January 11th, 2008

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked why I like trains so much, I might be able to buy a new digital camera. Still, it’s something many people continue to wonder about me even after they ask the question. I would venture a guess that other railfans encounter the same question from a wide array of different people as well. I suppose it’s the most obvious question to ask when someone meets a railfan for the first time. Here is the way I think of it, and thus answer that prevalent question. I have always enjoyed trains since I was little and while some people eventually grow out of this, I am happy that I have not. I like getting up early on a sunny Saturday morning, grabbing my camera gear, and setting out trackside to see what I can find. Each time I venture out my experiences and sights are different from my last trip. The trains are different, the weather is different, and the people I meet are different. Quite simply, railfanning is always a new adventure each time I head out.

One of my first trips like this was when I was a college sophomore at the University of Minnesota, Morris. I stopped to grab some fresh batteries for my dad’s Minolta camera and set out to see if there was something to be said for this railfanning thing. I headed east out of Morris on MN Hwy 9 along BNSF’s Morris Subdivision. As I recall, it didn’t take me too long to find a train. It was raining as I caught up to the head end of a loaded coal train of all COLX hoppers. At this time, BNSF ran all the coal trains to and from Portage, WI through Willmar, MN. They have since been moved to the Staples Subdivision north of Morris and no longer run through town. Anyway, I found a spot in Clontarf, stopped the car, and snapped a photo of the lead SD60M. Just like a little kid I waived at the engine and counted all the cars at the train passed by. Now this was a film camera so it was not until a week later when my film was developed that I received my first train photo. I remember the day well, I was standing at the counter in Benson Drug in Morris, at that time my employer, and Joyce at the photo machine asked the big question, “why do you like trains so much?” We chatted for a bit as I flipped through the photos trying to find the one with that unmistakable BN green in it. I finally found the one I was looking for. The photo was dark and even a bit blurry; in fact I could hardly read the road number on the locomotive. A big let down right? No, I was hooked!

I made several other trips that year of the same nature. East, west, north, south, coal, grain, merchandise, stone, containers, the trains were many. I even remember once sitting in my little ’93 Acura on a gravel road near Alberta, MN waiting for a loaded grain train to leave the Cargill elevator with a couple floormates from Spooner Hall. After sitting on the road for about 10 minutes Samit turned to Josh and asked, so what exactly are we doing out here? Even though the two of them were trying to figure out why they were sitting in the middle of corn fields waiting for a train, I knew exactly why I was there. Needless to say we returned to Spooner Hall shortly there after and I flew solo in the railfan department from then on. As the days and months passed, I came to learn more about the trains that came through Morris. “There was always a westbound merchandise train around supper time, why is that?” I wondered one day. I came to discover that it was the M-LINFAR. In BNSF talk, that stood for a merchandise train that left Lincoln, NE and was heading for Fargo, ND. “I wonder how many people know that this train is coming from Nebraska?” I sometimes thought. While all this new education was taking place, I was also taking time to improve my photography, find new photo spots, invest in a scanner from radio shack, and develop a website. Still, it was all about the trains (and being a music student too).

Since those days many things have changed. I’ve gotten married to an absolutely wonderful person, my photos were published in a children’s book commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute, my camera is now digital, the locomotives are newer, BNSF changed its logo, and I now have a website. One thing has remained constant through it all, I do it for me. For me, that is why I am a railfan. Sure I post railroad photos to online databases, I update my website for others to see, and I share information with others in online forums. And don’t get me wrong, I enjoy hearing from other railfans about my photos, trip reports, and blogs and I equally enjoy contributing to the success of others in the hobby. After all, it has been through the help and knowledge of other railfans that I have continued to improve my photography and get more out of this hobby each year. But ultimately I’m a railfan for me. If I head trackside and take a photo that I really like, that’s what it is all about. Some may then ask, “If it’s just for you, why post the photos online?” Quite simply, I want to share my fondness of trains with other people that may or may not feel the same way about them as I do. So many times people will say to me “Wow, I’ve never met someone who likes trains so much, that is really cool”? It is really cool because usually the person is very sincere; they’re not just making conversation. After that, more questions start. How do you know where the train is going, how do you know when a train is coming, what is the train carrying? Suddenly a person who usually gets annoyed when stopped by a lowering gate at a railroad crossing thinks differently. Even if I’ve just reached this person for a few seconds, he or she has a better glimpse into my life as a railfan and perhaps understands a little better why I do what I do.

We all have hobbies and things we do to pass the time, one of mine just happens to be railfanning. I still have many other things that I enjoy, spending time with my wife, listening to jazz and classical music, and politics. But when I meet a new person and my hobby of railfanning comes up, it is usually the subject that peaks the person’s interest and prompts the most questions. The feeling that I get when the scanner comes to life as the dispatcher issues a track warrant for a train heading my direction is hard to describe. The anticipation, the unknown, and ultimately the rush as a priority intermodal train enters my viewfinder is why I do it too. I snap the photo, wave to the crew, and smile as I get a whistle salute while the train races by at 60 mph heading for its destination. This is my hobby, this is why I do it… this is railfanning for me.