfan
• 4449
• Daylight
• steam
• locomotive
• Pasco

[c182SkylaneRG]

I'm curious to know what is the "legal" distance. I don't do actual railfanning, myself, and am primarily curious. It seems like a minimum safe distance is 10 feet from the nearest rail, because providing the train doesn't derail, you won't get hit, but that looks like where this so-called "idiot" was, and thus my assumption's wrong. Thanks for educating the ignorant! :)

[potlatcher]

@c182SkylaneRG The only "legal" distance is OFF of railroad property. Otherwise you are trespassing, unless you have some sort of written permission from the railroad in question to be on its property.  At this particular location, there are plenty of "legal" locations to photograph from, including the walking path seen in the video. These guys just thought the trespassing laws, and the unwritten rules of railfan decorum, applied to everyone but themselves.

[ThomasRivette]

I don't understand what's happening here.

[potlatcher]

The BNSF cop in the white SUV has been yelling at the two guys up by the bridge to get away from the tracks. They have ignored him so they can get their precious photo. He finally has to get out of his rig, go up to the tracks, and stand right in front of the one photographer in order to finally get him to move! No wonder railfans get a bad rap among the real railroaders.

[CoasterFan2105]

Oh my god, I was there too! That guy was an IDIOT!! First he wouldn't shut up, and then he nearly gets hit by the train!

[potlatcher]

Not sure who you think was the idiot. The railfan (yellow shirt) was clearly too close to the ROW and was ignoring the BNSF officer. The officer (dark uniform) was the one yelling at the railfan, and when the railfan kept ignoring him, he had to go up and very directly order him to get off the property. The officer did hesitate for a moment near the tracks, but he was never in danger of getting hit by the train. The officer was clearly doing his job. Only a real idiot ignores the police!

[deathstarmygnr]

These are the people that make us railfans look bad.

[CoasterFan2105]

These are the same kind of people who jump in front of your shot 30 seconds before the the train comes when you have been set up for 30 minutes!

[c6rocks]

Oh no, is that man watching the train? Could it be? I've heard of these guys. YES a criminal train watcher. Get him!

[c182SkylaneRG]

@potlatcher How do you know where the property lines are, though? I'd happily stand right on the property line, but I'd hate to be two feet over it and get in trouble.

[phehrachii1]

The engineer should have given dipshit a blast of steam

[rukkosurfo]

@jeepers2655 I posted an answer for you at the wrong place. Please look for it somewhere around here. Your id is written at the beginning. Sorry about the mistake.

[rukkosurfo]

jeepers2655 I was reading comments to this video and realized nobody answered your question. The info I have is: There are two main reasons for the Diesel. Steam locomotives do not provide enough electricity to keep things running in modern trains so they use it as an electric power plant. The second one is that Diesels are used to pull the train in certain sections were the excess of smoke is prohibited, so they take over until they clear the zone.

[Boss302fan]

@potlatcher As a lifetime railroader you summed it up well. Of course at times it is hard to tell where property ends or begins, but if you are trackside please try to stay back 20 or so feet. I promise it makes all of us running when anyone is too close to the tracks. In this day and age....you just do not know.

[jeepers2655]

why the diesel?......backup?

[mikes47jeep]

railfans are one thing, but those choo choo coo coo's.... what a pain