[Foreword]  [The official version]   [Psst..but there is another option!]   [Recommended Equipment]  [Going about it: the ground rules]   [Dos and Don'ts]   [Tips and Tricks]

GOING ABOUT IT: THE GROUND RULES:

The question you are most likely to be asked when you say you want to photograph a locomotive is: WHY? Why do you want to photograph that, thats only an engine? What will you gain out of photographing that? I can probably answer that question to a fellow railfan, but definitely not to an official or railway cop breathing down your neck!   He can't for the life of him figure out what on earth crazy mortals are doing photographing all over the place, that too mundane objects like locomotives, wagons etc. I have been asked this question scores of times since I started railfanning (1979) and photographing trains (1981), but still haven't been able to think of answer convincing enough for the officials! I have managed to wriggle out though by pretending to be someone else, or someone simply testing his camera: it was malfunctioning yesterday, or the flash does not fire etc. (it doesn't always work, though).

General Observations:

1. First, attitude. Locomotive drivers, guards, station masters and junior shed staff are generally quite warm and accommodating, and will usually allow you to snoop around. They will however tell you very firmly that you are welcome to look around, but DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH ANYTHING! Locomotive drivers will usually allow you to strike up a conversation with them, and some (though not all) will even allow you to climb on board, and even take pictures. However, getting a footplate ride is a hit and miss affair, as it is against the regs, and most will refuse. Do not be pushy here, for the poor chap is only abiding by the rules: he can get into serious trouble if caught. And you as a delighted railfan are bound to stand out, like a rake sticking out of a haystack, so there is no escape or BS-ing his way out for the poor kind soul.

Shed foremen and senior officials on the other hand may prefer to play by the book and will eye you or receive you with some suspicion. If you ask them for permission to photograph, the 'why' question will be thrown at you, after which the invariable refusal will come out. A handful of officials tend to take the typical bureaucratic attitude: OK, do what you like, but if you are caught, don't take my name, or tell them I allowed you.  (I tried to use this on another official in another place but was shoo-ed off pronto!)  In Daund, in 1980, the steam shed foreman branded me a lunatic when he saw me snooping around, and was pretty hostile when I finally approached him. Fortunately for me, he left for lunch after that, after which a sympathetic junior official actually took me around the shed, allowed me to photograph freely, and even put me onto a friendly shunting driver for a footplate ride around Daund yard. The fireman opened up, and even created excess steam pressure for the safety valve to open, all at my request. We taped the journey on audio, and took quite few pics with our trusty plastic lens toy Bunny camera: an agriculturally simple and primitive 120 film beast.

Drivers and junior shed staff are probably the friendliest folks on the Indian Railways.

Follow a friendly and human approach and you will be surprised at what you will receive in return. Do not try and demand anything as a matter of right, and whatever you do, do not argue if refused or questioned.

You will also observe that people at all levels of the heirarchy are more friendly and accommodating in the smaller stations and locations. You can actually have long and absorbing converstions with them and with any luck, you can even coax them into allowing you to take pictures in their territory. I have photographed extensively in Madurai yard in 1992 (took thirteen shots of that YG alone, inside and out), not bothering to even pocket my camera after each shot. And I was using a zoom-less Olympus AF10, one of my favorite cameras, which is now sadly defunct and thrown away. I had to approach pertty close, and even climbed on board the loco, camera in one hand. A friendly approach was all that was required, and the staff later even posed for a group photograph. I was told they get several foreign visitors every other day. The driver had the fireman rake up the fire, and I had him switch on the headlight for me.

However, all the above will only apply if you are going to actually approach anyone with a request to photograph. (Attack is the best form of defense, so you should probably follow the approach technique if you are stared at or if someone you suspect could make trouble for you is approaching you.) Or if you are wandering off on your own into the railway yards. Which is not recommended in any case. But if you do wander into a shed or yard, try and look for someone to strike up a conversation with, at least to say hello. It can save you a lot of embarassment afterwards. I was once hauled up by a junior and taken to his supervisor, who simply said (rather cool-ly): 'I saw you snooping around, and wondered what you were up to, but since you didn't approach anyone, thought you knew your way around here! Thank your stars it was my staff who found you wandering around, and not a railway cop!' Fortunately, I did not have my camera with me, or else this episode would have taken a different turn altogether. Still, it did make me feel rather small, for in the arrogance of my youth, I had tresspassed. I have never repeated that mistake again. Also, all this is assuming that you have not applied for a formal permit months in advance.

Note that the larger your camera, the more the chances of your getting into trouble or being refused. Keep your camera safely in your pocket when not in use.

Folks whom you approach will invariably ask you to send them a copy of the photographs you have shot with them. They have a right to ask, as they have been nice to you and have entertained you. Its entirely up to you. I generally avoid sending copies of my pictures to any staff: not because I cannot afford it, but because I do not want that poor chap to get into trouble should his foreman or supervisor catch hold of those photographs.

Hazards:

Secondly, hazards. Now I am not even going to mention the general hazards here: these are universal for any railway in any country. I will briefly touch upon them in the 'dos and don'ts' section. Instead, I will deal with hazards of the human variety.

• Urchins and beggars: Urchins and other loafing folks are irritants, but not hazards per se. Usually, you can simply shoo them off, or yell at them. They will follow you at a respectable distance, but save for an occasional catcall, or urging you to photograph them, they will not harm you. But they will draw attention towards you, which is a severe impediment to informal railway photography. Of course, here is another place where an instantly pocketable compact helps. Without a camera in your hand, you are just another figure on the platform. Beggars are a pest. Urchins and beggars are however found at larger stations, and are more persistent and pushy only in certain regions. They can be irritatingly pushy at the touristy places. At any rate, they are as much part of the Indian countryside as paddy fields and bullock carts, so you will have to endure them. Nonetheless, its amazing how many shots you can still take with your zoom compact even under these situations.

• The cops: As long you do not make a nuisance of yourself, or take too many pics at one spot, (cops at times actually tolerate a couple of shots), cops will generally simply ask you why you are taking pictures, and urge you on with a friendly warning that its agains the rules. In the North however, cops are made of sterner stuff, and might even bark at you, question you and threaten to, or even actually expose your film roll. In the Northern parts of India, especially at Delhi and upwards, railroad photography at large stations is probably best avoided. This is not a demographic problem: it is because of the ongoing terrorist nuisance in some of the Northern states, with occasional bomb attacks in the city of Delhi itself. Patrolling in intense, there is a heavy police or military presence in some of these places. Railfans scurrying around with cameras are a damned nuisance, the last things the heavily armed cops want to be bothered with. Here is a genuine and more serious terrorist problem on hand, a security hazard, and the police are trained to combat these misguided zealots. Those boys play rough. Forget it, unless you enjoy  being arrested.

• The Railway Protection Force, or RPF: One reason why the cops won't generally bother you is that unless there is a crime on railway premises, railwayland is actually the territory of the Railway Police Force, or RPF. You can easily spot the RPF  prowling around, all over railway territory, clad in khaki, sporting a beret (cap) and carrying a stick. The metal badge RPF is to be found on the beret.

RPF constables lead a tough life, dealing all the time with thieves, tresspassers, suspicious elements, wagon breakers (people who rob things off wagons at night) and suicide cases. Yes, you will be amazed at the number of people who use the railway to kiss their lives goodbye. The RPF folks are omnipresent in large shunting yards, often walking several miles within yard limits, day and night, patrolling. They rest by cowering in waist level corrugated steel bunkers amidst all the yard activities. Their seat is a stone slab resting on a few bricks, or a hard wooden bench at best.

They are generally tired, overworked souls, and are quite intolerant of any tresspassers on railway territory, including railfans, for if they get run over, its the RPF chaps who will be held responsible, as to why they did not prevent the tresspasser from wandering onto railway territory. They are therefore very bitter individuals, and very difficult to deal with.  Dealing with the type of folks that they do, they are also quite curt and emphatic in their dealings. Of course, the public in several places freely use railway yards as  public passage, as a shortcut to their shanty homes, so the number of tresspassers is considerable at large stations anway. While dealing with such people is difficult enough, they can well do without the newcomers on the line, the railfans. To the end of protecting the railway and its property, the RPF does a pretty good job, and deserves to be applauded for it.

On the other hand, the RPF constables are the railfan's worst enemy. Most of them are absobutely stone headed and will see only one way: theirs. There is no arguing with them, and some of them will question you quite intensely. Their favorite questions are: why have you come here, and why do you want to photographs all this, and what will you get out of this: these are only some wagons.  One enterprising RPF chap even advised me that to take pictures, I ought to go into town, where there are a lot more important and interesting sights. Hence, keep a sharp lookout for any khaki clad RPF constable before you pull out that camera, and if you do see them, AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE. I have been questioned innumerable number of times, accused twice of attempting suicide, been sized down considerably, warned once or twice not to show my face there ever again, and have even been shoo-ed off railway premises at least once. My friend was OK the first day, (call it beginner's luck: it was his first time), but was yelled at and questioned the second day.

In yards,its at times very very difficult to spot the RPF constables until you are almost on top of them, if they are sitting in their waist level bunkers, which themselves are difficult to spot, as the asbestos sheets are often colored the same shade as the railway rolling stock around them. The khaki apparel of these chaps does not help either.   On the other hand, some will spot you a good distance away, especially if you are both walking along from different ends of the same train: They will eye you with suspicion from the moment they set their eyes on you. You'd better pretend to be looking for an exit, or a place to pee, or for such and such a train as someone had told you that you stand a much better chance of getting a seat if you got in at the yard iteself. (people do that in the most heavily subscribed trains). As a foreigner, you can even feign innocence: someone told me there is a shortcut into town from here etc.

Don't turn tail and run, or try and dodge them, as this turns them on even more. And whatever you don, DO NOT ARGUE with them. If you run, rest assured that you will be chased, at times dramatically, with blowing of the whistle and throwing of their stick at you. To them, thats proof enough that you are a criminal, up to no good. Its a sensible plan to keep a straight face and meet them head on, if the situation seems totally hopeless. Some move in pairs, that makes it even more difficult. Also remember, no railfan ever won an argument with a RPF cop, (stoneheads, remember?) and the degree of their hostility towards railfans remains at the same level wherever you find them, in the yard, around loco sheds, or even on the station platforms themselves.

Make sure there is no one is khaki within miles of you before you attempt to shoot trains. Of course, exceptions are always there, and I have heard of some irfca members who have actually befriended those boys, and have actually shot pictures in front of them. Here too, you could try a humane approach. Push your luck if you must, and though a lucky one or two have succeeded, I have personally met with no success since 1981. (Its 2001 now).

Officials:  Senior railroad officials are bureaucrats to the core. You will generally not encounter them unless you have wandered into a yard, or some pesky junior official or busybody has hauled you up in front of them in their offices. Senior officials usually do not have the time for you, and will ask you why you are wasting your time, this is not the way things are done in this country, here we have rules, and then walk off with the air of a king. They will curtly order you away and with a warning that you could get into trouble if you linger on. Some may even ask the deputy to show you the way out. 

Junior officials are generally OK, though some will warn you that if their senior catches you, there could be trouble. A couple of those 'good lord, our boss will skin us if he finds out'  types will actually scurry off to find their superior, if you persist on carrying on, turning a deaf ear to them. This happened to a fellow irfca member (I was with him) in July 2000 at the Bombay Port Turst Railway, when the member (who was shooting away)  insisted on turning a deaf ear to the juniors' pleas. A lot of explaining had to be done to the senior, and some of the juniors tried to strike up private conversations with me: who are you both actually, and why is your friend shooting all these condemned wagons etc. I had my camera SAFELY IN MY POCKET, thank goodness, though admittedly, I had actually shot more pictures than my friend! I had shot from a distance thanks to my zoom, while my friend was moving in close all the time, as his camera was without zoom.

• Busybodies: Occasionally, you will encounter some junior officials who are busybodies. These folks are generally a damned nuisance, and their insolence only enrages you. These are junior railwaymen who probably feel the Indian Railways will close down but for them. They seem to have taken upon themselves the onerous task of protecting the railways and ensuring its security. They will generally initially ask a lot of questions, then settle down to giving you a lecture on the evils of this, you as an educated person should know better, even now he can go to his supervisor and make problems, but you are educated and will understand. Those words: 'educated and will understand (or should know better) could mean two things: either that bloke has his head screwed on too tight, or he is pitching for a bribe. Its really difficult to figure out whether this soul is of a Sermon on the Mount variety, or an Illegal Gratification varitey: you will have to exercise your judgement. At times, if you are damned unlucky, an offer of a bribe will only bring forth a longer sermon on breaking rules and trying to get away with it. In that case, merely shut off your brain till the chap lays off, let him say his piece, then go on shooting anyway. Or you can try again later. At times you can even shoo him away. If he is of a bribe seeking variety, get your money's worth by making him show you some vantage points and interesting things to photograph. Fortunately, such unique zoological specimens are usually rare.

• Ticket checking staff: You don't generally have to bother about the ticket checking staff when you are on a photographing mission: most will give you a look ranging between sheer amusement and total disbelief. A couple of bold ones, especially if they are in a group, might approach you and ask to see your platform ticket. Simply show it to them (yes, you should get a platform ticket before you enter the station: that at least buys you two hours of freedom to roam the platforms) (two hours because thats how long the platform ticket is valid), and they will leave you alone. A couple may ask you with some amusement as to what you are doing, but thats about it. But make sure you roam a bit, move on, and mingle with the crowds as well, for someone (read official or RPF constable) might spot you hanging around for too long in one place, that too with a camera, and then get interested in your activities.

• Miscellaneous and blue collar staff: You don't usually have to bother with these, as these are the friendliest folks on the railway. These include catering staff, hostesses, coach attendants, pointsmen, the shunting master (who actually couples the cars together), trolley pusher, porter, bearer and the like. These folks are more than delighted to have their pictures taken as well,  and will happily pose if requested. A pointsman or shunting master posing next to a locomotive makes a delightful sight. During a journey, the coach attendant will at the most urge you to get back to your seat if you stand by the door when the train has picked up speed, or may request you not to open the airconditoned car's dividing door ever so often. Thats perfectly normal, is for your own safety, and is hardly an impediment to photography. Some may even give you valuable tips on what to photograph and where, as long as you patiently explain to them as to what you want to capture on film, precisely.

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[Foreword]  [The official version]   [Psst..but there is another option!]   [Recommended Equipment]  [Going about it: the ground rules]   [Dos and Don'ts]   [Tips and Tricks]