BNSF Formally Asks Railfans for Help

by Aaron Hockley on June 7, 2006

Today BNSF announced a program called “Citizens United for Rail Safety” where railfans can sign up, get a membership card, and help the BNSF by reporting suspicious things.

Why would I need to get a registration card to report suspicious activity? I honestly can’t say I understand the motivation behind this program.

I’m going to make some official inquiries and see what I can find out… stay tuned.

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  • http://peterzpicts.smugmug.com Paul Petersen

    Sounds a little big brother is is some ways but it may be a way for BNSF to have list of know “eyes” to know who to not second guess when they call in an issue.
    The general public has less of an Idea of how the railroad works than your average railfan. Just like when one noticed a locomotive leaking fuel during GorgeRail this spring and calling it in to minimize environmental damage.
    Paul

  • http://imaginephotographics.com Lorne Miller

    …well, I decided to try it out and registered with the program, they E-mailed me an ID card featuring a nice BNSF logo along with my name and home address, the flip side of the card has a 1-800 number to call if you notice anything out of the ordinary…on the back they also list acceptable trackside behavior for railfans – and there’s one rule we break all the time judging from my actions as recently as the last GorgeRail – “When taking photographs from public railroad crossings, stay at least 15 feet away from the nearest rail. This applies for staged “photo run-bys” as well”…
    …another request is to not take photos of military trains and equipment…I’m guilty of doing both…
    …anyway, I think its a good PR move on their part, and glad to take part in it…

    cheers,

    Lorne Miller
    http://imaginephotographics.com/rrphotography/

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  • Michael Richmond

    I think BNSF should let us take pics of the military trains. I mean, come on, we are hardcore railfans and a railfan has never hurt any train or employee of the railroad as far as I’m concerned. Anyone agree? I seem to find several taken around Ft. Worth and places that have forts anywhere that carry military equipment.

  • David Brewton

    It’s just a card with some info that we all should ALL be following (Lorne) :>) and who knows. If you try to report something to the local fuzz maybe they will listen to you because it looks like you’re knowledgable about trains. NOT!

  • Gordon Shaw

    I reported a non-company pickup truck backed up to one of their major unmanned communication sites after midnight one night and got no feedback that would inspire making any reports in the future. Maybe it was because I didn’t have a card? This was reported to their centralized railroad police phone number. And they still have no Jersey Barriers or fence to keep this from happening again. BNSF has just advertised a social media manager job so maybe there will be better responses in the future.

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