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For the record: it is legal to photograph police in all of the US, and is a protected 1st amendment right. Some states or localities might try to outlaw it, but

For the record: it is legal to photograph police in all of the US, and is a protected 1st amendment right. Some states or localities might try to outlaw it, but they always lose when challenged. Some police may simply ignore the law and punish you for exercising your rights, but that's different than it being illegal. With regards to photography on US railroad tracks, there is no law against it. However, railroad tracks are private property and in the US private property owners can control your photography on their property or trespass you from their property, and due to the danger of pedestrians on tracks, railroads understandably disallow pedestrians on tracks for photography.

AnimalMuppet 2y ago
This. Some over-aggressive transit police will try to keep you from photographing their trains, but if you're not on their property, they can get over themselves. I've had transit police notice that I was watching trains, and come over to see what I was doing. I told them that I was watching trains. I was in a place that had a clear view of their platform, and they didn't like me hanging out there and watching. They said they'd like me to watch trains somewhere else. I told them that I was on private property, and it wasn't their private property, so I didn't care what they'd like. (I did have permission from the property owner.) The transit cops didn't say anything more, they just looked rather startled.. Now, if a cop with jurisdiction tells you to leave, you may ask him to cite a statute, but in the end, if they insist on you leaving, you probably need to obey, even if they're wrong. But as you say, they are wrong - it's not illegal to watch railroad tracks from public property, and it's not illegal to photograph.