Tragic Train Update

Regular readers will recall a post a few months ago about the rather strange (to me) but widespread custom of photographers posing portrait subjects on railroad tracks. That post was called "Union Pacific to Photographers: Cut It Out" and it inspired a lot of discussion here. Many readers were skeptical that the practice could be dangerous, and a few flat-out refused to believe that someone could be surprised by a loud, large train that anyone could see coming from a long distance away.

It's unfortunate to have to get this kind of confirmation for any argument, but just a couple of weeks ago, on January 18th, in Auburn, Washington State, a 42-year-old Las Vegas man was struck and killed by an Amtrak Cascades passenger train traveling from Portland to Seattle. What was he doing on the tracks? You guessed it—posing for his girlfriend, who was taking pictures of him.

TOP says (again)—venture there yourself if you want to risk your own life—photographers do take foolish risks to get photographs—but keep your clients, friends and models off train tracks. Using train tracks as a setting for photographs is an illegal, unethical, and unsafe practice.

Mike
(Thanks to Jeffrey Goggin)

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

TOP's links!

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Nate: "For my commute into Auburn, I'm quite familiar with with BNSF/Amtrak rail that passes through. The freight moves noisily through town around 40mph, but the Cascades line practically flies by silently at 60mph. You really don't hear it until it's too late."

John Hall: "As a photographer and rail fan: Thank you for using your position (as a blogger who can reach many) to remind all of us of such an important message."

T Bannor: "If you stand on one of Chicago's Metra platforms as an express highballs through, you'll discover that you don't hear it until it's right on you. In open country, the engineer might not see you in time to sound his horn. There are a lot of videos on Youtube of Amtrak trains at 110+ mph that illustrate the point as well."

John Krill: "You don't even want to stand to close to the tracks as the train passes by. The wind turbulence can suck you into the passing train. This happened to an Orange County Sheriff a few years back."

Soeren Engelbrecht: "Some 15–20 years ago, I taught basic acoustics at the Technical University of Denmark. I remember using trains as a real-world example of a 'line source,' one characteristic of which is that it doesn't emit sound along its own axis—only perpendicularly. In the case of a train, this means that it is actually not as easy to hear as one would expect."

Comments

[Ken Bennett]

The comments on that linked article are just horrible. Normally my personal policy is not to read internet comments, but in this case I couldn't tear myself away. It was like, um, ...

[Mathew Hargreaves]

I photographed the construction of the Tacoma Narrows bridge back in 2006 and 2007, sometimes around the train tracks on the Tacoma side. While I stayed off of the track areas, even being on the side of them was unnerving. I was constantly watching for either the passenger or freight trains. It was due to me noticing how fast they would were moving, but more importantly, that I could not hear them until they were almost next to me. I was very happy to get off the track area as it really is a dangerous place. At least I got the photos I was trying for but felt the risk was too great in the future.

[JohnW]

Photographers are known to be a little "crazy". Mix CRAZY and IRRESPONSIBLE and you have a lethal mix no matter what the arena.

[Simon Conner]

Whoops! 2nd photo down...

http://www.fujix-forum.com/index.php/topic/17162-fuji-x100s-for-portraits-hell-yes/

[Mike Plews]

There is more than one victim in an accident like this. The train crews really pay a price. If you can't or won't think about yourself at least consider them and stay off the tracks.

[Eric Rose]

Maybe his girlfriend had an ulterior motive.

[Sal Santamaura]

"Using train tracks as a setting for photographs is an illegal, unethical, and unsafe practice."

You left out the most appropriate adjective: stupid.

[Jim]

"illegal,unethical, and unsafe"?

Hardly true of all tracks. Many of us have closed, abandoned and unused 'storage tracks' near where we live. Tracks not used for some time and not active. Even private tracks left in place when the RR section was closed and the land sold without removing the tracks.

Active tracks - you are right for much of it.

[Ilkka]

Unbelievable stupidity. As was the conclusion already last time. But even bigger stupidity is from one comment to that original article:
'We have to do something about the rash of killer trains.' What the hell. The trains have tracks that are easy enough to see. Nobody can go there by accident. This was not some innocent bypasser who did not notice the tracks. And then it is the train's fault.

[dalen muster]

Illegal it may be, but I'm not so sure about unethical. Sometimes you just want to get your shot. If we never took risks, and always were squeaky clean about the laws I don't think we'd have as good a collection of images in the archives.
http://eccentricphotography.deviantart.com/art/Redding-Tracks-431687581?ga_submit_new=10%253A1391479339

[david blankenhorn]

Not to play the Devil's advocate..but this seems like a pretty good argument for using a photographer's assistant..for "trainspotting.'

There are any number of situations where an extra pair of hands,an extra pair of eyes(&ears) and an extra brain brain come in handy. Can in fact be lifesaving...

[david blankenhorn]

Can we assume that the problem isn't that these folks are not aware of the train but that they are actually get to get the moving train into the picture? This raises another set of questions re common sense…I.E. how can these people not realize that fashion shots and action movie shots that involve trains involve trains that are not moving, or are moving slowly and always under controlled circumstances. And that nowadays anything that involves people and a fast moving train is composited in Photoshop or AfterEffects etc. It's certainly not done at risk of life and limb. Although Buster Keaton did :-)

[Dave in NM]

You can gaze out the window
Get mad and get madder
Throw your hands in the air
Say what does it matter…
- John Prine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFD2wZaBciY

[KeithB]

David:
How can you say that and not link to this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E18222/sr=8-1/qid=1391533878/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1391533878&seller=&sr=8-1

[hugh crawford]

Where I grew up in central California near there was always the possibility of encountering a train running down the middle of the street in a residential area.
It seems there are a lot of photos of this sort of thing on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=street%20running%20train

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Confuscious said: "Man who stands on shiny rails has dull mind."