开云体育

Why not belive him?

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I did photography professionally / as a business for most of my life.? (Retired now.)? My university degree is in journalism.? (Yes, there were times in my life where my primary income was from other work, but I always did some freelance journalism and photography during that time.)

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I made a decision early on that the most important thing I could develop with the contacts I had in the railroad industry was trust.? I was able to access many railroad facilities in the U.S. and Europe and spent many hours riding on locomotives -- always with permission.? I learned a lot about railroads and, as far as I know, there were never any complaints about my behavior on railroad property.

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I put a great value on my reputation as someone who could be trusted not to cause problems -- and in many cases, the railroads returned that trust.? It's not that I never wrote anything critical of railroads, but that was separate from my dealings with those who provided me access.? (I particularly made sure that I would not distract operating crews or interfere with operations.)

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I could write an entire essay on the issue of developing trust with the people that I dealt with and give dozens of examples of how that trust worked out.? I even had cases where railroad special agents (whom I got to know through my involvement with Operation Lifesaver) went out of their way to help me out on projects.

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I do not recall any instance where trespassing would have gotten me a photo that I could not have made without doing so.

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-- Ernest

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Ernest H. Robl -- Durham, NC, USA -- Photojournalism; writing, books.

Covering travel & transportation for 45+ years. Now mostly retired!