Trains.com

Sunday afternoon train watching in the digital age

Posted by Jim Wrinn
on Wednesday, April 29, 2015


Canadian Pacific train 281 rolls westbound through Wauwatosa, Wis., on April 26, 2015. Jim Wrinn photo.

Last Sunday was a day when I could chose to play or work. Associate Editor Steve Sweeney had promised I could join him watching trains on the Canadian National main line north of Waukesha, Wis., and graphic artist Rick Johnson had invited me to ride with him on the Bug Line bicycle trail built on a Milwaukee Road grade. It was a beautiful day to be outside playing. But I was behind at home. So, I fixed a stone wall that had taken a tumble last winter, weeded a flowerbed near my garage, cleaned the shower, sorted laundry, etc. — all those domestic things that I put off as long as possible.
 
About 4 p.m., I’d reached the point that it was time to take a nap or do something else. I walked the dog and decided to check the ATCS monitor. According to what I was seeing, a westbound was lined out of Milwaukee. I grabbed the camera bag, jumped in the Ford, and headed toward the nearest tracks in the village of Wauwatosa, Wis. I found a vantage point and surveyed the area. About 100 yards to the west of me, I could see someone standing by the tracks. It looked like another fan.
 
I know that Nick Brown, a high school student and a good photographer, frequents this area, so I messaged him on Facebook. “Is that you standing west of me at Tosa?” I asked. It was indeed Nick.

 
Canadian Pacific westbound train crosses a bridge in the village of Wauwatosa, Wis., on April 26, 2015. Jim Wrinn photo.

A few minutes later, Canadian Pacific train No. 281 came roaring by with two Norfolk Southern units on the point. Nick joined me, and we stuck around for a following westbound train and then parted ways. I went back to the house, made dinner, and contemplated the world of train watching before the Internet.
 
When I was Nick’s age, 40 years ago, the best technology available was a scanner from Radio Shack, networking was done through Railroad Magazine’s free classifieds, it took two weeks for your slides to come back from Kodak, and instant communication was shouting a greeting to another fan. I wasn’t finished with my contemplations when Nick posted a photo of me watching No. 281 blast by. We live in an amazing time, don’t we? I wonder what train watching will be like 40 years from now when Nick is my age.

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