deltic1989
Established Member
Informing atation staff that you are there whilst not a requirement is basic manners, you wouldnt want me barging into your house taking pictures of you wife and kids and walking out without saying something, that would be 'unreasonable'. at all the staffed stations I go to I always make an effort to interact with the staff and in the main they are a barrel of laughs, and very helpful to talk to. Once at Newark a member of staff even showed me the best place to take pictures, taking into account light and things, and also as said, station staff often know about special workings so with thier help you can get stunning shots. Some people who have posted on this topic seem to want to promote a feeling of 'them and us' between enthisiasts and railway staff, but it needn't be like that. As for terrorism, the 7/7 bombers had to do recces at some point so there is a reason to be suspicious terrorists belive they are fighting a war, and in a war the bast way to take down a country is to take out transport (major railways etc), as trainspotting is such a popular hobby in the UK then the perfect cover for taking recce shots would be out in the open posing as a trainspotter, so in that line staff are correct and within thier rights to challenge someone who may in thier view be acting suspiciously. Paranoia has been mentioned one or two times as well, if the average man on the street firmly belives bin laden is hiding in a bin then why, is it any different for railway staff, or are the people scoffing at terrorist threats labeling them 'scare tactics' suggesting that railways staff don't watch TV or read the papers?