Hobbyist or Terrorist?
 

(For all you plane-spotters out there...)

Admiring trains has been a refuge for generations of men. Now it can get you a visit from the police

"Anyone seen taking photographs is going to be questioned," laments Richard Maloney, spokesman for SEPTA, Philadelphia's public-transit authority. "The wide-open spaces and the freedom we have enjoyed to meander almost anywhere is gone." Urban train buffs report being surrounded by police cars and customs agents. A Haverford College student of South Asian descent was detained last year by SEPTA police after he photographed a station — homework for an urban-history class, as it turned out.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...638410,00.html


(So remind me again, who is terrorizing us?) :(

I think I will carry a camera so I can enjoy this exchange with a rent-a-cop or other non-law-enforcement personnel:

"Why are you taking pictures?"

"Go @#$% yourself."

Just heard on the radio this morning that the MTA is considering banning all photgaphy on the NYC subway system.

How much track in the US is there?

I heard yesterday that the DC cops banned all photography at Union Station. They are also only letting ticketed passengers into the seating areas. I'm taking a MARC train tomorrow night. I've always been impressed with the Union Station architectural features... :D