The title told me not to read this thread, but....

Did you get on the "paid charter" train, that you didn't pay for, and ride for free?

Did you trespass on private property, to photograph in a restricted space, without paying?

Did you steal someone else's intellectual property by copying or using photographs shot by someone who did pay to ride and photograph the paid charter train?

If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, all of those are theft. As in, "thou shall not steal". And, the folks running that charter would be within their rights to have you arrested for trespass and/or theft.

Or, if you are using someone's work without credit or payment, then it's, "thou shall not bear false witness (lie... in this case to "steal" the credit for someone else's work), which is then, two commandments that you've violated. And, possibly a few other civil crimes, like copyright violation (I've always loved the history of Hogarth's law, and how it made our intellectual creations and inventions "our" private "property", and protected them...)

But, if the choo-choo, any choo-choo, even a "paid charter" choo-choo, comes down the choo-choo tracks, in the open, in public view, in the public space, how exactly is that any different than any other choo-choo you are perfectly free to legally photograph in America?

Now, if no one pays, then, it's not going to happen... And then, there will be no moral dilemma. So, maybe if you want these things to enjoy, then, maybe you do also have a moral obligation to help, and even to pay, if you are able to.

It is an interesting thread, when one realizes that there are actually folks who don't seem to quite get how some of this basic sort of stuff works...

I learned this, as a child in the first grade, in both the LDS primary I went to after school once a week, because I had a Mormon babysitter after school, and from the nuns at the Saturday confirmation classes: Just ask yourself one thing, will my behavior violate the "big ten"? Those rules don't just protect us from others, they can even protect us from ourselves...

And, my dad taught me, at about the same age, that if you want anything out of life, you have to work for it to make it happen, and that includes paying your dues...

I mean, it ain't that hard to understand, is it?

I need a second drink this morning....