Norton photography incident

[NW Mailing List]

Possibility taking pictures of railroad employees doing things that would be compromising if viewed by their management could well have driven the yardmaster's  actions (such as a safety rules violation or not performing an evolution per required process).   When I lived in Ohio during the 70's I very much became an insider at Brewster with the N&W shops folks and on PC/EL/Conrail with tower operators (it was fun working a block tower).  There were always things going on that weren't necessarily 100% by the rules (and some things that were totally illegal).  I made sure I never photographed these activities if I recognized them as such it helped me secure acceptance by the railroad employees as an insider.   With that said, it's not always easy to recognize things that may be out of kilter in a given situation.  Sounds like your friend wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong.  I wonder what the yardmaster wanted to cover up or maybe he simply got up on the wrong side of the bed that day!

Ed Painter - Narrows, VA currently living in Russellville, AR

From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 1:54 PM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Norton photography incident


Regarding the Norton, VA, photography incident, I think the only thing possibly amiss was the yardmaster and activity around the yard.  Observing the vehicle and employee activity during part of the time he was taking photos, my friend guessed a crew transfer may have occurred.  It was after the transfer the yardmaster left the yard and approached my friend.



My friend I've known for 10 years.  That part of Virginia is home for him.  He's a railfan, and a NASA engineer.  He stood his ground with the yardmaster, but was not nasty with him.  For the strangeness of the situation, I told my friend the yardmaster may have been scared of something that could have been caught on film.  It was indeed an interesting incident.





Kim

Huntsville
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