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Re: Derailment at West Colton on thee UPRR
Author: BNSF6400
Date: 09-10-2017 - 15:00
I was with the fan that was shooting those pictures, in fact I was the one driving and the one that had the conversation with the UP official. Yes, he was being a bully. There was no "safe zone", plenty of people were as close or closer than we were to the derailment. There was absolutely no police presence (there was earlier) and many contractor employees were working nearby.
If there was such a hazmat response, none of us, including the UP official, would have been there. You don't shoo people away from a safe-zone while your inside of it.
The story goes like this. The bridge was open, no signs nor any police/fire indicating the road was closed. There was a white SUV parked on the shoulder facing the wrong way with its hazards on. This SUV had no marking at all, nor did it have the appearance of a unmarked police vehicle. An older male wearing a green vest had the driver and rear door open. He was sitting on the curb leaning back against the vehicle with the driver door to lean against. He appeared to be just watching. At this point, I could not tell if he was a railroad employee or some railfan.
I turned around and parked about 30 feet away with our two vehicles facing each other. Because his door was open, he couldn't see me and I could see him. We were their for maybe 4-5 minutes taking photos from inside my vehicle before he noticed us. He was weared a very dirty UP "Courage To Care" green vest, a baseball cap and regular "railroad" work clothing. He had an ID Badge hanging from his vest but what ever was holding that badge had black marker covering much of it. It appeared he didn't want anybody to know his name or title.
As he approached me vehicle, another vehicle just like his pulled along side me. The driver of this vehicle said something to this UP official who then approached my window. He simply said "You need to leave". I replied OK and had every intention of leaving. But it was standing right next to my vehicle or I paused, expecting him to step back. He then said in the most sour way possible "THEN LEAVE!". So I did.
At that point I had every legal right to be on that bridge. There was no containment area, the road was still open to anybody to drive by. This individual did not look nor talk like police/security, never identified himself nor stated any danger. But, while I had the legal right to be there, I didn't feel the need to press the issue since I got what I came for, photos of the derailment.
If there was such a hazmat response, none of us, including the UP official, would have been there. You don't shoo people away from a safe-zone while your inside of it.
The story goes like this. The bridge was open, no signs nor any police/fire indicating the road was closed. There was a white SUV parked on the shoulder facing the wrong way with its hazards on. This SUV had no marking at all, nor did it have the appearance of a unmarked police vehicle. An older male wearing a green vest had the driver and rear door open. He was sitting on the curb leaning back against the vehicle with the driver door to lean against. He appeared to be just watching. At this point, I could not tell if he was a railroad employee or some railfan.
I turned around and parked about 30 feet away with our two vehicles facing each other. Because his door was open, he couldn't see me and I could see him. We were their for maybe 4-5 minutes taking photos from inside my vehicle before he noticed us. He was weared a very dirty UP "Courage To Care" green vest, a baseball cap and regular "railroad" work clothing. He had an ID Badge hanging from his vest but what ever was holding that badge had black marker covering much of it. It appeared he didn't want anybody to know his name or title.
As he approached me vehicle, another vehicle just like his pulled along side me. The driver of this vehicle said something to this UP official who then approached my window. He simply said "You need to leave". I replied OK and had every intention of leaving. But it was standing right next to my vehicle or I paused, expecting him to step back. He then said in the most sour way possible "THEN LEAVE!". So I did.
At that point I had every legal right to be on that bridge. There was no containment area, the road was still open to anybody to drive by. This individual did not look nor talk like police/security, never identified himself nor stated any danger. But, while I had the legal right to be there, I didn't feel the need to press the issue since I got what I came for, photos of the derailment.
