David has been an FEC engineer since December 27, 1971, and stands number four today on the combined seniority roster of engineers and conductors. He loves railroads, loves trains, loves what he does, and isn’t afraid to show it. The truck he drives to work at Bowden Yard in Jacksonville has a bumper sticker that reads: “My other vehicle is a locomotive.” Early on, someone gave Shelley a moniker he carries proudly to this day, East Coast Hogger, sometimes shortened to ECH.
A train-loving friend of David’s, Larry Schott, of Palm Beach Gardens (mile post 289 on the FEC), got him interested in the internet a decade or so ago. When Shelley bought a computer, about the first place Schott suggested he go was the FEC discussion forum on Yahoo Groups. That was the genesis of his rock-star status.
All FEC freight jobs are assigned, and through freights adhere quite closely to their schedules. Once the hundreds (now 1,100) participants learned which trains David was working, they took to meeting him en route to give him a wave. To this day, you can follow the progress of a David Shelley train on the internet as it is reported past various locales by folks who intercept it.
The role David plays on the Yahoo group (to find FECrailway go here) is interesting. He provides information about schedule changes and other newsy items. He answers questions about why things occur as they do. And he has also acted as an intermediary between railroad officialdom and the large body of train watchers who live near the tracks.
Would you be surprised to learn that the last three FEC presidents (John McPherson, David Rohal, and Jim Hertwig) have all been explicitly railfan-friendly? It’s a reflection of their personalities and life stories, of course — Rohal’s dad is an out-and-out foamer and McPherson relishes his days as a footloose brakeman on Santa Fe’s Middle Division in Kansas. But the welcome mat also reflects the sophistication of the railfan community alongside the Florida East Coast. They know the schedules, the locomotive roster, and are friendly with many of the train crew members in addition to Shelley. They don’t do stupid things on railroad property, either. I suspect a majority also have ATCS Monitor software on their computers, allowing them to watch the progress of trains up and down the Florida coast just as the train dispatcher does.
I give a lot of credit for this sophistication to David. And I credit him with keeping lines of communication open between FEC higherups and the fans. When Hertwig replaced Rohal in the top job three years ago, David wrote Hertwig, saying, in part: “I only want this small but important railroad to prosper. I know the majority of employees feel the same as I. . . I hope we can work together to make this a great first class railroad and attain new business in the process.”
Twelve days later, Hertwig came to work at Bowden (he moved his quarters from a plush office park to the yard office) and noticed someone videotaping FEC trains on railroad property. Nobody knew the person’s name. Hertwig promptly issued a general notice rescinding the practice of letting fans watch or photograph trains on railroad property. It was Shelley who told the fans the news, so they wouldn’t be apprehended.
Early one morning two days later, as Shelley reported for work, Hertwig’s secretary asked him to come see the boss. In the course of their half hour chat (please name another railroad president who calls locomotive engineers in for half-hour chats) the subject of photographs at Bowden came up, and Hertwig softened his stance. It’s okay, he told David, if photographers come by the yard office first and identify themselves. So far as I know, that remains the policy today.
The other gift that East Coast Hogger gives to the FEC watchers is to occasionally relate his experiences. My favorite occurred one evening in October 2011. He and his regular conductor, Jim Bush, had premier Jax-Miami train 101 right at 60 mph as they rounded a curve near Boca Rotan. There, sitting across the tracks between the crossing gates and lit by the locomotive’s headlight, was a woman totally oblivious to the train because she was absorbed in a cell phone conversation. David dumped the air, and he and Jim looked on, dumbfounded, as the woman continued talking and the train bore down on her. I won’t spoil the ending, however. For the complete story, go here.
Me, I am a huge East Coast Hogger fan. If I lived in Florida, I’d meet his trains, too. — Fred W. Frailey
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