Terms and Safe Reporting Rules

Effective June 6, 2026. RailMonNA is an independent railfan site. By using the site, creating an account, submitting a report, reacting to a report, or using any site feature, you agree to use RailMonNA safely, legally, and in good faith. If you do not agree, do not use the site.

These Terms are meant to be readable. They do not replace common sense, local laws, railroad rules, or official safety instructions.

Railfan Use Only

RailMonNA is for railfan awareness only. It is not an official railroad, dispatching, emergency, safety, employment, or compliance tool.

Do not use RailMonNA reports to make workplace, railroad, dispatching, investigation, insurance, government, or safety decisions. Those decisions must use authorized and independently verified systems.

Who May Use RailMonNA

You may use RailMonNA only if you can follow these Terms and the laws that apply where you are. If you are not old enough to create online accounts where you live, use the site only with permission from a parent or guardian.

RailMonNA may refuse, limit, or close accounts when needed to protect the site, other users, railroad safety, or report quality.

Safety Requirements

• Do not trespass on railroad property.
• Do not stand on tracks, bridges, equipment, signals, or restricted right-of-way.
• Do not interfere with railroad employees, emergency responders, or operations.
• Do not use the site while driving or in any way that distracts from safety.
• Do not rely on the map to determine whether tracks are clear, inactive, safe to cross, or safe to approach.
• Do not use RailMonNA to plan unsafe viewing, trespassing, interference, or attempts to access restricted areas.
• In an emergency, contact 911 or the appropriate railroad emergency number. Do not report emergencies through RailMonNA.

Account Responsibilities

You are responsible for the activity on your account. Keep your password private, use a valid email address, and do not share, sell, or transfer your account.

Account details you provide should be truthful. Your public username may appear with reports, reactions, or other visible activity. Your first and last name are collected for internal account review and are not meant to be public-facing profile information.

If you think someone else has used your account, contact RailMonNA and change your password as soon as possible.

Accuracy and Availability

Reports can be late, incomplete, duplicated, placed in the wrong spot, out of date, estimated, or wrong. Passenger-train locations, map details, train IDs, directions, and other information can also be wrong or unavailable.

Check information yourself before acting on it. RailMonNA does not promise that a train is present, absent, moving, stopped, on time, using a certain route, or safe to observe from any location.

Report Quality

• Submit reports you believe are accurate.
• Do not impersonate another user or railroad employee.
• Do not post harassment, spam, or intentionally false sightings.
• Do not post private information about other people, crews, employees, vehicles, homes, or businesses.
• Do not use reports to target, threaten, shame, or harass anyone.
• Use notes to clarify uncertainty instead of guessing as fact.

Use "unknown" or leave optional fields blank when you are not sure. A partial report made in good faith is better than a confident guess that sends other users the wrong way.

By submitting a report, you confirm that you have the right to share it. You also allow RailMonNA to store, show, review, edit for clarity, merge with related reports, correct, remove, and use that report to operate, protect, and improve the site.

Review, Corrections, and Moderation

RailMonNA may review, edit, merge, split, hide, delete, or keep reports as needed. This can happen when reports are duplicated, unsafe, unclear, abusive, off-topic, stale, legally risky, or likely to confuse other users.

Report reactions such as "looks right" or "needs review" are community signals, not official decisions. RailMonNA may still make its own review choices.

Accounts may be limited, suspended, or closed if they violate these Terms, harm the site, repeatedly submit low-quality reports, or create safety concerns.

No Guarantees

To the maximum extent permitted by law, RailMonNA and all maps, reports, feeds, and site features are provided "as is" and "as available." RailMonNA does not guarantee accuracy, reliability, availability, or fitness for any particular use.

Railroad Safety Risks

Railroads, crossings, stations, roadsides, and viewing areas can be dangerous. Risks include moving trains, vehicle traffic, uneven ground, weather, restricted property, injury, and death. You are responsible for your own choices and safety when using information from RailMonNA.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, RailMonNA, its owner or operator, administrators, volunteers, contributors, data providers, and service providers are not responsible for losses, injuries, property damage, missed opportunities, account issues, or other harm connected to use of the site or reliance on any report.

Where liability cannot be excluded, the total liability of RailMonNA and the parties listed above will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid RailMonNA during the 12 months before the claim or US $100. Some places do not allow certain limits, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

Your Responsibility

To the extent permitted by law, you are responsible for claims or costs caused by your reports, misuse of the site, violation of these Terms, unlawful conduct, or infringement of another person's rights.

Third-Party Services

RailMonNA uses or links to outside maps, train information, websites, and hosting services. Those services have their own rules and privacy practices. RailMonNA is not responsible for their content, availability, security, or accuracy.

Site Changes

RailMonNA may change, pause, limit, or end any feature or the whole site. Features may be experimental, especially during beta. Data may be delayed, corrected, removed, or unavailable while the site is being maintained.

General Terms

If part of these Terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies as much as the law allows. Not enforcing a rule once does not waive it. These Terms may be updated as RailMonNA develops; continuing to use the site after an update means you accept the updated Terms.

Questions

Use the Contact page for account, report, privacy, or Terms questions. RailMonNA may need enough information to verify the account or report before making changes.