Friend areested on Connie for trespasing

Just a heads up about my friends arrest.

 A friend of mine was fishing on connie, north of the Viaduct and got hauled off to the police station by the RR police.  The fine is $500 but they allowed him to promise never to fish there again. So beware.  All of that area is posted with "private property signs". However, this is the first enforcemet I have heard in the 15 years that I have been fishing that area.

He was told not to fish that railroad yard section which is north of the Viaduct " the big arch" and on the west side of Connie " the RR track side".  It seems that the rest of that area is still ok.  Indeed, I fished some of the other areas the other day as I usually do.

Went by there today and it still had a good bit of ice on it.

Good point,  Essox Hunter!!

Thats funny there!

Just goes to show, they don't mess around in Ohio...NO Tresspassing means NO Tresspassing there....In PA, people must think it means something else

all the railroads are really going to be cracking down this coming year. to many people are getting creamed. it isnt that hard to get hit either. im around these things all day and its easier then you think for something thats 410,000lbs to sneak up on you. this isnt just me saying it either. i work for a railroad and it is what i have been told.
 
im sure if my boss bob (he's on this site) reads this he will confirm it.

No tresspassing, private property, posted, and stay out signs means you do not own that land and are not allowed to walk on it. Unless you have permission from the land owner, you are breaking the law. I dont care who owns it. It is not yours so abide by the rules.

Hope this gives you some insight why railroad tracks are posted property and why arrest and fines are given to trespassers.
 
Here are same facts about trains and their tracks.

1. Do not get trapped on the tracks. Only proceed through a highway-rail grade crossing if you are sure you can completely clear the crossing without stopping. Remember, the train is three feet wider than the tracks on both sides.
   
2. Be aware that trains cannot stop quickly. Even if the locomotive engineer sees you, a freight train moving at 55 miles per hour can take a mile or more to stop once the emergency brakes are applied. That's 18 football fields!
   
3. Do not be fooled by the optical illusion. ­ The train you see is closer and faster moving than you think. If you see a train approaching, wait for it to go by before you proceed across the tracks.
   
4. Railroad tracks, trestles, yards and equipment are private property. Walking or playing on them is illegal ­ trespassers are subject to arrest and fines. Too often the penalty is death.
   
5. Since 1994, almost 5,100 people have been killed while trespassing on railroad rights-of-way and property.
   
6. Trains cannot stop quickly. A freight train moving at 55 miles per hour, or an 8-car passenger train moving at 79 miles per hour, can take a mile or more to stop.
   
7. DO NOT walk, run, cycle or operate all terrain vehicles (ATVs) on railroad tracks or rights-of-way or through tunnels.
   
8. Cross tracks ONLY at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings. Observe and obey all warning signs and signals.
   
9. DO NOT hunt, fish or bungee jump from railroad trestles. They are not designed to be sidewalks or pedestrian bridges ­ there is only enough clearance on the tracks for a train to pass.
   
10. DO NOT attempt to hop aboard railroad equipment at any time. A slip of the foot can cost you a limb, or your life.
    
11. In 2006, at least 362 people were killed and 999 were seriously injured in 2,897 highway-rail grade crossing collisions (combined for public and private crossings).
    
12. At least 530 people were killed and 446 were injured while trespassing on railroad rights-of-way and property.
    
13. Approximately every two hours, either a vehicle or a pedestrian is struck by a train in the United States. That's 12 incidents each day!
    
14. A motorist is 20 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision involving another motor vehicle.
    
15. More people die in highway-rail grade crossing crashes in the United States each year than in all commercial and general aviation crashes combined.
    
16. Nearly 50 percent of vehicle/train collisions occur at crossings with active warning devices (gates, lights, bells).
    
17. The majority of highway-rail crashes occur when the train is traveling less than 30 mph.
    
18. Railroad tracks, trestles, yards and equipment are private property. Walking or playing on them is illegal – trespassers are subject to arrest and fines. Too often the penalty is death.

*Source Federal Railroad Administration  preliminary statistics for 2006 (as of December 2006)
 
 
Cars have rubber tyres on tarmac roads trains have steel tyres on steel roads, I will come back to that point in a moment. A car weighs about 2 tons a train weighs about 50 to 150 tons + its coaches or wagons. The problem with trains isn’t starting them it’s stopping them once you have. My grandfather who was a railwayman for many years put it quite well when he said "Any idiot can start a train, it takes skill and practice to stop it where you want it to stop."

 
So how do you stop a train
Steel tyres and steel track don’t make for very good stopping power. Simply because there is not a great deal of friction between the two when weights of 300+ tonnes are involved. The inertia (momentum) of a moving train is very high. Slamming the brakes on wont stop it, all you will achieve is a skid which lasts for a good long distance and locked wheels which end up with flat parts on the tread and a damaged track.
What we need to do, is to progressively retard the rotation so that the force involved is spread over greater time. (progressive braking). We achieve this on a railway in several ways. Lets look at the factors involved. The first one we already mentioned "weight" It is important that the train weight is reported to the driver before departure if not or if the wrong train weight is reported he could end up setting the brake pressure and application rate incorrectly. This would then result in either the train not stopping when expected or even accelerating on a gradient with the brakes on. Just as bad, the damage we have already talked about could occur,costing thousands of pounds, dollars, spons, wedge, whatever (convert to your own currency!!!).
The second factor is the track itself, you may think that steel is steel is steel. This would be far from the truth. In different weather conditions steel behaves very differently. Steel becomes greasy when it gets wet, this is because it is partly porous and retains any oil or grease that has transferred to it and as you all know oil floats on water. So if it rains it is even harder to stop.
The third factor is the route itself. It has gradients, curves, speed restrictions etc etc…. A driver must learn the route. This is usually done from books and a lot of study backed up with real world knowledge. You have to know where all of the signals are so that you can stop in time when they are showing red. You have to know how steep the grades are and where they start and end you have to know where the curves are, you have to know where the stations and yards are and last of all you have to know about any special restrictions or work being carried out on the line on a daily basis.
All of the above is far more important than knowing how to start a train moving if you want to prevent injury or death!! and get your load where it is needed.……..

After a big blow out the creeks change, I adapt. A posted sign gets put up, I adapt. I dont care if Hitler puts up a posted sign or Jesus Christ himself puts up a posted sign. I am not going on that property.

Griffon, I have been fishing that creek since i was a kid, and that area has always been OFF LIMITS. Belive me when I say, that the railroad company has been more than generous in their allowing acess to other areas of the creek. That area is a high traffic area, and they don't want anybody on it PERIOD. I have see numerous people other than fisherman with their azzes carted out of there for less. The guy is lucky he got off as easy as he did.
 
Marty, I am sure the RR company stands nothing to benefit from the fish in that river. I have never seen any RR managers or employees charging thousands of dollars to fish their industrial mecca of steelhead. Cannot even compare to the antics of a DB and his acquisitions of prime "private" real estate. People will never learn that when a sign states NO TRESPASSING it means STAY OUT! End of story.
 
Swinger: Couldn't agree more with you on this issue.
 
Just a side note: Last year, I was fishing an area that I had access to per the landowner that was granted to my uncle and I years ago. I started fishing this area in 1986, and did so each year until I was asked to leave last year. Why?? Earlier in the season, said landowner kindly introduced himself (happened to be the gentleman's son) and told of a group of uninvited tresspassers fishing the area during deer season, and when they were ask to leave told the landown to F--K himself. Nice Huh??  I apologized, and after a lengthy conversation, was told to return this year and written permission would be granted. I guess these type of people will ruin it all for all the sportsman who abide and respect people's, and in the above case, a company's wishes to stay off their land.
 
Later

Griffon, I understand your point, but I am certain that when considering the amount survailance this country has been subjected to in regards to terrorism etc. I guess we all have to sacrifice when RR / transport companies tighten their security. Remember, Safety is not the only concern... Many of these companies carry highly explosive, sometimes deadly chemicals and other hazardous materials, as such, it certainly would be a shame to have rivers, lakes (drinking water) and so forth put at risk because we want to fish. It sucks, but it's reality. I just have a problem with folks who think they are the exception to the rule, and I believe that if 99.9% of the people must abide by a rule, then those who choose to disregard them should be punished.

If you truly believe that then you need to become better informed about how much real estate the railroads actually "own" (actually stolen, bribe payoffs to government officials, and crimes that would have any single individual placed into the electric chair).  You should also go back and read the rest of the thread.  I do not support the railroads on this nationwide policy they are attempting to enforce.  Unfortunately, as a country we will likely become more dependant on them as the price of fuel continues to increase.  That will likely mean that more track will need to be laid and more miles of access will be closed off. I see you fish Pine Creek in the DH Zone.  Do you cross the tracks (don't lie)?  Do you walk the tracks?  If you answered yes to either of these and (if you fish the lower DH section you have to cross railroad tracks) then you are trespassing and should be turned into the local authorities immediately.  As I said, it doesn't need to be posted for the railroad to enforce their rules and they will do just that if they see you cross. 

Griffon. Besides telling us here what the RR is doing. What are you doing about it?

ORIGINAL: 2dog

"This is absolute CRAP.  The railroads control almost all access to our greatest wildernesses." How can they cut off access if it was never there in the first place?

"For example, the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongohela are all bordered by railroads.  Many of the areas that people access the rivers require crossing tracks." Look at all the major rivers and streams, most of them have or had a railroad along them at some time. Reason why is because the grade is very flat with little or no digging involved to lay the track. The Allegheny River had tracks on both sides as far up as Freeport. Today only to New Kensington. The biggest users of the railroad in New Kensington is a beer distribution center and an oil distributor.

yeah and there is one very large difference between railroads and the donny beavers of the world. the donny beavers buy up land next to streams with intention on blocking access to charge money to fish. railroads bought up property next to streams and rivers for the reason you mentioned so they can ship freight and move passengers. not to charge you to fish.
 
btw i quoted you because you were right about the grade issue.

ORIGINAL: Roy D. Mercer

Griffon, I understand your point, but I am certain that when considering the amount survailance this country has been subjected to in regards to terrorism etc. I guess we all have to sacrifice when RR / transport companies tighten their security. Remember, Safety is not the only concern... Many of these companies carry highly explosive, sometimes deadly chemicals and other hazardous materials, as such, it certainly would be a shame to have rivers, lakes (drinking water) and so forth put at risk because we want to fish. It sucks, but it's reality. I just have a problem with folks who think they are the exception to the rule, and I believe that if 99.9% of the people must abide by a rule, then those who choose to disregard them should be punished.

Well said. As much as it irritates me to lose some of the spots that I have due to them being placed off-limits since 9/11 or just because somebody got themself foolishly hurt there previously in this religiously litigious society we live in, I can't argue with your logic.