Random Ramblings -- Thanks, Cranky!

MBTA; Suffolk Downs, Boston, Mass.; January 25, 2009

First off, I can't believe this was almost four years ago. Mike Burkhart and I were in Boston to shoot streetcars and subways, and on January 25, 2009, we found our way on the Blue Line, the subway line operated by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that runs from downtown out to Logan Airport and continues northeast into the suburbs beyond Revere Beach (despite being known as a "subway," a large portion of the line is above ground and actually runs on a former railroad right-of-way). The MBTA had a policy for many years that you needed to have a permit for photography, but under pressure from the ACLU and others in the post-9/11 world, that policy had been rescinded and the published photo policy now allows for noncommercial property without a permit. We had encountered a couple of employees during the weekend asking if we had a permit, but when we told them the permit policy had been abolished they left us alone.

We found our way onto the platform at Suffolk Downs on the Blue Line where we were set up for a shot of an inbound train. An outbound train pulled up on the platform next to us, putting the operator's window right next to us. Immediately the operator started giving us a load of bull about permits and how what we were doing was illegal. We weren't backing down or moving, however, since the inbound car was on its way. He had a schedule to maintain so he gave up his yapping and departed with his train. But thanks to the delay in jawing at us, we were able to get this really nice shot of two trains passing. Thanks, Cranky!