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Wronged Side of the Tracks?
By Don Phillips
Washington Post Staff Writer - Friday, November 15, 2002; Page A01
On a balmy Sunday afternoon late last month, Richard Whitenight did what he often does on his days off: He went to a busy railroad junction in Fort Worth to watch the trains roll by. But as he sat making notes about passing freight trains, two police cruisers approached. Over the next five hours, Whitenight -- who works for the police department in nearby Arlington, Tex. -- identified himself to the officers. Then he identified himself to the officers' supervisor, then a detective from a terrorism task force, then the FBI. They seized his trainspotter's notebook and grilled him about every mark and note in it. They searched his car and took photos of it, inside and out. Finally, he had to sign a form agreeing never to return to the location known as Tower 55. Whitenight is one of thousands, perhaps millions, of people around the world who spend much of their time observing and photographing railroad operations out of a love for trains. In general, railroads have encouraged these "railfans" as long as they do not trespass or interfere with operations. Railroads even hold contests to use railfan photographs in calendars, and the Association of American Railroads has started a Web site to encourage the hobby. But after the FBI announced last month it had credible reports that al Qaeda might be targeting railroads, a growing minority of railfans have been questioned and sometimes searched. A handful have even been threatened with arrest, for pursuing a hobby they have embraced for years. Law enforcement officers and train crews have been told to be on the lookout for suspicious characters asking detailed questions about railroad operations, taking notes and taking pictures of trains. It appears the descriptions of "terrorist" and "railfan" are the same.

*****We have been saying that 9/11 changed the way we live our lives. Our appointed government continually tells us to live our lives like we used to...but as we have seen over the last year, they really don't want us to live our lives the way we used. They want us to live them the way THEY proscribe. Time to pack our bags and jump that rail...oh wait, we can't do that anymore - that is a terrorist activity for sure...*****

posted by An Old Curmudgeon 12:53 PM