STRAIGHT UP, The coolest Thing Happened To Me!

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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Some days, places and exact events have been alterted to protect those involved out of resepect. Basic events though happned as written. It was a cool night

So, 3-6 months ago my son and I were hanging out at our favortie spot to watching trains acorss town. There is a local that runs the night industry work. Its a good spot to see the crew work, and the different cars. For the last year and half we have been goign up there, maybe twice a month to watch. As time went on we got to know the crews and they began to know us . We were pretty noticeably, only father and son team to show up on a somewhat regular basis at night. So one night, were watching and the brakeman, an older fellow, came up to us and asked if Junior wanted a ride! How Cool! But one problem, i would have to drive the truck to pick him up and the other side…it would have been like a 3 mile ride. Well, my step son is only 5 and he waskinda scared, no matter how we tried he would go without Dad. so we put it off. As the converastion turned, we planned another night, on a place in town where they could take us out, and bring us back.

So, 3 nights go by and we were in the feild they told us to be. And sure enough here it comes. The kid and I were so excited but we had to run to catch it. So, I give Junior the flash light and I picke him up, and off we ran to catch the train. (Granted, he will be 6 in March, but he allready weighs 65 pounds and is tall as a small 3grader) “We figured it was you guys. But the flash light kinda threw us off a bit. It was flashin all over the place. You guys gave a us good laugh once we saw what was going on!”

They stopped the engines and we got to hop on. It was a apir of GP-40’s and we had a ball. We went north and picked up some cars. Then head back and dropped us off. All in all, the fastest 45 minutes of my life. But he got to honk the horn, and hang out with the crew. We rode in the conductor seat the whole time and a gre

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Sounds like Christmas came early for you.[:D]

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A very Merry Cristmas you and your son will remember for the rest of your lives. This is how new railfans are made. [:)]

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Somewhere, right now, there is a Plaintiffs’ lawyer licking his chops at the thought of an injury during this excursion, a defense lawyer shreaking in horor at the thought of an injury during this excursion, and a child who will grow up with a positive view of railroading.

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Sounds like fun. What railroad was this on again? You can contact me off list if you dont want to disclose it.

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Oh, I dunno, I think there is a defense lawyer out there thinking…

Jeez, if somebody got injured I would have another file to bill the RR on and that might help me pay off some of my kids Christmas presents, if the truth be told…

There is probably also a Trainmaster out there saying to himself “AHA!! I knew it!! I’ll have to get the cammies and night vision gear out, 'cause next time, I’ll fire them ALL, oh and have that guy and his kid arrested too…”

So perhaps this story shouldn’t be spread too far and wide, lest the crew be found out and another railfan friendly group be broken up…

Oh and, although you have altered details, there aren’t that many RRs that go near Phoenix, AZ…

LC

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Well, true. it was kinda sneaky, but boy, it was good ole’ fashion fun. It reminded me of the stories I hear from other guys, when they say “When I was a kid…” or, “Back when…”

Well, to be honest, I did wait awhile to be safe. They didnt say a word about not telling anyone. Guess they knew I realised it was unspoken rule. Otherwise, they never would have asked us in the first place. But alot of time has passed and one thing I have found with the night crews… Well, between rotation and extras, they change just about weekly it seems like. Since then, I know of atleast 4 different engeineers anyway. The brakemen, I swear must change daily. They are long gone, who knows were by now. One fellow was telling me where he usually worked, he was long way off his ranch.[;)]

I didnt post this story, pardon the pun, to honk my own horn. Or post it up in the sense of how cool we are. It was far from that, to be honest.

As of late it seems this board has been under alot of negativity about the “railfanning”. Ya know the threads… “I got chased here…” " I was harrased…" The Goverement is spying on us…" “We cant…” “This place is closed now…” it goes on and on.

I posted it up to show folks that the spirit isnt completly dead. And even if it is in a small way, the spirit is very much alive and well. Because atleast for one night, this father and son got to something pretty speacial, and as Gabe mentioned, made a new die hard rail fan for life.[:)]

All I hope is that you read the story and instead of thinking of ways to show the negatives and all the things that could have gone wrong, you can put that aside, and take the story for what it is, and mayeb get a smile out of it.[:D]

Merry Christmas to all.

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Nice story, thanks for sharing. Getting Junior model trains for Christmas?

Merry Christmas to you too. Gotta run, time for me, DW and Junior to watch “The Polar Express” which we just bought on DVD.

Regards

Ed