New Additions to the Chasing Steel Family!

Many of you might recall seeing a couple of photos ofLappy, left, and Beanie our two dogs in the portfolio section of ChasingSteel.com.  The larger white dog is named “Lappy” and the brown Yorkie is “Beanie.”

Well during the holiday season Beanie went into season and was visited by a neighborhood dog that we have never seen before.  Heck, we didn’t even know what kind of dog it was.  I described the visitor to a very dog-knowledgeable friend and he declared it was a Welsh Corgi.  He was right.

Before we knew of his presence, he got through the railings in the gate, and “met up” with Beanie.  We were concerned about this for health reasons but not that she might become pregnant because we acquired her from a Yorkie breeder who thought she wasn’t fertile.

Welsh Corgi

Well, I think you all know where this is headed, some 61 days later I got a call from my wife while I was at work stating that “Beanie just had two puppies!”  No kidding?  We thought she was acting strange but she wasn’t showing and the breeder said she couldn’t become pregnant.  WRONG!

So on February 3, 2010, two new members joined our family.  They are so small and adorable!  We appropriately named them “Chase” n’ “Steel.”  Here they are only two days old:

Chase (bottom) n’ Steel

Beanie is 75% Yorkie and 25% Maltese and the “visitor” is, probably, a purebred Corgi, so what the puppies will eventually look like is anyone’s guess.  All I know is that they are a very welcome suprise and, when the time is right, will be living up to their namesakes right beside me!

Update on 2010-08-07 04:38 by Joe Perry

Puppy Update # 1 (3 Weeks Old)

Update on 2010-08-07 04:39 by Joe Perry

Puppy Update # 2 (6 Months Old)

The New Rules of Railfanning: Don't Trespass, Be Alert, Report Issues

It wouldn’t take you long to find a post or a story, from any of the numerous rail-related websites on the web, that detail some railfan’s run-in with security personnel.  There has been a very discernible change in the attitudes towards railfans and the number of contacts of late and I wanted to find out why.

I gleaned, from one such site, that a Special Agent, from the Union Pacific Railroad, was going to be a guest speaker at the San Bernardino’s National Forest Association’s Off Highway Vehicles Program’s January monthly meeting. (Boy, that’s a mouthful!).

This was interesting to me for two reasons in particular.  The first reason is that a “Special Agent” for a railroad is, in fact, a full-blown police officer and is employed directly by the railroads as opposed to the contract “security” personnel that most railfans encounter.  And the second reason is that THIS particular Special Agent, Mark Youngblood, is one of the agents local to the Southern California area.  Not only is the southwest region “his beat,” but Agent Youngblood has approached many railfans recently, particularly in the Cajon Pass region.

I was told that he was going to give a presentation on Cajon Pass and railroad police work in general.  Not ever having any contact with railroad police officers in the past this was the perfect opportunity to find out what their issues are, from THEIR perspective, and, hopefully, share my thoughts.  (Something I am known to do!)

I made it to the January 13, 2010, meeting, which fortunately, was open to the public, with minutes to spare.  It was being held in a banquet room of a local restaurant.  The place was packed.  I ordered some dinner and waited for Agent Youngblood to take the podium.  Eventually he did just that.  I would like to summarize Agent Youngblood’s presentation so that we all can benefit from him taking his time to meet with us.

My Summation of Union Pacific Railroad Special Agent Mark Youngblood’s Presentation

As you would expect, Agent Youngblood began his presentation by touching on the high points of the celebrated history of the Union Pacific Railroad which is one of the two railroads that built the transcontinental railroad in the 1860’s.

He explained the duties of a railroad special agent and described their powers.  Here are the more salient points:

• Railroad special agents are police officers and are commissioned by one or more states’ agencies as law enforcement officers.  Here in California, at the request of the railroad1, the Governor may grant these officers the powers of a peace officer as dictated in Penal Code 830.33(e).  Also, in California, this authority of these railroad police officers extends throughout the state.
• The UP special agents work a myriad of cases and duties primarily involving trespassing abatement and enforcement, burglaries, train escort details, accident investigations, grade crossing enforcement, and vandalism.
• Special Agent Youngblood define the term right-of-way as:  the furthest extent of service roads on either side of the railroad tracks, to include those cases where they need to go around a rise or cut.  It is not a set distance from the tracks per se.  He indicated that sometimes this may be as few as 20’ wide to 20 miles wide.  (This does present a problem to railfans as the delineation is not always marked.)
• He explained how since the events of September 11, 2001, the railroads began to step-up ensuring that their infrastructure was as protected as possible.  This means a 100% enforcement of trespassing laws.
• Railroad police officers are allowed to “police” the property and lines of any railroads that their employing railroads has track right agreements with.  So that means, here in Southern California, that BNSF and UP special agents can enforce laws on each other’s lines.
• He explain that the most common reason for trespassing that he hears when encountering railfans is “we have been coming here for many years…”  Things are different today.  This isn’t the railroad of your childhood.
• Liability issues and personal safety are also prime motivations to enforce the railroad’s property lines.  He cited several cases where railfans, and the public, had gotten too close to the tracks and a passing train and bad things have happened.  One incident involved a load on lumber on a flat car.  One of the he banding straps that hold the load together had sheared apart and was know hanging about 7 feet off of the train.  As the train passed a fan, the banding nearly cut the man in two!  He cited enough reasons for one to make sure they are far enough away from the tracks to prevent injuries or death; shifted loads and trailers, banding, derailed cars and more.

After his speech, he opened it up to questions.  The audience, all forest volunteers except me and Debra, asked a volume of questions relating to the vehicles the UP Police use to specific case that they were familiar about.  At one point someone has a question about railfans, “are they much of a problem?”  Special Agent Youngblood made an inaudible comment and sneered.  Then he acknowledged that they in fact were.  I saw this as my opportunity to introduce myself to him and the audience.

I raised my hand and he fielded this statement from me:  “Hi, I am Joe Perry.  I am one of those railfans that you are referring to.  Based on the fact that the Union Pacific has such few agents covering such vast areas, my hope would be that the railroad would take a more positive approach towards us railfans because we are out there track side watching what is happening.  In many respects we are another pair of eyes for you guys.  Are you familiar with the BNSF’s Citizens for Rail Security Program?”

He nodded in agreement yet his comment, which unfortunately escapes me, did not reflect that he understood the question.  I decided to let it be since I felt as an outsider and didn’t want to bogart the meeting.  For the uninitiated, here is an excerpt from a BNSF press release that outlines the program:

News Release

BNSF Railway Asks Rail Fans for Cooperation To Keep America’s Rail System Safe

FORT WORTH, TEXAS, June 7, 2006:

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) is recruiting rail fans to help keep BNSF properties safe by reporting suspicious activities and to help prevent possible security breaches.

“Keeping America’s rail transportation network safe from crime and terrorist activity is a high priority for the railroad industry,” says William Heileman, BNSF general director, Police and Protection Solutions. “Every day across the country, rail fans photograph and watch trains as they pass through communities. It seems natural to harness their interest to help keep America’s rail system safe.”

Rail fans can register for the program by going to the Citizens United for Rail Security (CRS) Web site (http://newdomino.bnsf.com/website/crs.nsf/request?open). CRS participants will receive an official identification card along with access to news and information on the BNSF CRS Web site.
To report suspicious activity, CRS members and the public can call (800) 832-5452. The information will be taken by a BNSF representative and routed for appropriate response.

I wasn’t aware if the Union Pacific Railroad had a similar program or adopted this insight at a public level or not.  My hope was that Special Agent Youngblood would advise me if railfans were an acknowledged positive part of the Union Pacific Railroad’s strategy to keep their infrastructure safe and not viewed as a thorn in it’s side.  

This answer was to remain unknown.  I had to leave the meeting earlier so I didn’t get a chance to personally talk with Special Agent Youngblood privately,  something I regret.  I am sure our paths will cross sometime soon again.

I want to thank the Union Pacific Railroad and Special Agent Mark Youngblood for participating in this meeting and taking time to help enlighten the public as to the challenges and effort required to keeping a core element of America’s infrastructure safe.

I also want to thank BNSF for their Citizen’s for Rail Security program and publicly acknowledging that everyone, railfans included, are part of this overall effort.  However, program or no program I am out there watching and I will report anything I see.  The photos and stories will be reported here.  The unusual events, activities, and persons, I will report to the railroads and the authorities.

I have taken away a renewed respsect for railroad police officers and more knowledge which should help me to stay off of railroad property, as we all should, and do my part.  I have included a link to a helpful document called The Photographer’s Rights prepared by Bert P. Krages II, Attorney At Law, which delineates the rights of us photographers.  I recommend everyone read it.

Footnotes:

1.  CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE (SECTION 8226-8227)

8226.  The Governor of the state may, upon the application of any 
railroad company, appoint and commission during his or her pleasure
 one or more persons designated by the company, to serve at the
expense of the company, as police officers, who shall have the powers
and authority of peace officers listed in Section 830.33 of the
Penal Code, after being duly sworn. The company designating these
persons shall be responsible civilly for any abuse of their
authority.

8227.  Every peace officer designated under Section 8226 shall, when
in uniform, wear in plain view a shield bearing the words "railroad
police," and the name of the company for which he or she is
commissioned. When on duty, but not in uniform, the peace officer
shall carry the shield upon his or her person and present it upon
request.

Oh, the Lessons That I Have Learned!

Unreal, heck even surreal at times.

The last week has been one heck of a ride.  I thought I went out, as I have done countless times in the past, to enjoy a chase and beautiful scenery with Deb but it became so much more.  So what, it was a very long train, one the likes of I have never seen in thirty plus years of paying attention.  Turns out it was a monster.  But it was a monster in more than just size.  It’s very existence changed me and my world in unimaginable ways.  And yes, you are partly responsible for it too.  Let me explain.

The “chase” itself was typical.  The results, of course, weren’t.  I had not posted any of my videos from previous trips onto the web for others to consume.  This train was different and I know that there were people, fans and the general public alike, that would have liked to have been able to see it go by.  (I think we all enjoy watching a train pass - more on than later.)  So I intended, at the onset, to make sure to get a stationary video of the train passing.  If you have read my previous posts then you know that I took that opportunity at Fingal, CA.  I thought the video came out nice, despite the fact that I shot it in portrait mode instead of landscape, so I created an account on YouTube and posted the video so that fans and you might get to see the historic train.

It turns out that somehow the media got wind of the train and it’s monster length and that’s when things got crazy.    I was first contacted by NBC News in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday evening, January 13, 2010.  They had seen the video on YouTube and wanted to run it on the 11PM news that night.  Wow, that’s cool, I thought.  Heck, who wouldn’t want their video shown on a major news network?  Well, it turns out that railfans don’t.  I didn’t know that at the time.  

No sooner had I finished my phone call with the producer from NBC then I received an email from a reporter with the Los Angeles Times.  (Do these guys work in the same office or have some secret Twitter arrangement?)  He had seen the video and said it was the cleanest he saw and wanted to discuss it with me and perhaps link to it on the Times website.  It was a crazy few minutes for sure.

At least the Times reporter took the time to talk to me about the experience and how I came to shoot the video.  Clearly he wanted more than just a graphic to showcase HIS story.  He was interested in MY story, however, I was caught up in the moment and didn’t realize what was about to happen.

NBC aired the video, as they said they wanted to do, however, their “story, ” in my opinion was not complete reporting.  They opted to stress the wait time one would experience at a grade crossing and the politicians “concerns” over the train instead of the whole reason Union Pacific ran the test train or the significance of it.  I was dismayed.  I learned at the point that while I gave consent to NBC to use my video it was still their “story.”  I wished I had been given an opportunity to provide input to the story.

I subsequently found out that the LA Times had also run an article on the train that very same day by the very same reporter.  I became concerned.  I read the article and felt that the Times reporter, which also mentioned the “political” concerns predominately, did at least give both sides to the story and apparently was willing to do more research, hence the email to me.

After the NBC news segment aired, the “noise” about the test train and my video elevated.  You see, at this point I was being associated, since it was my video, with the viewpoint of the mass media on the subject and worth of the train.  This was not my intent.  In fact, my views are almost diametric to those of the “politicians” and some of the general public on the subject.

Here’s my stance:

• Railroads are VITAL to our nation’s economy and infrastructure.
• Railroads, and train crews specifically, DO NOT want to block crossings for any reasons, if at all possible.
• Emergency vehicles are being blocked every day in the US by even the smallest of trains today.  (I bet that motorists block more fire engines and paramedics than trains do annually.)
• Stopping distance of train is determined by tonnage and speed of the train NOT the LENGTH of a train.
• Railroads have a vested interested in ensuring that the trains they move over their lines are safe.  They do not want to create any situation that might cause a stoppage in movement of trains over their territories.  That would be bad for business.
• The railroads are in the railroad business.  Wouldn’t they know how and why to do this?  If increasing capacity and/or reducing costs is an end result, isn’t that good for shareholders and aren’t they becoming more economically viable which is good for us all?
• People are in that much of a hurry that they can’t wait a few more minutes at a grade crossing so that they can get on to the freeways which are already gridlocked?  The grade crossings are the joint responsibility of the municipalities in concert with railroad approval.  The city has the right to build an over/underpass if they deem it necessary.  The grade crossing complaints should go to the city councils not the railroads.  The railroads have been around for a very, very, very long time in comparison to local streets and such.  Also, don’t commuters already plan their routes based on traffic patterns and avoid certain stretches of surface streets or freeways at certain times of the day because of congestion already?
• There are concerns about the length of such a train when the crew has to walk the train to determine the extent of any issue should the need arise which caused the crew to stop the train.  Obviously this would need to be addressed.
• While there are also concerns about the reduction in number of crew starts and I respect those concerns but I am in no position of offer an opinion.  (Yep, that is perhaps a first!)

Based on the aforementioned points, it should be apparent why I had issues with the media propping up their stories with my footage.  In the railfan circles I learned of another individual who had his video used, in the exact same manner, by a competing station here in Los Angeles all without his consent!  

Now I began to worry about the end result of the LA Times inquiry about using my material and story in their next article about the “Monster Train.”  Historically, us railfans have been portrayed in the mainstream media as complete morons who never got over the model trains we had as kids.  I was determined to help shape this next article, if I could.

Fortunately, it turned out that the Times reporter, Rich Connell,  was a good reporter and did his investigation and followed where it led him.  Over the course of that week we had numerous emails and phone calls about the train and me.  Perhaps my nudging helped but I sense that it propably was not entirely necessary in this case.  

As a previous blog post indicates, I had no prior knowledge of Rich’s article “going to press.”  It appeared online first and then in the print edition the next day.  The only way I discovered it was the number of hits on my website went through the roof.  My heart skipped a beat.  (Which is not good due to a quadruple bypass and seven stents that adorn my life sustaining organ!)  The article was published.

I read the article.  Wow.  Very good.  Better than I thought it would be.  It was about me and my “adventure.”  Cool.  It did mention the “other” items but in a realistic and tempered way.  Outstanding!  What a relief.

I have to take my hat off to you Rich.  You wrote an insightful and good article.  And it is not just me saying so.  Read the comments on my Guestbook page or the posts on the main railroad board and you will see the “community” of railfans applaud the article.  You have done us proud.  Thank you Rich and thanks to Mark Boster for making me look half-way handsome!

So I learned this from it all:

• Understand the context in which your material will be presented.
• Politicians don’t know what they are talking about, mostly.
• There are good reporters out there who want to tell the WHOLE story and not just get ratings.
• My right side is my better side!

Overall I am grateful for it all because not only did I learn a lot about myself and the way the media functions, I also got to meet so many people like you.  I received a lot emails and comments during the last few days and I am overwhelmed by the positive comments and response, in general, to my efforts to host chasingsteel.com.  I appreciate the fact that you have taken your time to visit and read my rants, such at this.  I am also humbled by the stories you all have shared with me and the great things you have said to inspire me.

OK, I realize there is one more thing I learned:

There are a lot of good and constructive folks in this world.  Heck, even some of them are not railfans!  Who knew? ;-)

High Traffic Volumes...Wow!

I checked in on the site tonight to prepare a post that I have been working on all day and I saw the traffic levels were extremely high.  I mean crazy high!  Here is a view of what I saw:

After seeing this I was puzzled as to explain the recent upswing in hits.  Was it the UP Monster Train video that I shot?  Perhaps.  I looked at the list of refers and noticed that a portion of them were coming from the LA Times website!  They must have published the article I was interviewed for and I didn’t even know it!

Here is a screenshot of the web page.  Click on the photo to read the article.  I am impressed that the article was very accurate and kept the “noise” from the politicians about the train to a minimum.  Thanks to Rich and Mark, you guys rock!

Click this photo to read the entire story.

Wow, Even CNBC?

What is it with the news media and railroads?

Railroading has been around for a long time now yet it seems that the media rarely gets their facts straight. More often than not, it seems, the reports contain inaccurate or completely wrong information.

Now I can understand that when a small-town newspaper or media outlet reports on a railroad-related story that there might be a mistake or two in the story. The reporter might not be railroad-savy. You see this often.

I do have an issue when a major news organization makes a error when reporting a railroad news item. They are suppose to have a very talented staff of writers, and more importantly, vast resources and good editors. At the very least, they certainly can “Google” like the rest of the world.

I was surfing the web today and came across this article from CNBC about Berkshire Hathaway acquiring BNSF Railway. The title is, mistakenly, “Berkshire Hathaway Gets Antitrust Clearance to Buy Burlington Northern.”. It should read: Berkshire Hathaway Gets Antitrust Clearance to Buy BNSF Railway Company, which is the right name of the company.  Burlington Northern is the old company.  But, it doesn’t end there. Here is the graphic they chose to put with their image of Warren Buffett.  It is the old Burlington Northern logo and not the current logo of the BNSF Railway Company!

The logo of the old railroad company, Burlington Northern

The real logo for the BNSF Railway is shown here:

I would be happy to verify facts for any media company, for a small fee, of course. Contact me here.

My Scariest Moment

This is a post I made almost four years ago on the Western Railroads discussion board on Trainorders.com. I am reposting it here because I refer to this incident in the caption of one of my photographs.

---

Wow! After 30 years of railfanning, it finally happened to me!

After spending the morning hanging out with Don and Wayne up at Hill 582 I decided to check out Sullivan’s Curve since I had never been there before. I arrived and scoped things out. It appears that there was storm related track-work being done at the curve so traffic was light.

With nothing else to photograph I shot some pictures of the track gang hard at work.

Around 3:30 PM today, the gang opted to finish thier present effort and clear the track for an Eastbound stack train.

This photo shows that train - the BNSF 5109 East leaning into the brunt of the curve just below the west switch at UP’s Canyon siding. Notice the Roadmaster pacing the train as it tranverses the area where, only moments before, his gang was working replacing ballast.

The train continued on through the curve and I began to walk back to my car when I heard the most God-awful sound I have ever heard. I knew instantly that something was amiss. I hurriedly crossed the UP main to look directly down onto the BNSF Main 1 track and saw the BNSF 238841 derail right before my eyes.

I jumped to capture it on film and had to wrestle with the ON/OFF switch but I was able to get a shot of it right after it happened.I called 911 from my cell phone and while trying to relay all the train’s location to the CHP dispatcher I heard the Roadmaster trying to get the 5109 crew’s attention to stop the train because he saw smoke coming from one car 6 ahead of the rear. They eventually stopped the train about 1.5 miles from the location of the mishap.

The last photo shows the train stopped and the lead truck of the B-end of the car clearly off the track. Highway 138 can be seen in the background of the photo.

I was talking to another BNSF crew later and they said the train ripped up or severly damaged over a mile of concrete ties. It was still tying up Main 1 when I left the hill around 7:30 tonight.

It was a scary moment for sure.

Apple? Who would have thought?

I have been working in the IT industry for over twenty years.  During that time, I primarily deployed and supported solutions that ran on Novell NetWare and Microsoft Windows-based operating systems.  As such, I always viewed Apple and their line of computers as the “other guys” or as “the enemy,” if you will.

Well, that has all changed.

I recently wanted to buy my wife a GOOD computer to use to surf the web, do emails, and work with the family photos.  She had been using the family hand-me-downs and she deserved better.  So I began evaluating options.

I had always heard that Macs were a good computer for non-techies and was more than capable on the graphics front, so I looked at what was available.  I saw the iMac at the Apple store and asked the salesperson for a demo.

I was amazed at the capabilities of the computer, the gorgeous graphics, and the ease of use!  Consequently, I bought my wife a 24” iMac on the spot.  Ever since, we haven’t looked back.  Having so many years under my belt in IT, I am qualified to say the Mac platform, and all Apple products for that matter, are the way to go.

There is a clear advantage to using Apple products.  Apple has been able to, through awesome user interface and user experience nuances, to unleash the creative capabilities of the average “Joe.”

We now have 3 iPhones (the greatest device EVER), an iMac, an Apple TV, and countless iPods in our home.  Our lives are truly more enriched thanks to Steve Jobs and Apple.

I continue to work almost exclusively with Microsoft-based solutions, but, that is, after all, work.  I design, express, and play on a Mac!