This is exactly what I would say too. The more you call some flunky in RI, the more they'll realize how widespread this "problem" is and the more they'll send out people to enforce this. Eventually they may even fence off the tracks along the parking spots.

In any event, crossing RR tracks at grade crossings is not trespassing, and there are 3-4 "grade" crossings Capeside where they cannot stop people from crossing--as this clown in RI freely admitted to Mike.

Mike--one question--was the guy who got the summons fishing off the trestle--that popular tautog spot?

He was crossing the tracks to launch a kayak. The guy that stopped him would not even let him retrieve it, and told him to bring it around to another spot down stream of their property.

try calling Senator Brown's office..

was there not some kind of issue keeping fishermen off the canal a few years back, that Sen. Kennedy got involved in and straightened out??

I think that inasmuch as Fisherman belong to a highly migratory species (I've been known to travel hundreds of miles to fish) and are dependent on the resouces available in the canal, that this may fall under the jurisdiction of some federal agency. Or perhaps even the Bonn Convention of the United Nations.
Don't worry the goverment will save us.:smash:

If there land isn't posted with signs saying NO TRESPASSING then they can't enforce the laws of fine you

Now I suppose they can ticket me for driving my truck over their tracks? No difference a motor vehicle and a bicycle.:fury:

They pulled this up here in Maine and we lost several spot. we filled suit against them for their trains speeding so they had to slow them down to 20mph going through residential areas,almost all the tracks are in residential areas, and we filled noise complaints against their horns and now they can only use them at registered crossings. they mostly leave us alone now. I'll donate towards a lawyer. Ron

Cape rail
 

The railroad is picking a fight with a lot of people......Not to mention two local town goverments and a federal agency.........:confused:

May I Propose
 

Full Moon in June Day.
All fishermen, on the full moon of June , display their personal moons to the diners on the dinner train, ala Braveheart. If that doesn't do the trick, then Wanging Day can be celebrated, ala Braveheart. Your appetizer, sir....

I bet its an insurance issue that now is a historical access issue.

If you have to wait till June it will be the 26th, what time does the train pass?
This would be too funny, it just might bring Belushi back from the grave.

I love this idea. I think their deed if for the land, not the air. Now where did I put that aerodynamic plug bag?

So does this mean you can't cross the tracks near the ice rink?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Blown out of proportion.
This was in Wareham, not at the canal.

Ya..........

Grade crossing are different. They can't ticket you for crossing the tracks at a grade crossing. They could if you carried your bike over the tracks away from a grade crossing.

That's why this guy got a trespass notice instead of a citation or summons. Trespass notices put you on notice that you were on private property without the consent of the owner, even if the property isn't posted. They can now ticket or even have the guy arrested if they see him do it a second time.

Theoretically, at least, this thread is now one big trespass notice, should the railroad find a way to connect ourselves in person to our screen names ;)

I’ve been on the phone most of the day today about this issue. I had a person from the Safety and transportation divisions of Cape Rail call me this afternoon. We got to talk for a while. They seem to agree that their enforcement person may have a little over on this. They do not want to be tainted with bad press but they do feel the need for additional safety issues. We agreed on a few issues and will talk again I’m sure. They also have some talks scheduled with the Wareham Selectman and town administrator coming up soon and will discuss access areas for their rail system and the potential commuter rail to the area.

INSURANCE LIABILITY

%$%$%$%$!!! Now everyone will migrate to the productive spots!:fury:


All the :buds: clear out around midnight anyway and the train doesn't run after 8 pm anyway. just be smart about where you park.

Ever seen what a well placed sledge hammer does to rail?.......

MikeCC,
Thanks for taking the time and talking to these folks and educating them and us about the situation.

theres an old saying....

give me a big enough LEVER and i can move the world

ya get a bar so heavy it takes two men to carry it
with shoulder straps.

the third guy ( the watcher) carries a fulcrum

Jesse James those Bastids

Not that we would advocate any damage to actual rail components as that would be a safety issue.

Hope this gets resolved. A little moonage would certainly make the national news. Though some might think the train runs through P-Town or something.

Why did the guy even identify himself to the railroad employee? Only has to do that with a police officer. It is somewhat different crossing or walking along tracks used all the time, such as the T train tracks, as opposed to the trash train tracks. The law applies the same but certainly it should't be applied the same. Maybe they have to issue a cople of these pieces of paper to show the insurance company that covers their liability policy they are doing their job.

However, that being said, and Backbeach referred to this, tresspassing or trackwalking is an arrestable misdomeanor under three different statutes in this commonwealth.

Just reread LIKWID's post, am I now to understand this happened in Wareham by M & D's and not on the canal tracks?

It's amazing what you can find out about someone on google (especially when they have a unique name).

I guess someone that drives a cupholder boat like a 45' SeaRay isn't going to care much about surf-fisherman.

OHHHH No of course not BOSS man

but those IDIOTS better quickly realize that they are like a BANK
with all of their assets just laying out on open ground
and it's virtually impossible to protect it all REAL FAST.

The threat of any kind will not help alleviate the problem. All we need is a hothead to take any action against the railroad and we will find all crossings closed to the public and no access to that side of the ditch.
Mike has the right idea and should keep a clear levelheaded line of communication open.

what he said

I think everyone should push the issue and just fish the cape side. I promise not to fish in your spots on the mainland side. I promise! :)

Anyway , hopefully this whole thing just fades away. Like the old saying goes..... let dogs who lie sleep...or something like that. :)

Iwouldn't worry as much about corporations as I would about politicions and lawyers

STOP IT STOP IT !!!!!! THIS HAS GONE TOOOO FAR.... THINK ABOUT IT, THE EGRESS WAYS TO THE CANAL ARE EVERYWHERE,AND THE POPULARITY OF CANAL FISHING BOTH DAY N NIGHT IS CONSTENT ???????? OK. UNLESS U R FU*KING WITH THERE STUFF, I BET ITS OK TO CROSS THERE TRACKS..SO "LET THE SLEEPING DOG LIE"IVE BEEN DOING IT FOR 30YRS LETS NOT CHANGE THINGS YET..BTW ,THE R/R #^&#^&#^&#^& WENT WAY OVER ,ITS A POWER KICK (IMO)......CHEW ON THAT AWILE...... UR ALL GETTING CRAZY WAITING FOR THE FISH.........DAVE..........

I guarantee the cops are going to be more than willing to cite people - and good luck mouthing off to a third-shift rookie all by your lonesome. Fishing licenses, trespass threats.....And I say to myself, what a wonderful world...

really the best advise. can't see you winning access here. best to let sleeping dogs lie. the rail's insurance company will never let them knowingly allow trespassing or, worse still, endurse people cutting across the tracks. if they ever extend passenger rail down there, forget about. they'll be fences and razor wire everywhere.

and for those saying, "let them try to enforce it" and the like, its really not that hard to do - take away parking, tow cars, and make a few arrests. its basically like saying "let them try to enforce speed limits", you throw a few cops out there and its basically done.

they also have the argument that there is legal, safe access to the canal at each end and an access road running between the two. they are not denying access to the canal, they're just denying easier access.

Trust me on this---there is nothing more certain than No Parking postings along Sandwich Road if things don't change. All it's going to take is one fisherman getting clipped by a passing car one morning. Once the turn outs are full--as they will inevitably get once the plugging bite hits cell phone/tackle shop/internet hotwires, guys park along the shoulder where there's literally a foot or two between them and cars zipping by at 60 mph. It is inevitable that someone will get killed some day if this keeps up, and that's when you'll lose parking access along the road.

The police department in Bourne doesn't want to break balls. Lots of them fish, including Chief Baldwin. But people force their hands, and they have no choice. They didn't want to issue parking tickets at Savorey Avenue (stone church) last spring, but the residents complained about noisy fisherment waking them up at 4 AM so they had no choice. The railroad has had several things to complain about, including kids playing chicken with the trash train in Monument Beach last year. Just keep things in perspective--this was one guy who the railroad conceded may have gone too far. Use your heads--if a train is approaching, you'll hear it. Don't try to save 45 seconds of fishing time by rushing over the tracks in front of an approaching train--and for God's sake, lose the idiotic idea of some sort of mass protest, or mooning, or whatever. Just let this die, for everyone's sake.

The reason the railroad mentions "legal" access points is because these are considered grade crossings, and there are whistle posts down the track which tell the engineer to sound the horn to warn crossing cars and pedestrians.

Again, you're right as again I was joking..

I would venture that if they ticketed the person in Wareham it was on the tracks in back of M&D, that could be a dangerous spot

Kudos for Common Sense
 

Glad to see a little more common sense in some of the posts and a little less emotion - although I am shocked to see some of it coming from someone of stiff tip's ilk!
There is no reason to even suggest vandalism or even some massive protest until more examples appear of the railroad's move towards citing folks for trespassing across their tracks to go fishing.
That said, I do get discouraged every time I hear of more obstacles being placed in the way of folks who fish from shore. Credit should be given to Lou MacKeil for having language written into the saltwater license funds appropriation for a good chunk of the money to go to access issues.
I know it would be a massive and overly expensive undertaking, but I would love to see the colonial ordinance governing waterfront property ownership overturned in the Bay State. If only two states, one of which is Massachusetts, have it on the books, maybe that should tell us something?

Isn't that the crackhead side anyways...
FORE!!

It would be more expensive than you could imagine, as the Supreme Judicial Court has already ruled that it would be a "taking" of private property for public purposes and require fair compensation to the landowners.

We have the right of passage already for purposes of fishing and waterfowling--what we need is to make more law enforcement types aware of it when they challenge us.