Taking pictures/videos at railroad crossings

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ColeD
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Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:57 am

Taking pictures/videos at railroad crossings

Post by ColeD » Sat Sep 05, 2020 7:00 am

I've thought about getting photos or videos of some railroad crossings in my area. But what I was wondering is, was there anything I should be careful of. Such as, have you had anyone bother you for doing so? I'd probably try to get pics of places where there isn't as much traffic coming through.
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AndyWS
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Location: Madison, WI
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Re: Taking pictures/videos at railroad crossings

Post by AndyWS » Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:46 pm

Shouldn't be any issues as long as you avoid trespassing on railroad or other private property and exercise a little common sense (don't stand in traffic, don't film from inside the lowered gates while a train is coming, etc).
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NathanFromEngland
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Location: Merseyside

Re: Taking pictures/videos at railroad crossings

Post by NathanFromEngland » Sat Dec 19, 2020 4:18 pm

AndyWS wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:46 pm
Shouldn't be any issues as long as you avoid trespassing on railroad or other private property and exercise a little common sense (don't stand in traffic, don't film from inside the lowered gates while a train is coming, etc).
To me, the area that you are in (run-down, underfunded, hustle and bustle, etc)
Time (usually when it gets dark or the area is quiet is where crime is more likely to happen)
People (obviously), you might get asked what you are up to by them, as long as you explain to them that you are just filming a train they shouldn't ask more questions (hopefully)
Traffic, plan your angle of where you are filming and try and avoid rush hour, since you probably don't want to be breathing in CO2 (sorry for being a climate change geek, i'm not)
Crime rate (recommended)

I plan on trying to film some crossings (my old camera that I used got damaged back in 2018 and I don't think it will most likely work now since I lasted used it when I went to Florida around two years ago, the downside is that the closest crossing to me is on a housing estate and is a pedestrian type crossing with houses opposite it, and the area is somewhat disadvantaged (not too far away from the crossing someone was murdered in 2011 and the murder remains unsolved) so i might avoid that specific crossing.

I can usually travel by bike, but the signalized crossings are in another borough of my cities region and with the earlier times for dusk right now I'm most likely going to hold off until around the Spring as I don't want to film a crossing and it then going dark when trying to return home, Crime is also what I need to consider as well as I don't want to be jumped filming or cycling.
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