Western Railroad Discussion > Not a good story!

Greetings from Arizona.

OK this is a first for us.

This morning, three of us left Phoenix for a day of photography around Flagstaff. We started at the Walnut Canyon overpass just east of Flag where we saw several trains just after sun up. We then proceeded to Cosnino where we saw three of four more in short order. One of the eastbound trains was the Flagstaff local lead by a GP60 so we headed over to Darling to watch them switch the LPG facility. Darling is Winona on the AZ map. Shortly after this scene was captured, all hell breaks out.

Now at no time were we on BNSF property. Once more, we were NOT on railroad property and never got closer than 30 feet to the track. OK ready?

The engineer proceeds out of the locomotive and begins to motion to us and yells for us to "get the f--k out of here" It gets worse! I asked why and he proceed to tell me he is going to kick our A--es! That is correct. He is going to assault us if we do not leave at once. He then reenters the cab and returns with his orange vest on and heads down in our direction. With out crossing to our side of the tracks, he tells us to come over to his side so he can fight us. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! He is yelling obscenities to us and telling us he is going to beat the s--t out of us. Now I had to tell him to come on over and we will see. I am in shock as to this scene.

He then proceeds to call DS10 for the authorities to come asap. He tells the DS he is having a confrontation with photographers OFF property. We also call the Coconino Co. Sheriffs and in short order two deputies arrive. The officers talk with us and check our IDs and ask what is going on. After our side of the story, one of the deputies goes over to the engineer, now with the conductor, to get their side. After the deputy arrives back at our location, both officers have a meeting to decide what to do.

Now both officers tell us that we have done nothing wrong and we have the right to be here and photograph the train. However to keep the peace, they ask us to park near the over pass and stay up there to watch more trains. We agree and comply.

Now this is not good enough for the engineer and soon he is joined by the Winslow Train Master, the Road Foreman of Engines and several other BNSF people. Now since we are on a public roadway and the sheriff is still in the area, all of the BNSF people are now parked up by us and are standing in the traffic lanes to watch us. WOW I guess rail photography is bad!

Shortly we shoot several east and west bound trains and we leave the area watched closely by the group and we even get our photo taken.

Later that afternoon, my son receives a call from the Winslow Special Agent to hear our side of the story. She is happy and that is the way the event ended. We will see.

Now some of you rail types can tell me why this guy went nuts and try to explain to me why it was ok for him to threaten us when we were NEVER on railroad property. I am looking forward to you replies.

KR



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/12 19:46 by kdrtrains.

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Some rails simply don't like fans. Others are like an engineer friend of mine who when told to report anyone taking pictures replied that sure, OK, he'd do that, but he'd also report any hunters he saw along the tracks too. When his boss objected to this he replied, "So you're telling me that people standing on public property with a camera are more dangerous than people with high powered rifles?"

Wow, sorry you went through that. At least the Sheriff's and the Special Agent were very reasonable. If I were BNSF management, I'd start wondering why the folks in Winslow have so much time to waste.

The RR checks employees to see if they have controlled substances in their body. They do NOT, however, check for a functioning BRAIN !!!

qman

From the GCOR http://www.blet75.org/GCOR.pdf

1.6 Conduct
Employees must not be:
1. Careless of the safety of themselves or others.
2. Negligent.
3. Insubordinate.
4. Dishonest.
5. Immoral.
6. Quarrelsome.
or
7. Discourteous.
Any act of hostility, misconduct, or willful disregard or negligence affecting the interest of the company or
its employees is cause for dismissal and must be reported. Indifference to duty or to the performance of
duty will not be tolerated.

1.9 Respect of Railroad Company
Employees must behave in such a way that the railroad will not be criticized for their actions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/12 20:11 by rsanchez.

the engineer was way out of line and baiting you 3 to trespass so he would be justified in his claim that you all were a threat to his safety ... for whatever reason only he knows ... perhaps he forgot to tke the wire brush out of his sphincter when he woke up ... the only thing you did wrong was challenge him ... you never want to caught in something that could be taken out of context from a recording



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/12 20:13 by Out_Of_Service.

Some people are just sorry SOB's and there is no explaining it.

Let's see his picture. I would have probably pulled out my phone and shot a little video of him losing his damn mind. What a jack off.

I bet he didn't tie a handbrake when he got off his engine, either. Absolute douche. Seriously, what gets into people? At no point during this time he was threatening perfect strangers did he think "this could potentially end badly for me"?

Pump

I suggest you share the incident details with the Division Superintendent's office, and perhaps Ft. Worth.

gyralite Wrote:
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> I suggest you share the incident details with the
> Division Superintendent's office, and perhaps Ft.
> Worth.

Don't forget the part about him getting off the engine without tying the handbrake.That should take care of him. Right Gyralite?

How many industries in this day and age have FANS, who support them and publicize them? If that idiot worked for me he would not be working for me very long... One jerk like that can spoil millions of dollars of corporate good will. I hope someone brings this thread to the attention of the top folks at BNSF.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

As a physician with a lot of time in the Emergency Room, if I saw someone who was supposed to be a professional acting like this engineer did -- I would be concerned that he was having a psychotic break or was on some type of stimulant.

Think about this. . . . .a truck driver stops his truck, gets out, and challenges somebody on the side of the road to a fight -- because the person on the side of the road is taking pictures of the traffic? There are no circumstances that would be acceptable.

Or how about this. You're in an airport terminal waiting to get on a plane -- and while waiting in departure area you take a few pictures through the window at the plane you're going to ride on. The pilot, who is going through his pre-departure checklist, notices that you're taking a picture -- and comes back up the ramp to the departure area, demands to know what you're doing, and threatens to punch you out?

Santa Fe needs to be notified of this -- and have them decide whether someone who is displaying behavior like that should be driving a 5,000 ton train at sixty miles an hour.

I don't get it! That guy was "mental"! Off the record... I used to encourage people to come up on the engine, if it was safe to do so, while in a siding or in between switching moves. I would enjoy explaining the different pieces of equipment in the cab, and how it worked. I guess you could say I was "paying it forward". This is how I was treated back in the 60's, which eventually inspired me to become a SP brakeman in the 70's and then an engineer in the 80's.

With no offense to any RR special agent, but this guy is a first class RR dick...

John

Did you provoke the engineer before he got out of the cab? Or after? Did you talk back to him while he was yelling?

You just gave him stink EYE & he did not like that.

Every village has it's idiot, looks like you found him...

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> I suggest you share the incident details with the Division Superintendent's office, and perhaps Ft. Worth.

I would suggest you not do this. For whatever reason, he didn't like the fact that he was being watched by people with a camera. Who knows..... nobody knows what excited this man to extremes.

I would suggest that you write down every detail of the event for your own record, and for information if it does go any further than this. If you got the names of the supervisors that showed up, make a note of their names and positions.

If the the local officials came and talked with you and the crew, they will make a report of the incident for their record too.

The police officers have to make reports on what they encountered there too, so you have their story if you need it in the future.

My first thoughts were I'd be embarrassed too if I was seen in that old POS yellow monster when that nice one was right behind it!!!

I've heard these stories before, and it always makes me wonder what the people being watched are doing....that makes them so paranoid when somebody is watching.

I'd just let it drop, and mark the date as the day some engineer went nuts.....


Ron

Not much of a "Darling", was he?

I think it might be fun to go back and chase the local again and see what happens.
Just don't go alone and be prepared to record what happens. This guy is obviously
not playing with a full deck.