Here’s a curiosity question that might be the basis of a whimsical intellectual exercise: What is the center of your “Railfan Universe?”
As a teenager and young adult growing up in northwestern suburban Chicago, I took a deep interest certain of the western lines - mostly those with whom I had some passenger train experience. Adding to that interest were all of the hours I’d spent watching and photographing the passenger trains moving into and out of Chicago Union Station and the North Western’s Madison Street terminal. The list from those days included the C.& N.W. (my hometown road), The Milwaukee Road, the Insull properties west and north out of the Chicago Loop, SOO Line, the “Q.” and its parents G.N. and N.P. And because at one time or another I’d visited the the W.P. and Rio Grande properties plus “The Overland Route” segments of “Uncle Pete” and the Espee, they became part of my “railfan universe” as well. Oh sure I was aware of the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend, the Grand Trunk Western, Erie-Lackawanna, Illinois Central, the G.M.& O., the “Ohio Twins” (Baltimore & Chesapeake), Mr. Perlman’s road, and “The Mighty Penn,” but those railroads never fired anything in my imagination.
Applying the far flung limits of each western system, the “geographic center” of my railfan universe was maybe somewhere around Casper, Wyo. while the “emotional center” was somewhere along the Fox River valley north of Aurora, Ill. As a young adult I added “Ol’ John Santa Fe” to my railfan universe; and applying the standards discussed above, I suppose that addition moved the “geographic center” to so
I grew up 110 feet from the CNW mainline and 300 feet from the Milwaukee Road/SOO mainline in Oshkosh, so I grew up watching two unique railroads. Never had any experience with passenger trains so they really don’t hold appeal for me. I was aware of other roads through boxcars and, of course, Trains magazine but none really held appeal to me. I’ve grown to like the WSOR as I’ve been aware of them so I can’t ignore them. So my geographic center would probably be the somewhere between Chicago and Madison-I think LOL!
I have stronger emotion associated with the CNW but little for MILW/SOO. When the CNW in my area became FRVR I didn’t mind too much. The units looked nice and the crews I ran into were even nicer than the CNW crews. I got several cabrides one summer. When the WC took over from FRVR I “hated” them. I don’t know why I did but I remember not being glad that WC was running that line despite the amount of traffic I saw. I eventually decided that they were trains and were better than nothing so I still went and watched them. Now there’s CN. Same concept as I came to with the WC-some trains are better than none. After all that…my emotional center is firmly on the “ball 'n bar”.
I guess mine would be from Effingham IL to Terre Haute IN and Lawrenceville to Danville IL. I grew up seeing PRR, NYC, which ran thru the county where I live. Plus the C&EI, NKP, B&O, IC and the MIL lines, were all within 20 to 60 mile from me, and I’ve gotten interested in them too, the last few years.
At the center of our galaxy is a black hole, so Chicago (where trains enter and disappear) fits my description for an emotional center in more ways than one!
I guess my personal geographic center would be Proviso and Elmhurst. That’s the event horizon at my epicenter. Every so often I have to orbit along the event horizon (we were in Blue Island, Dolton, and East Chicago a couple of days ago). I’m still able to escape the event horizon and take trips to nearby systems (I often find West Chicago, LaFox, DeKalb, and Rochelle to be in perfect alignment). We were able to escape the event horizon this past week and visit the star system Galesburg (which includes Planets Nahant and Muscatine), but to visit further planetary systems (such as those centered around the star Mookie, or Cajon–or the red giant Pennsy, where one is forced to take a curving route to reach Planet Altoona) requires additional planning, resources, and energy.
Some day we may be able to visit the system that includes Planet Blysard, but, due to energy, time, and budgetary constraints, to currently attempt the voyage to star system Houston, we have a problem.
My geographic center is certainly anchored here in the midwest, somewhere between Cedar Rapids and the Twin Cities. I guess my emotional center is orbiting the long-gone stars of MILW, CNW, and SOO.
I also grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and in my earliest days the center of my railroad interest was certainly there. But by my early teens, it shifted firmly and decicively to Colorado’s San Juan Mountain area. For the complete story see, “How I became a lifelong railfan”, at RailroadPhotoEssays: http://www.railroadphotoessays.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1056
My geographic center is Altoona. Hasn’t changed for 20 years. I hope I can fix that soon. This place holds too many sad memories. So in due time, perhaps my geographic center will be at the BNSF [8D]
CNW was may still be my emotional center though. I could be having a really bad day (which is common for me anyway) and the whole day could go on the rebound for the better if 1995, the closest i’ll ever get to seeing a real CNW, shows up in my area. In fact, I have many emotions that coincide with 1995. Seeing it fills me with pride and happiness knowing CNW has been honored so masterfully. I don’t get that feeling from any other heritage units. And I cried when 8575, last of the CNWs, died. Not to mention much of the anger i used to vent here too much was all CNW-based. Never before have I felt so strongly about a fleet of locomotives than I do with CNW. Even my layout reflects that. All of my rolling stock is CNW and most of my locomotives are as well. So yes I would have to say my emotional base is easily CNW and may remain as such for quite some time.
If I could say that I had a “center” of my universe, it would have to be the ICG. I grew up about 1/2 mile from the ICG main, and about a mile or so from Proviso Yard, and the old CGW was just 2 blocks north of my house, although that was gone, or almost gone by the time I reached kindergarten. The ICG never ceased to fascinate me for some reason. My younger brother is a far bigger railfan than I, but for me it was never the “technical” parts about railroading, it was always the feel, the sound, the mood, and the emotion. The old orange and white still holds a place in my heart, and while that line changed hands several times over the years, I never begrudged the new owners. One of the great things about the Chicago Central, when they took over, was that their logo was similar to the old “diamond and bar” Illinois Central logo. The “I” logo is always somehting that brings back memories of carefree summer days, spent with friends in our little clubhouse along the tracks. The area has changed alot now. The old S&H siding is gone, as is the area where our clubhouse was. The Railroad Ave. crossing was removed, and the Abbey Paving building was torn down due to a major expressway project on the I-290/I-88 extension.
The other emotional center, if you will, is the BN main from Chicago to Aurora. My dad grew up not far from it, and the Indiana Harbor Belt, and that is where my father became interested in trains as a boy. My grandparents lived a few blocks south of the tracks, and every Sunday, when we were kids, we always visited them, and when we got older, my brothers and I were allowed to go to the train station, and watch the trains. I always thought the 3 track main was something to behold when I was younger, and was fascinated by number of trains we could see on a Sunday. My brother can rattle off the different types of locomotives as they rumble by, and that’s fine… for me, it&#
For me it’s still where it’s always been. Spring,TX which is where I live. For all intents and purposes this is Houston. We’re just a suburb on the north side about 20+ miles out or so. IN Spring Up has Lloyd Yard. A small classification but large SIT large just south of town. Town center is really nothing more than a shopping trap now with all kinds of places to eat and lose money. It’s a popular local place. The town was founded by the railroad. There is a wye right next to town and the restaurants go right up to the tracks. In the middle of the wye there used to be an engine house which 100 years ago was the biggest local employer. The engine facilities were removed in the 20’s but the slab is still there if you know what you are looking at.
Spring is a great railfan place. Unlike the inner city, it’s safe and quiet. I often will go out there near midnight by myself and it’s perfectly safe. No problems whatsoever. I can’t think of another place in Houston that I’d do that. Actually I can’t think of many places in Houston where I feel safe watching trains in broad daylight! Our biggest yards are also in the worst parts of town.
The action is nice in Spring as we have a junction. The west track goes out through Navasota and on to Ft. Worth. The north track goes to Palestine and ultimately towards Little Rock, Ar. The southbound track goes through Lloyd yard and on to Houston. Hardy road parallels the main past Lloyd Yard. Two roads cross the yard. The northermost road is Louetta. It’s not the best viewing point of yard action. For that, the other bridge, Cypresswood Drive, is much better. It crosses the yard right where the main classification and arrival/departure tracks join. Just south of this bridge less than a quarter of a mile is a baseball park. You can park the car here and walk back to the bridge. Sometimes I’ll even just park in the grass under the bridge. You can climb up the side and get right near the girders and see into the yard nicel
I grew up right in the middle of Wisconsin (Ok maybe not exactly in the middle but anyway). The railroads that I grew up in were the Wisconsin Central. The main line went right though down town Wausau. Although I didn’t live near the main line. I was too young to remember much of the WC. When CN took over it was a disaster. My favorite railroad gone.
I still like the WC. I model it and railfan as much as I can now. But there is also apart of me that likes the BN. Something about that cascade green in the Cascade Range. A few other roads I like are SP, ATSF, DRG&W, MILW, and the SOO.
You and Willy were the only ones to witness our re-entry to the TMW Sector after passing through the dreaded Asparagus Belt. Some amazing things lie beyond that belt–CopCars that wear hiking boots, and outsized chickens protected by excitable little traveling furballs.
I understand they’ve put a navigational device in the shape of a spike out there to make sure voyagers stay on the right path.
Today we made a voyage to check out the phenomenon Aurora Burlingtonis, landing at the moon known as Eola. As one would expect that close to the aurora, we saw amazing displays of greens, blues and yellows, and a lot of orange, tempered by yellow and black (or is it dark green?).
I’d say the states of MO and IL will cover it for me. I’ve been all over both states, and have never been more than a short drive from some RR activity, or RR history. And I’ve found a great number of people in both states, not just RR employees, but County Clerks, newspaper folks, and other local people who will tell me where to go to satisfy my curiosity.
How else would I have found the Cape Girardeau Northern, the Saline Valley, the Hannibal Short Line, the Sligo & Eastern, and the East St. Louis, Columbia and Waterloo?
I’ve travelled to New York on the Pennsylvania, and Hoboken to Chicago on the old Erie, but most of my distant travel has been by plane. Also, I enjoyed all my trips to the Baltimore area, but haven’t been back for about ten years.
defiance ohio because we always come back home.We have so many places that are within an hours drive from here its a great place.although we have stretched our circle to see Carl in chicago,Brian(louisnash) in cincinnati and Nora in pennsylvania(along with horseshoe curve).Anyone wanting to explore our corner of nw ohio we’ll give you a tour.
Actually, I discovered that Defiance (also known as Koh-MAW) is one of the many habitable planets orbiting the binary system of two collapsing stars, Detroit and Toledo. It’s still possible to get in close to them, but who’d want to? (Detroit, anyway.) Among the pleasures of this system are Planet CornDERF, Koh-MAW, the jewel planet Berea, the observatory known as Mari-AC, the triangular planet Erie-sistable, Plymouth, Durand (as opposed to the jewel planet, this has become a diamond in the rough), Garrett, Bellevue (which looks like it’s inhabited by beings from beyond the Asparagus Belt), and the recently-discovered planet Butler. The resources of other planets, such as Findlay, Kenton, and Lima, have been played out, but they are still along some well-traveled lanes.
Ive in the SW chicago suburbs my whole life about a block away from the BN racetrack and grew up watching the Burlington Northern freight & commuter trains almost every day… Kinda lost interest when thet stopped using BN engines to haul the passenger trains… Yeah im not real big on Metra… same goes for UP and BNSF, I miss C&NW and BN
The center of my railfan universe is down in south west colorado, Only trains I truely enjoy watching are 3’ Narrow gauge
Flatonia. About two blocks east of the interlocker at Side Track Tommy’s house. We can sit in his back yard about 80 ft. from the tracks. Most times it’s more fun there than down at the pavilion because we have his bathroom (leave a quarter) and can go inside if it gets too hot. Every now and then he and Ysleta have a bunch of us over for hamburgers. Nothing special, just a bunch of friends enjoying a meal and each other’s company. Many of the best times of my life in the last seven or eight years have been spent there.
Altoona lost its designation of “planet” sometime in 1992. Only my space fortress remains there. Once I finish my flagship, I will migrate across the galaxy to planet Lacrosse or somewhere else in the area where BNSF and CP run thick.
What did you see/do in East Chicago? I consider that to be today’s emotional center and possibly physical center. Lots to see and do there. Unfortunately the Union Tank Car plant is closing there on May 30th, actually the final car was finished Friday so I wont be going there much anymore.
Growing up my “universe” was southern Illinois/Indiana area, primarily Mattoon, Centralia and east to Madison, In.
Adult life has me centered in Valparaiso, with early adult center being at the Conrail (PRR), NW (NKP), GTW crossing west of town. Lots of film burned there. During the 90’s the golden era of travellin sales found it shifting west covering Illinois, Iowa, and St. Louis with lots of Chicago coverage.
During the 2000’s with 2-3 trips weekly to East Chicago I discovered the towers, industry (steel mills and refineries), mainlines (NS & CSX), plus IHB, EJE, and South Shore. Lots to digest in one town.
One thing is for certain, the camera is always with me and one eye on the tracks and sometimes the scanner is on.
