Charlie Hulme  wrote:

>Tim Rogers wrote:
>
>> 
>> Incidentally, I was there on July 21st taking pictures of the Western. There 
>> were a number of Network Rail staff including one rather 'official' looking 
>> one (he was in a suit!) 
>
>They'd probably gone there to take pictures!
>
>This 'us and them' thing is not what some people might 
>think.
>
>Thousands of railway staff members of all grades, 
>including many that Tim and myself know well, are 
>'enthusiasts', and some of them have (even when wearing 
>uniform) suffered hassle on stations.


At the end of the day, isn't all this just a sad reflection on the
very low calibre of some rail staff?

Putting people of low intelligence and/or the poorly educated into
customer-facing roles almost guarantees problems.  I wonder whether
some of them would be capable of reading the guidelines, let alone
understanding them.  Knowing how to apply them with common sense would
seem to be essential, but that common sense appears sadly lacking.

What doesn't help is that many railway managers (at all levels) simply
do not support the guidelines, and actively don't want enthusiast
photographers on their platforms.

Tony Polson wrote:

> At the end of the day, isn't all this just a sad reflection on the
> very low calibre of some rail staff?

Many of the people concerned are not employed directly 
by the railway companies, of course.

> 
> What doesn't help is that many railway managers (at all levels) simply
> do not support the guidelines, and actively don't want enthusiast
> photographers on their platforms.
> 

That would seem to be the case. Luckily there are many 
others who do welcome friends of the railway. Some of 
the other incidents are down to concern by individuals 
about being photographed. Perhaps it is thought that 
secret agents of the management masquerade as enthusiasts?

Charlie