I was on the platform at SEA (behind the fence) waiting for my mother to arrive on a Cascade. The Empire Builder was being repositioned closer to the platform and a couple of Japanese boys were photographing it (from behind the fence).

A couple of women drove by in a baggage cart (platform side of the fence). One of them bellowed in a very un-ladylike way "Put that camera away! Security doesn't allow photographs!", and they roared away on ther cart.

The young photog flinched, lowered his camera, and stared at the backs of the departing Amtrak employees.

Don't have a clue what was going through his mind, but he casually took a few more photos then strolled into the terminal.

I was carrying a camera that could have taken the same shot from a block away. No one said a word to me.

As long as the photos are taken from public property, I don't see any problem!

UP just made an agreement that photos can be taken from the platforms of their stations near Chicago of METRA trains (that UP operate). But if is on private property, the photograhers must first get permission.

Is this North Korea?

UP didn't make an agreement about that, they tried to ban photos completely from the platforms on their lines, as well as tell people that they couldn't photograph their trains from any public place. With the uproar caused by that, and no doubt some consultation with their lawyers to find out that there would be no way that they enforce such a ban, much less win a court case; they then comprimised with this new postition. Except that the new position was basically what existed before, they just put a new spin on it to save face.

Just as an FYI, here is the photographer's Bill of Rights as it were.

Disgusting. This incident should be reported to a station supervisor at once... but I doubt the tourists would've done so.

It's happened to me before, Amtrak made me delete the photo. I wasn't too upset.

Where did this happen, and why did you comply? I would politely remind any overzealous/power-tripping/paranoid railroad employee, security guard, or law enforcement personnel of the following:

1) There is no law that prohibits photography of anyone or anything from public places. Previous attempts by transportation agencies to restrict photography were rescinded due to legal threats.

2) There is already a prolific body of photographic work about Amtrak and transportation in general available online, in books, etc. Taking more photos poses zero security risk.

3) Railfans and photographers are the top civilian eyes and ears out in the field. They know better than anyone if and when something is wrong. They should be embraced, not attacked.

4) Amtrak employees should especially know better. For the past four years, the official Amtrak calendar has featured photos submitted by railfans as part of Amtrak's Picture Our Train Photo Contest. If Amtrak is actively soliciting photos of their trains, it's an even greater embarassment for their employees to be attacking photographers and their rights.

Agreed!

Why would Amtrak solict photographs from the public, but then, when the public tries to take a photo, say "Don't do that"? You can't have it both ways!

Because most Amtrak employees, at least those on the trains, in the ticket windows and Club Acela are underpaid, unmotivated, and bitter idiots who couldn't get a better paying job with the freight railroads (with the exception of the snack and dining cars, I've usually had a pleasant experience with them). For what its worth, I've sometimes reminded people at a supervisory level that I have worked in a lot of restaurants and hotels in the past and if I acted that way in any of those jobs, I wouldn't have had them very long. Of course, that is probably a pointless exercise. But then, I'm comparing apples to oranges and I shouldn't be generalizing. I'm sure there are some Amtrak employees somewhere who are genuinely happy on their jobs and show it every day. I just haven't run into any of them yet.

Very good point! If I had remembered that, and hadn't been waiting for my mother to arrive, I would have mentioned it to a supervisor. I might have even tried to get a decent shot of the Empire Builder, but the light was all wrong. Still, a 400mm lens tends to give people pause

The complainng Amtrak employees were gone in a flash. I think that is why our Japanese friend was perplexed. Of what use is a driveby crank?

I work as a photographer for a Washington, DC summer program for high school students. Sometimes senator's aides will tell us we have to have our photos cleared before we can print them. I allways tell them thats not a problem and use their cards to spit out my gum.