OMAHA, Neb. — After nearly a month, Union Pacific officials still decline to comment on two viral videos posted online this fall depicting scandalous behavior on the railroad’s rights-of-way. Both have raised concerns about copycat behavior.
The first video, dubbed “Flight of the Year,” depicts a drone flying around a Union Pacific freight train in Nevada and has been viewed more than 1.3 million times on YouTube. In the video, the drone flies into an open boxcar, zips through a truss bridge and even under a moving freight car.
Federal Aviation Administration representatives tell Trains News Wire that if the pilot were a hobbyist (instead of a licensed, regulated, pilot), that person would still have to follow local community safety standards such as ones spelled out by the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
“(The rules state), ‘All pilots shall avoid flying directly over unprotected people, vessels, vehicles or structures and shall avoid endangerment of life and property of others,'” says FAA representative Les Dorr. “A train would qualify as a ‘vehicle.'”
Dorr also cites UP’s drone policy which requires prior written permission from the railroad before a pilot may takeoff, land on, or fly over UP property.
In the second video posted in September, a group of graffiti artists repainted a stored UP locomotive to look like a growling tiger. The video on the Vimeo platform and dubbed “Rail Beast,” shows the artists working through the night slowly but surely covering the entire locomotive with paint. UP eventually had the locomotive moved from the storage line and painted in primer.
UP declined to comment on either video despite multiple requests from Trains News Wire.
However, officials from Operation Lifesaver worry that videos like the ones that gained traction online will only encourage others to trespass on railroad property.
“Railroad trespassing laws are in place to protect the private property of rail companies and keep citizens safe,” Bonnie Murphy, OLI President and CEO, tells Trains. “The two videos are examples of illegal trespassing on railroad property, whether via drone or for vandalism. They set a bad example, and seem intended to spur copycat efforts by other thrill-seekers.”
— R.G. Edmonson contributed to this report.
Rail Beast from Indecline on Vimeo.
my Facebook group got permission from Jim Lance and Travis Campbell of UP and OLI before we launched our camera drones to film #844 and they told the pilots to keep their distance from the train. these videos are not problems because they asked permission. The ones UP and OLI don’t want is where Camera Drones do dangerous stunts or acts of vandalism are done. UP is still looking for Indecline and has a $300 bounty on their heads they will be caught and their video taken down. OLI, UP, or the Facebook Railfans do not support vandalism, trespassing, or acts of theft. If you see any of this call your local law enforcement or Union Pacific and give them the information they need to catch these guys.
Once again, a blatant exhibition of trespassing on UP property. Destruction of equipment with obvious cost of repair by UP Railroad to restore the unit to service. A little jail time might wipe the smiles off the faces of the offenders. Acts like this affect profits by the railroad and stock holders alike. Obviously, these clowns don’t have enough to do with their time. Get a real job and you won’t go around destroying other peoples property.
Yeah, art is in the eye of the beholder; but trespassing is in the eye of the railroad. UP has more than ample evidence to charge the drone pilot. If you’re gonna be bad ass, you gotta do it quickly. Looks like they’ve missed their mark at this point.
Perhaps Mr. Lester would like a bunch of taggers to apply their skills to his home or car, or have a drone hovering outside his bedroom window…
What a bunch of elderly complainers.
I consider drones high tech junk just like all the crap we have flying in outer space already that can fall on the planet and kill man* or beast alike anytime day or night 24/7.
*Does my mean old mother-in-law count?
Drone “pilots” are alredy violating airspace near airports in Germany and Canada. How about the Good Old US of A? When you loose a loved one due to a drone flown by some nut will you change your mind about them? I have no problem with them in the hands of the military, police or industry, but in private hands….NO WAY!
The conductor sure did slam the side window shut pretty fast once he figured it out.
Not to worry, thanks to a handful of bad actor ‘pilots’ out there, rules will become thicker and thicker until there is little enjoyment left or the devices become so neutered by limiting technology that they will stop selling.
Most people seem to be more upset about the “graffiti” than the drone. Obviously, art is in the eye of the beholder. In my eyes, much of Picasso’s work is no better than graffiti. If caught, the main penalty for the tiger artists should be to pay for the damages. As for the drone, as I said earlier, this drone pilot is among the best. UP would do well to find him and hire him to help design a system for track and car inspection. Practically speaking, UP cannot control the airspace above and around their tracks. Should airlines and private pilots be charged for crossing railroad rights of way? What about low flying aircraft inspecting power lines and pipelines? Let’s move into the 21st century and stop thinking government laws and regulations will save us.
Put a tiger in your tank? When you discover that your Corvett has been tagged will you consider it COOL?
A million dollar fine followed by a 99 year life sentence behind bars might help curb this disgusting crap. Railfans still get razzed when they photograph trains off of railroad property while these dirty no good low life degnerate excuses to the human race can trespass as they please? Give me a break boys. Too much is too much.
Ditto with the unlawful use of drones. Funny that Kalmbach of all printing houses publishes a magazine devoted to this flying junk.
I like the Tiger, but disagree with it being called “art”. UP should first go after Youtube and the people that posted the video online. Put enough pressure there, and they’ll give up the ones who gave theme the video to post.
Agree it’s vandalism and they should be held accountable. Yet the end result was sort of neat compared to most of the vandalism you see on railroad property and equipment. Still doesn’t make it right though.
Graffiti is vandalizing private property and should be prosecuted, although I agree it is so prevalent now it would be hard to do and expensive.
It could be the UP will not comment on this because they wish not to glorify the perpetrator with free publicity.
I don’t understand why this was not reported by train crews passing the site. I hope they catch the guys and throw them in jail.
I agree with Mr. Benson. When these graffiti people place their “art” on concrete walls that some cities have made available for that purpose then it might be called art but when they are vandalizing private property then they are criminals and should be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. There seems to be a member, or members, of the Trains staff that thinks this graffiti is art. It should be made quite clear that this criminal behavior is not art but rather vandalism.
I disagree with the word “artist” being used to describe these law breaking vandals. That makes them sound like they deserve to be in the same league as Van Gogh, Monet, or Picasso. They should be caught and punished for being the criminals that they are.
Good job Steve Sweeney for pointing this out
“Flying junk”??? Anything ever created by a human has been used for less than honorable activities, but I think to call the entire drone thing “junk” is a little narrow minded. The possibilities with drones is enormous, and the pilot here, albeit illegally, has given us just a taste of what they can do.
And as for “towers in the desert” lost to corporate greed… Maybe they should hire drone pilots to watch over stored loco’s…
“After nearly a month, Union Pacific officials still decline to comment on two viral videos posted online this fall depicting scandalous behavior on the railroad’s rights-of-way.”
No Surprise…..UP officials still decline to comment after two decades on “scandalous behavior” which has rendered every boxcar covered in graffiti and trespassing a joke.
Gosh, remember when railroads had tower operators out in the middle of the desert to keep an eye on things?
Gosh, remember when railroads had yards under direct supervision to store laid-up power in instead of out in the middle of nowhere?
Remember how all those eyes in the field went bye-bye just to feed the necessary funds into the investor welfare check-cashing scheme of things in this era of our extremely bubbled 22K Dow?
Gripe in hollow protest all you want about the miscreants, but its probably the new self-inflicted norm. It is the artistic voice of the “left-behinds” in this era of rigged business outcomes in order to keep paying proceeds to the few who get paid sitting on their asses.