PATH: Photos Prohibited

I have never, ever been hassled for taking photos on PATH over the last twenty years. They have banned COMMERCIAL photography without a permit.

I ride PATH all the time and I was not aware of any "no photos" policy.  No food or drink signs are everywhere but nothing about photos.  

On another note:  has anyone ever made PATH cars in O Gauge?  I know the blue paint scheme is relatively new as of ~2008 with the newest Kawasaki cars but I don't ever recall ever seeing this line modeled.

Tony

Interesting, Tommy and Tony.  I've been stopped at Newark by a PATH employee saying "no photos." I've been told by others that despite the Harrison platform being a great place to take photos of Amtrak and NJT,  "don't even try there."  Here's what it says in "Safety Rules and Regulations" on the PATH Web site:

"Photographing or taking motion pictures of the PATH system is prohibited unless permission has been obtained."

No word on how to get permission on the web site that I could see.

All, Interesting enough, no photos on PATH is true.  I rode PATH yesterday and the train I got on at Newport to Journal Square had nearly no one on it.  I approached the conductor and asked about this policy.  She confirmed there is a no photos policy on path.  She told me that there are placks at each of the stations but the writing is very small and she didn't know where any of them were.  She also told me it's in the online rules (as Bill confirmed).  Of course I had to ask why and she indicated she really didn't know except that is probably had to do with security.

I've been riding PATH on and off for the past decade, never knew...

And Bill, I hope this doesn't seem like I didn't trust you.  I honestly didn't see your final response until I went to post this.  I asked the question so I figured I would post the conductor's response.  

Tony

Not very photogenic so why even bother ??

jim pastorius posted:

Not very photogenic so why even bother ??

LOL, true.  But it's still on rails...

When I am out taking photos and the NY and NJ trash trains come through I really don't get very excited, just let them go by.

Probably over a concern of terrorism?

Someday google "Russian maps" or maybe "Russian maps USA". The Russians have, for years, been making detailed maps of the USA, including the dimensions down to the nearest centimeter of mundane buildings like a post office. Bridges, railroads, airports, you name it, all detailed, and better than US maps too. The real question is how did they get dimensions down to a centimeter? Where they using surveying tools? Infiltrated everything?

Here's one article I found, but I *think* I originally heard of this on the website Ars Technica.

https://www.wired.com/2015/07/secret-cold-war-maps/

The Port Authority photo policy is indeed directly related to security concerns. PATH's Harrison station used to be a favorite photo location of mine back in the day before such problems existed. Here's one of my shots taken from the platform at Harrison showing the 4877 within weeks of being unveiled in PRR livery with an eastbound train from the North Jersey Coast Line in June of 1981.

Bob 

Tony_V posted:

 Of course I had to ask why and she indicated she really didn't know except that is probably had to do with security.

DON"T BLAME THE CONDUCTOR!
The real reason she didn't know was more likely the company didn't tell her, or, her supervisor can't tell her because he doesn't know the answer either because he hasn't been told by his supervisor because he doesn't know the answer either... Simple as that.
There were several questions about rules that I had when employed by NS that my supervisors couldn't answer because they didn't know...

There could be some other safety concerns.  Somebody taking pictures could hold up the flow of train passengers.  Liability issues with the above.

However, one can take pics of good quality with a smart phone.  Ban all cell users?  Somebody could have a micro camera on their person.

But a constitutional issue:  PATH is not a private company.  It is an agency which is part of two states........Website should give info where one gets a photo permit, and rules thereof.

Get a good telephoto lens, stand off from their property and take photos just to irritate them.  They would hassle you anyhow=because that is what they do.  A rail fan magazine editor got hassled in that area and he took them to court and won.  Like PATH is vital to national security ??