what is wrong with this...

[asciibaron]

take a look at this picture and then tell me what you think the problem is...

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/9/7/0/5970.1257710033.jpg

-Steve

[Philip H]

Well, for starters, there seem to have lost the rest of the train . . .

[Packer]

10 engines with no train????

CSX is crazy!!

[Bob Bufkin]

Not crazy.  Power move.  Happens on all lines.  Used to see up to 15-16 locos moving Eastbound on Horseshoe Curve back in PC days.  Got to be something else.  Do they usually use that bridge or not?

[DKS]

Do they usually use that bridge or not?

Yes, they do. This is the other end of it:

http://www.sd80mac.com/pics/j-johnston/jim_1.jpg

[asciibaron]

the problem is the location from which the photo was taken.  the photographer is clearly trespassing.  i see many images taken while on railroad property, this one the photographer is standing on the ROW at the end of the bridge.  no telephoto lens would allow that shot while standing on public property.  

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qjmfvs8hpggf&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=38858385&encType=1

for all the grief i hear from railfans about not being able to watch trains without getting harassed by the bulls, maybe it's because in their mind, they see you standing on the ROW to get a picture.  sure he could have gotten permission, but he should annotate the photo to say as much.  i have taken 1 photo in the past 10 years from a non public space without permission:

http://asciibaron.dyndns.org/images/CSX_E732_HX.jpg

all other shots along the ROW have been done from either public spaces (state parks, state forests, public roads, MARC parking lots) or with land owner consent.  while the picture is nice, is it worth the possible consequences to other railfans?

[DKS]

the photographer is clearly trespassing.  i see many images taken while on railroad property, this one the photographer is standing on the ROW at the end of the bridge.

Not to pick nits, but the photographer is standing on a rarely-used stub-end siding. I know it's not an excuse or anything, but I thought it might be worth pointing out.

[asciibaron]

Not to pick nits, but the photographer is standing on a rarely-used stub-end siding. I know it's not an excuse or anything, but I thought it might be worth pointing out.

a siding that is enclosed in an 6 foot high stockade fence.

see this image for reference

http://www.indexinn.com/countries/usa/west_virginia/pl_images/012_West_Virginia-Harpers-Ferry.jpg

[DKS]

Not to pick nits, but the photographer is standing on a rarely-used stub-end siding. I know it's not an excuse or anything, but I thought it might be worth pointing out.

a siding that is enclosed in an 6 foot high stockade fence.

see this image for reference

http://www.indexinn.com/countries/usa/west_virginia/pl_images/012_West_Virginia-Harpers-Ferry.jpg

Hang on. I've been there a number of times. The fence encloses a pedestrian walkway that runs out across a double-track bridge on the side that's no longer used. The through route approaches the bridge from the side on an angle and joins at a switch, while the siding is the track running straight from the bridge (the one in the foreground of the photo in question) and curves toward the station and ends at the parking lot.

This view clarifies what's going on. The track running straight from the bridge on the left is now the siding, which curves to the right behind the trees and ends. The photographer was probably standing in that little gravel area where the track hits land. Not sure if that's private property or not; it has been a bunch of years since I was there last.

[asciibaron]

top of your picture, notice the stockade fence, the chain link with the walkway is visible off to the right in the picture of the locos.  the picture was taken from what is now a siding (former main prior to 1934), but it still doesn't change the fact he is trespassing.  to gain access to that spot, one has to climb over a fence which is on top of a stone wall (gap in stockade fence), climb over chain link fence, or enter through gate in stockade fence.  all locations are clearly marked with signs.

the gravel patch is not open to the public.  i have been to this location many, many times and have always shot from the station platform, the 1896 bridge, or from the land at the point where the two rivers join - you can walk along the shoreline in low water to about dead center of the 1986 bridge (the one in the above photo)

[DKS]

Well, then, you've got a lot of photographers to send angry emails to--an image search turns up dozens taken from the same spot. Better get started...

[up1950s]

Perhaps the person that took the photo was a railroad employee or worked at that gravel patch business . Those rails are rusted over and he is facing the direction of the possible traffic .

[asciibaron]

Perhaps the person that took the photo was a railroad employee or worked at that gravel patch business . Those rails are rusted over and he is facing the direction of the possible traffic .

yes, dismiss the obvious trespassing.  there is no gravel business, it's a CSX work yard.  the person does not work for the railroad.  it really bothers me to see photos in public that the public can not takeknowing the only way to get it, save for being an employee, is to trespass.  many publications would not publish photos if suspected that the image could be taken only while trespassing, standing in the gauge, on a signal post, on the top of a car.

my point is, when you get harassed for liking trains, look no further than the clowns that trespass to get the shot.

[up1950s]

Perhaps the person that took the photo was a railroad employee or worked at that gravel patch business . Those rails are rusted over and he is facing the direction of the possible traffic .

yes, dismiss the obvious trespassing.  there is no gravel business, it's a CSX work yard.  the person does not work for the railroad.  it really bothers me to see photos in public that the public can not takeknowing the only way to get it, save for being an employee, is to trespass.  many publications would not publish photos if suspected that the image could be taken only while trespassing, standing in the gauge, on a signal post, on the top of a car.

my point is, when you get harassed for liking trains, look no further than the clowns that trespass to get the shot.

I said perhaps ... and  " gravel patch business " , I used part of your phrase to describe the location of the business that I had no idea of what it was , I didn't imply or intend to claim I knew what that business was . If nobody really knows if the shutterbug was trespassing , or an employee , no crime can be proved . It's a 50/50 deal . Are photog's that rare by railroad employee's ? You very well may be correct , but you are assuming so IMO .  

I webbed Trainmasterrob , couldn't find a bio , but he takes great shots . There is at least a page of hits for him .

[Philip H]

Just as apoint of order, the gravel patch in question is a small maintenace yard that the National Park Service uses as part of its work.  NPS is there because the town that we saw in David K Smith's photo is Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.  So it may indeed be a Park employee or volunteer - or for that matter a member of the general public who didn't heed the No trespassing signs.