Had a breathtaking experience the other day that really got me hooked. Now I’ve watched trains before…but this was different!
My son and I positioned ourselves near the tracks by our house - we were probably 20-30 feet away from the tracks and up on a 10 ft hill. Soon after we got there, I saw the headlight of an oncoming train…I grabbed my son and picked him up (he’s 3.5 yrs old). Within a few seconds I saw it was the Acela and it was going near full speed! All I can say is what a rush! It was an interesting combination of being extremely cool, but also a little scary - you could really get a sense of the power, weight and size being as close as we were.
I had two events that got me hooked. First was last year when I stumbled across a BNSF coal drag and I was about 30 feet away. The other was early this year when I went out to chase the UP’s DDA40X on a run from Chicago to Omaha. Two great days!
That’s about the age I was when my Dad took me to watch trains. Union Pacific freights usually. I’m 13 now and addicted to trains like no other. Same will happen with your son![:)]
My dad’s office was literally twenty feet from the tracks (the tracks ran right beside the building, every time the CSX frieght went by the whole building shook) and I used to go out the back door and watch trains when I was really little. My dad says I went out there almost every day that I was there. Now, our (better) office is about two hundred feet from the tracks, but I get a better view of the trains.
Hey Milwaukee, Get your Dad to take you out to the MT,ID border and bike the Hiawatha trail. You can go from the tunnel at the summit 15 mile or so down the grade to Avery ID and take a bus back to the top. Very cool ride man. I did it two years ago and I’m over 60. Spectacular scenery.
There is very few things I like more than a Coal train with all SD40-2s struggling up a hill in Notch 8. The other thing I like is a Stack Train whizzing by at 60MPH whistling for the crossing. Thats awesome!
I used to live just across the street from the Fitchburg line of the B&M. I had a second-floor apartment. This was back when they still ran freight on that line - I think it’s all commuter rail now. One day, I was sitting in a back room and I heard a steam whistle. I recognized it immediately, and ran out to see an old steamer pulling a few coaches through town. I happened so fast that I didn’t think to grab the camera. So, I went back inside later and called the railroad, and asked to speak to the dispatcher. I asked when it was coming back, and played hookey that day. I shot a roll of film. I’ve got to go find those slides.
The freights I remember most were long lines of black tank cars, clanking slowly over the old tracks, across the nearby grade crossing with the lights flashing, reflecting off the wet roads on a rainy night.
I started modeling without much interest in trains themselves. Until on my daily lunch walk I was about 20 feet from the tracks in town and a pair of SD70Macs powered up next to me hauling a long coal train. The power could just be felt through my bones (and the ground). Soon after my modeling took on a theme!
For me it was riding my bike down to the Amtrak station and watching trains pound across the nearby double-track Chessie/Conrail diamonds. Seeing the cars swaying side to side, the rails flexing under the tremendous weight, and of course the racket it all made… I was hooked from then on! I rode down there almost any clear day that summer to watch the action. Plus on hot, muggy days I could step into the air-conditioned Amtrak station for a cool drink and some relief between trains.
Only problem was, sometimes I stayed there too late. If the Amtrak train pulled in while I was there (usually around 9:30 or later), I knew I was gonna get it when I got home!
Growing up on the PRR middle division mainline in Altoona two miles from the Horseshoe Curve I spent a TON of time on the tracks and have seen it all from giant coal drags to super high speed piggy backs coming down off the mountain at 60-70 mph, you name it I probably saw it at one time or another. One time back in the 80’s a train hauling about 50 tanks stopped right above our house (the mainline ran through my backyard basically) and I remember my dad walking my sister and I up there to see it. That was pretty impressive. Now that I’m older and getting back into the hobby the desire to “railfan” is really starting to get to me. My wife doesn’t understand it so much so it looks like this will be some more “AJ Time”. LOL