Mid Hants and lovely winter light!

If it is the one to the west of Northside Lane, then it is a green dashed line on the 1:25000 OS Map and is therefore a Public Right of Way. There it is perfectly legal to remain on the other side of the fence (however close that gets to the rails).

Regards,

Dan[/quote:bp7z7n0a]

Yes spot on Dan that's the location and that is why the powers that be can't stop anyone from photting there and it is NOT tresspassing. At the end of the day this is the only part of the lineside I do actually go on as I know it's legal. As much as I'd love to get other lineside shots such as Chawton Woods I don't go there because that is illegal but how I wish I could get thoses cracking shots like Matt Allen and others get and that is the frustration.

 

My self and two other volunteers cut this section of line side down two years ago and were thinking about going back there next month. But with everyone getting very heated about this part of the line side. We are now thinking about leaving it and letting it go back to a sea of trees again. It doesn’t take to long before it will become so over grown that you wont be able to get a photo from that part of the railway. Then that will be the end of that and no one will get an Ace photo any more.

 

The cutting back of vegetation from the lineside has two advantages. It obviously helps us with our photography but more importantly gives the train passengers a much better view of the wonderful countryside along the route. The results of all the hard work from the volunteers is a credit to you. This not only applies to the Mid-Hants Railway but to others such as the West Somerset. I thank you. <BJ>

 

Lets not get away from the reason why the MHR banned lineside photography...safety.

Anyone lineside needs to have a PTS to ensure they are safe, you will only get a PTS if you have a valid reason. Putting 100's of lineside photters through a PTS simply wouldn't be worth their time...remember their priority is to run a railway.

PTS's are not issued to friends of directors or the "elite", they are issued to people who need them. I supply the railway with lots of pics for their website and MH News that is the SOLE reason I was granted access to a PTS course. I've been on the otherside of the ban and understand how frustrating it can be, but that's life. I'd love a Ferrari but can't afford one...

The MHR are not the only railway who don't allow lineside access (what about Swanage?) and they have made this decision because of the bad behavour of the minority. If you want to blame anyone then find the people who messed it up for everyone else.

I think this is a good lesson for anyone who has lineside passes for other lines, we have a huge responsibility to behave appropriately.

This is my interpretation of the state of play, I'm not making these statements in any official capacity.

 

Yet again I find a pathetic argument on this forum which would be better consigned to the school playground. It takes me back to the taunt " My Dad is better than your Dad " which I remember form Infants school days. How would some of you nanny state products cope with miles and miles of unfenced railroads in the USA?

 

Here, Here Chessie. I felt for what happened to you on that RAT! And like all enginemen this isn't something that anyone wants to be dealing with!!

 

All it will take is a series of deaths on the national network (or heritage) for this behaviour to be reconsidered by those who choose to avoid safety guidelines.

Perhaps attitudes will change then.

 

They need to otherwise it will be spoilt for all!

 

I'm sure if the current levels of trespass on the mainline are maintained then Network Rail will notice and the 'Scarecrow Squad' and local MOMS will be deployed to deal with them.

Normally the Scarecrow's chase criminals, graffiti artists, local scum etc off the railway. I wouldn't like to put railway enthusiasts in that category but if they keep the levels of trespass up then it will be noticed.

 

When I did have a MHR lineside permit, you were also issued with a map of the line with certain sections shaded such as cuttings. These were "no go areas" and I could see why this was so. Compared with the Bluebell, which was built as a double-track formation throuighout (even if only one track was ever laid south of Horsted Keynes) clearances on the Mid Hants are tight. I would not have wanted to have tried taking pictures in, for example,the cutting on the Eastern side of the summit near Medstead or in Sun Lane Cutting near Alresford whether I had been allowed to or not. The sides of these cuttings are also very steep compared, say with the cutting on the Bluebell near Three Arch Bridge. I don't blame the MHR for wanting to keep people away form these areas at all times. Such a shame that a minority chose to ignore these commonsense rules. Even with the exclusion of the shaded areas, there was plenty of scope for good photography.

However, for all the frustration expressed by a number of us, at the end of the day, it's up to the MHR to dictate policy and safety must be paramount. Chessie's comments about a fatality are particularly pertinent in this regard.

Having said this, I've kept my MHR map complete with shadings in the hope that one day in the future perhaps..........

Anyway, on a differnt subject, the 2009 MHR loco roster has just been posted on the website. "Bittern" is going to be in use over the next few weekends. Which way does it currently face, please? I would love to take a LEGAL picture of this machine in action, especially if we get some more "Lovely winter light" in the coming weeks.

 

Anyway, on a differnt subject, the 2009 MHR loco roster has just been posted on the website. "Bittern" is going to be in use over the next few weekends. Which way does it currently face, please? I would love to take a LEGAL picture of this machine in action, especially if we get some more "Lovely winter light" in the coming weeks.

I think it faces Alresford.

 

Quite right. On Boxing Day 60019 was facing Alresford in the yard at Ropley.

 

Good point. The UK is just about the only country where this debate could take place. Almost every other railway system in the world is unfenced. Can't wait to go abroad again where you can phot almost anywhere within reason.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Also please note that on the MHR shed page it says: Updated 5th Jan; A4 may change for Nelson if/when it turns up.

I like the way it says if/when it turns up.

It's nice to see 60019 getting a bit more use on the MHR this year. There can't be much ML work lined up for her.

 

Totally agree with Spamcan. I have been sat on the sidelines watching this debate and it makes me laugh why people can not be trusted on a 25mph branchline in the UK yet in Germany international mainlines are unfenced. Go to the Harz and you can walk around a shed with seven engines in steam and all you get is a cheery hello from the paid staff. Most German mainline depots let you walk round with permission. I am less well travelled in other European countries but have had few problems. One thing is for sure you certainly can not blame the EU.

Overall is trespass such a big issue in the UK with enthusiasts? I very rarely see photographers trespassing on the mainline (and I do a lot of photography). Last example was at Gatcombe a couple of years ago when someone turned up in a railway industry van and stood wrongside with no vest etc. Used a hand held video so probably fiitted in with the more commom trespassers - 'normals' who have come out to a steam train.

Also out of interest how many on this formum telling us what a problem it is have never bunked a shed?

PS Thanks for the gen about Bittern - looking at the forecast I was tempted by the mid-Hants this weekend but will now wait for a Southern engine!

 

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/5741731/Dre ... 009_Teil_2

There is enough on this video to scare many of the ''nanny staters'' half to death. Steam in the Black Forest last weekend being enjoyed by Germans and Swiss among others. No fences, windows people can lean out of, cheery bar cars, steam heat, historic coaches, free lineside access, three steam engines on one train - all on an electrified mainline in a country that is ahead of us in almost every measure! Where did we go so wrong?????

 

I was in the Canadian Rockies in June and wanted to film the various main line freight trains that pass through. I asked an official at Banff station if I was allowed to film lineside away from the town. He told me that there was a superb location about a mile from the station and to follow the pathway next to the railway that the locals use . I must have appeared surprised. He just smiled and said ''When you hear a train approaching, just make sure that you don't frighten the driver''. In other words, just use your common sense. There was not a boundary fence to be seen. <BJ>

 

Thanks for the link. The other clips from the event are worth watching too. Some nice bellowing and flailing from our Germanic cousins I see. :-k
What disappoints me on this thread is the "if I see you on the lineside I'll do so and so" attitude displayed by some. Why all the aggression?

 

Presumably because they are only following the rules and regulations that their particular railways wants to enforce. Some railways are more stringent than other about enforcing trespass rules.

I don't think this is any preserved railway's fault in their attitude towards trespass (note the use of this word). This is a generational thing that has been in force for years and years, back since the days when railways were created the responsibility to maintain lineside access was placed on the shoulders of railway companies. Perhaps today's more stringent H&S rules mean that people are over-zealous in enforcing these rules.

At Aviemore when people turn up to the shed to ask for a look around, they are not allowed in unaccompanied because we are told that it is unsafe. That is not the Strathspey Railway's decision; it has been made for us. When I have been on duty and have time (ie not on an engine) I'll show them around because I like people to see what we do and what we have instore.

Horses for courses I suppose.