A quite weekend

The weekend was "normal" for being able to railfan. No incidents to speak of but the crews I did encounter seem to be "spooked" and nervous when around them.
I spoke to my oldest boy who still lives in California and he said that the UPSA's are now taking photos of people they encounter. These are not distant shoots but full face shots. My oldest was caught crossing an unmarked property line and was instantly confronted. In order to be released he had to submit to a photo. Not only is your license plate and driver license information gathered by UPSA's but your picture is also being added to their database.

And now a call from the BNSF

Seems that the railroads just want to be heard. A BNSF SA called me at my desk this morning saying I caused them all kinds of problems on Saturday. I informed him he needed to talk to the FBI Task force as I had already discussed the incident with them. The convesation evolved in to threats from both side with the agent closing his conversation with "you are a terrorist and will be treated like one".

An now the UPSA's

A UPSA showed up at my workplace this afternoon. This time my employer informed him that he was not welcome and to leave. Before leaving he informed the security office to tell me not to take pictures in a specific are anymore. Since I was on public property, that is a pretty tall order.

I placed a call the ACLU this afternoon to request information on my rights and was given the email address of info@aclunebraska.org to send the information into.

This won't be the last of this nonsense it appears.

Railroad war on railfans

Well, I had a visit from the Terrorism Joint Task force yesterday at my work (why at my work who knows) concerning a report by the BNSF that I am a potential terrorist. This little visit will probably mean the termination of my employment, which in this day and age of employers would be the norm.

This incident stemmed from an encounter with a BNSF vehicle on Saturday morning. I was chased down by a 08 or 09 White Jeep Commander on S 8th St. with the driver trying to force me off the road. This individual then proceeded to chase me up S 13th st. I called 911 on this vehicle and reported the incident in real time providing the vehicle description and license plate number.

I was interviewed by the task force and really do not know what the outcome will be. It appears that the railroads in Omaha and Council Bluffs are preparing a spring offensive against railfans. Looks like its time to find a lawyer.

Remember you no longer have the rights you where born with.

This is MOP Garcia

Around 11 am this morning I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Garcia while waiting for the UP 1989 to enter the BNSF at the Amtrak station. Needless to say Mr. Garcia lived up to what UPRR wants their personnel to be.

To back up a bit I was in my Jeep reading the paper and emails in the Schneider Trucking lot next to the Amtrak station when I noticed Mr. Garcia leave his units and walk around a 1/4 mile to where I was parked. First thing out of his mouth is "Do you work for the BNSF"? Well here we go he is going to bitch me up and down for being on railroad property. My answer is short and to the point, "No and this isn't RR property". Well this set off a tirade between us. Just as I thought he had decided to leave he abruptly stops, turns around and starts to write down my license plate info. To me this is a blatant threat as the UPSA's keep a database of people they encounter on UPRR property. Since I wasn't on UPRR property and he wasn't an UPSA, I jumped out of my Jeep and started to take pictures of Mr. Garcia. Knowing he was in the wrong he tried to hid his face every time I pointed the camera at him.

I left the lot and drove down Pacific street listening to Garcia call for an SA. As I was setting up to get a better shot of him I noticed he was climbing down the BNSF embankment to get to Pacific street. As he was crossing the road I grabbed the shot of him above. When I stopped at Pacific and South 7th, Garcia came up to my Jeep stuck his head into my window and stated "In my mind you are a fucken terrorist and I will report you as one".

Well Garcia you are the terrorist trying to terrorize someone by threatening them.